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Bridget
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I would like to study Shakespeare with my 8, 9 and 11 year olds this spring. All are fluent readers.
We have several children's versions but they don't seem to have much of the original language in them. We know many of the stories just from listening to the Jim Weiss CD.
Should we just read the real thing? Does anyone know of a guide to help me? I have never studied it myself. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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Lissa
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I say go for it!
I like the paperback editions of individual plays that have notes on the left-hand pages with the playscript on the right-hand page. Nice clean format, easy to follow. You'd probably have to go to a bookstore and look at the different editions in person...all of mine are old Pocket Drama editions; not sure if they're still in print. But I bet there's something similar out there now.
Ambleside Online has a good Shakespeare section, with lots of helpful resources.
Might be fun to start with a play you know there's a good movie version of, since it really does make a big difference to be able to see & hear Shakespeare performed. Maybe watch a few opening scenes to get you in the spirit, and then save the rest of the movie for a treat after you've read the whole play?
The opening scene of the Kenneth Branagh AS YOU LIKE IT is one of my favorite movie scenes ever--such an air of joyful anticipation & building excitement--it's beautiful. That play probably wouldn't be my first choice for the kids, but boy does that scene sweep you into the spirit of the play!
One other thought--what about a group read here? When you pick a play, Bridget, let us know; perhaps we can discuss it as you go.
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alicegunther
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Reading the original is always a great idea, but if you are looking for something in between, you ought to seek out a wonderful out of print book called, "Shakespeare for Young Players, from Tens to Teens," by Gertrude Lerner Kerman. (Six months ago, it was readily available on ebay for a low price.) The book features six of Shakespeare's most popular plays abbreviated for young players, but retaining Shakespeare's original form and language. The girls and I have a great time acting out these plays, each of us taking a part and playing our characters to the hilt (although Mom's characters rarely get off the couch  ). Even the staging, prop, and music suggestions have been edifying and have helped the girls begin to understand all that goes in to a Shakespearian production. My guess is, if you look in your local library, you may be able to find it or perhaps a similar book.
If you do read the full length plays, it might help to watch a good video production first. I haven't seen the version of As You Like It Lissa mentioned, but I will be sure to rent it soon. Our favorites are "A Midsummer Night's Dream," starring Olivia DeHaviland, James Cagney, and Mickey Rooney, "The Taming of the Shrew" (old black and white version--I lent it to someone and can't remember the details now, but I think it was filmed in the 30s), and Franco Zeferreli's Romeo and Juliet.
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Mary G
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When my older ones starting reading Shakespeare, I used the Lamb book (Tales from Shakespeare) to get the feel for the story-line. Another good book for the younger ones is "The Children's Shakespeare" by E. Nesbit -- she wrote it for her own children when they were first looking at Shakespeare to give them a "gentler" introduction.
A great movie for "Taming of the Shrew" is the musical "Kiss Me Kate" with Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel -- gives a great overview of the play!
Hope this helps
Blessings
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Kelly
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I love Shakespeare! As I told someone the other day, my homeschooling goals must be dropping because now I feel that if my kids graduate with nothing more in English Lit than a thorough knowledge of and love for Shakespeare, I will be happy! However, I personally think your children might be a little young for "the real McCoy", not that they couldn't read the words, but Shakespeare can be sort of...well, convoluted. There's so much richness in it, it would be a shame for them to miss out on it if they weren't ready for it. Plus, I know from my own experience that there is a tendency to rush fences with authors I love, sometimes risking alienating my students from the very thing I want them to enjoy! Anyway, just my take.
I have spent the last year and a half working on Shakespeare with my older children, age 12 and 15, and introducing Shakespeare to my younger children (2,6, 7, 10) and have found the following method to be a good one (and so far they still enjoy Shakespeare!):
We started with picture books of various plays when they were little to familiarize them with the story. Older ones read the E. Nesbitt rendition. Then I read it aloud. The Jim Weiss recordings are another fun approach, as well as Rabbit Ears productions.
Then we watched short cartoon or claymation editions of Shakespeare plays made for children called "Shakespeare for Children (I think)there are six, I believe: Macbeth, Winters Tale, Midsummer, Tempest, Hamlet and...can't remember. You can get them on Amazon. They're great, highly recommmended.
The older children then read the No Fear Shakespeare edition of the play being study. No Fear presents the play on one page in everyday language (some of it not too pretty, but some of Shakespeare isn't too pretty, either)side-by-side with the real Shakespeare. It is very helpful to helping understand the play. THEN we read the original Shakespeare.
With the younger children, we sometimes put on a scene from Ian Collum's fine book, "Shakespeare in the Classroom". He uses a fair bit of the original language, especially the famous bits, and the scenes are easy to do with kids. We put on a portion of the play "Macbeth" with great success! My 6 year old still walks around saying things like "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes!" IMO, Shakespeare really needs to be spoken to "get" it. Which leads me to...
