Shakespeare for Children by Charles and Mary Lamb
Click here to read book online
Have you grown up thinking that Shakespeare is dry literature forced upon high schoolers by antiquated professors? Think again! Even young children can capture an interest in Shakespeare through attractive materials such as this multi-dimensional biography of the bard.
The heart and soul of the book is the story of Shakespeare's life - charmingly enhanced by Shakespearean phrases (followed by modern translations in parenthesis). Numerous photos, sketches and maps give us a peek at Elizabethan life and architecture and a few scenes from renditions of his plays.
The authors periodically draw in a wide variety of projects and activities related to the storyline. Some are connected with Elizabethan life in a general way, such as making a Pomander ball or creating a Habitat for Birds. Others are more directly related to acting, costuming and Shakespeare himself, such as: learning to juggle, staging a sword fight, designing a coat of arms and composing a sonnet.
This very creative resource could serve as the centerpiece of an Elizabethan history study, an introduction Shakespeare for Middle Schoolers or just a fun summer family project. It could serve a wide age range, but is most appropriate for 4th through 8th grade. The text and projects are quite accessible - most projects could be done independently by older children.
This is a simply told and heavily illustrated biography of the great William Shakespeare and the theatre in which his plays were first performed. The details of the illustrations and the story are quite nice and even the story of the Globe is more interesting than one might expect. At one point