Memorizing passages from Shakespeare--- another good way to familiarize your children with the cadence and beauty of Shakespeare. There is a cd we recently bought from B&N called something like "Shakespeare for Children"---it was in the Bargain section, $4.99 or thereabouts, and all it is is recordings of various short, famous speeches from Shakespeare's plays. This is a good one for the car and really helped us get into the "rhythm" of Shakespeare's language. NOthing like hearing the "pros" do it right!
For both young and old children, I also suggest immersing them in the era by having them read novels that have to do with Shakespeare. For younger children there is "Stagefright on a Summer Night" by Mary Pope Osborne (silly, yes, but the little kids enjoyed it!). Other good Fiction books that deal with Shakespeare include "Cue for Treason" by Geoffrey Trease and "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary Blackwood. I think there is a sequel to "Shakespeare Stealer". too, but can't remember the title.
For the older children I have been using a very good workbook called "The Complete guide to Shakespeare's Best Plays" by Aileen M. Carroll purchased from Christian Book Distributors. IT covers Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, Midsummer and The Tempest. It starts with a section on "Getting Acquainted with Shakespeare", A Look at Shakespere's London, goes on to things like "Shakespeare's Language" then summarizes and dissects each of these six plays, act by act, with reading quizes and Q&A. It also addresses the subject of poetry in Shakespeare and rhythm. It is an excellent resource for Mom and has been really useful for my older children. I would recommend it as a reference for anyone who is studying Shakespeare.
For my older children, we also listen to the Teaching Company's lectures on specific plays. These have been a huge boost to my understanding of Shakespeare. However, your children will not like them, they are definitely for older kids, highschool and beyond (though my 7th grader has benefitted from them) Occasionally they discuss themes that aren't appropriate, the lecturer is a prof at Dartmouth who was there back in the Middle Ages when I was in university, he's a little much at times BUT he was consistently voted "top teacher" even 'way back then. But just be warned.
Last but not least, we watch the wonderful film versions of these plays. The black and white Macbeth with Orson Welles was fabulous, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V- wonderful, the new Midsummer enjoyed by all. There are so many great versions!
The denouement to studying a play is to attend a performance of it. We have travelled all over the US to attend various Shakespeare festivals---check on line, you might be surprised to find one relatively close. Born and raised in North Florida, I never knew we have an internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Festival 3 and 1/2 hours from here in Alabama (of which we have since become avid attendees) Duh! However, even better than the big festivals are the little community performances of Shakespeare. Shakespeare is meant to be heard in an intimiate space. THis became abundantly clear to me after taking my kids to see Romeo at the Alabama Shakespeare festival---great performance, kids were ok with it, not dazzled. Then I took them to see our little local community playhouse production with mediocre performers/costume/scenery in a tiny theatre...they were WOWED! *I* was wowed! The language carried the day. Even my short-attention-span 9 year old was mesmerized. At one point in the play, when Juliet's parents are approaching and Romeo needs to make a quick escape but instead keeps talking, my ds leapt up and shouted "Quick, Romeo, GO!" (and of course was mortified when he realized what he had done) But it shows how much we were all swept away by the performance. Sit up close to the stage if you can, too. That makes it even better. We recently saw "Taming of the Shrew" in a small theatre and were equally thrilled.
Other fun rabbit trails include listening to period music. We have the cd "Shakespeare's Music" from Dorian Recordings and it's pretty good. Also, watching movies that are spinoffs on Shakespeare, such as the one previously mentioned, "Kiss Me Kate" (based on Taming of the Shrew) and "West Side Story" (Romeo & Juliet), is fun.
Another helpful thing we did with the children was make flashcards with famous lines from Shakespeare which they memorized. We would start with a word or two and they finished it out EG Mom: "A horse..." Kids: "...a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" and identify the play. Or I state the play and start out the line or describe the phrase and they come up with the correct quote. We carry these around with us and play with them from time to time when we are waiting for food in restaurants, driving the car or whatever.
One more fun activity is to have a Birthday Party for Shakespeare on April 23rd. Here's what we did for a simple but entertaining party: The children learned about and made flashcards of words that were coined by Shakespeare or popularized in his plays (like Alligator, Watchdog, Upstairs, Farmhouse, Puke (!)) and posted them around the kitchen. We made a birthday cake for Shakespeare. You can also make cookies: House on the Hill has a cool Shakespeare cookie mold. Dress up in period clothing from Shakespeare's time. Play appropriate music. Each kid recites something from Shakespeare. Take pictures! Lots of fun.
Lastly, for Mom, watch the movie, "Shakespeare in Love". This is not for children, but I loved it!
Kelly in FL
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juliecinci
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I want to suggest Leon Garfield's Shakespeare Stories as another resource. I just love the writing in these. We use them for copywork and dication. Garfield retains the beauty of the original scripts while narrating the story line in equally rich prose.
There is lovely artwork throughout them too. And Garfield has some animated cartoon versions on video/DVD too. We got them from our local library. I much prefer Garfield to Nesbitt or the Lambs, in case you wondered.
Here's a list of some Shakespeare resources:
Shakespeare
Our favorite movie is "Much Ado About Nothing." There is one objectionable scene in the middle and the opening shows nude bottoms on the men while they are bathing. Otherwise, the sparring between Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh is irresistible.
Julie
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Lissa
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juliecinci wrote:
Our favorite movie is "Much Ado About Nothing." There is one objectionable scene in the middle and the opening shows nude bottoms on the men while they are bathing. Otherwise, the sparring between Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh is irresistible. |
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ROFL! I forgot about that when I wrote yesterday that that was one of my favorite opening scenes of a movie ever! (Yes, I wrote "As You Like It," which bugged me all night because I knew it was wrong--I meant "Much Ado About Nothing.") Now I'm sitting here cracking up about the bare bottoms...I swear that isn't what I love about the scene!
And by the way, Julie--hello and welcome! It was such a nice surprise to find out you're here.
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MacBeth
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For those who cannot get enough of The Bard, but don't live near a theatre that puts on his plays all the time, recorded plays are a great alternative. I have a bunch listed for download on my website:
Shakespeare Audio
Still, there's nothing like the real thing. Even Paul-the-squirm loves The Bard,and was able to sit through a full length production of Taming of the Shrew in an outdoor plaza at age 3. And there's something delightful about hearing a kid lisp his way through the St. Crispin's Day speech !
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Kelly
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juliecinci wrote:
I want to suggest Leon Garfield's Shakespeare Stories as another resource. I just love the writing in these. We use them for copywork and dication. Garfield retains the beauty of the original scripts while narrating the story line in equally rich prose
Julie |
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Thanks for that reminder...Leon Garfield IS another great resource, well-written and a little more thorough coverage of each play. I think I picked up my copies at Barnes & Nobles.
Kelly in FL
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Bridget
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Ok. There are many resources out there. Thank you so much, to everyone who offered their ideas! I'm pretty excited to jump into this!
My children have asked to read 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' first. They know the story and characters and have seen a live children's production of it.
After reading a little about it, I think it sounds light enough to be a good intoduction to reading Shakespeare.
I really want to read the actual play because there are so many, it will take the rest of their homeschool years to cover them. I realize many plays have themes that are too heavy for their ages. (They really wanted to do Macbeth, but I think that's too dark. )
So, as soon as I can get copies for each of us, we will start.
I would love to take Lissa up on the offer to discuss it here. I'm sure I will have many questions as we go along. I'll post a new topic when we get started.
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Kelly
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Oops, another good resource for Mom that I have listened to MANY times and used in discussion is a tape from the NACHE conference two years ago, by a Prof. Miller or Russel, I believe, on Shakespeare. If you check out the NACHE site, you can find it (there aren't that many Shakespeare lectures from 2 years ago). ONe of the things he talks about a lot is the Catholic nature of Shakespeare and the probability that he and his family were recusant Catholics. My brother, a Protestant English teacher, pooh poohs the idea, says EVERYONE tries to claim Shakespeare (which is true :-)) but the arguments this professor provides are compelling.
Kelly in FL
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Lissa
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Thanks, Kelly! Here's a link to the NACHE site for anyone interesting in ordering a tape of Dr. Russell's talk--
Reading Shakespeare as a Christian
2003 NACHE conference, talk #402: Reading Shakespeare as a Christian: The Typology of A Midsummer Dream - Henry Russell - "Dr. Russell, Professor of Literature at Ave Maria College will help you understand the power of Shakespeare and the influence of Catholicism on all of his writings. If Shakespeare has not been a part of your curriculum, this is the year to start!"
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Angie Mc
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MacBeth wrote:
Still, there's nothing like the real thing. Even Paul-the-squirm loves The Bard,and was able to sit through a full length production of Taming of the Shrew in an outdoor plaza at age 3. ! |
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Oh MacBeth, you brought back a lovely McIntyre memory. About 1.5 years ago we went to a local, small scale, outdoor production of The Taming of the Shrew (it was set in the 60's but that is a whole other post!) The audience was predominantly college elites, elderly, and "artist." Well, my then 4 and 7 year old boys ROARED with laughter (at all the right places) in the midst of stuffy silence. I was torn. I couldn't decide if we were embarrassing ourselves or were authentically enjoying the show. I received my answer after the show when several of the actors and the director sought us out to thank us for coming and asked us to come to their future productions!
I, too, am Shakespeare ignorant. Thanks for starting this post and for all who are sharing their love and experience with the Bard.
Love,
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Shakespeare for the Ignorant
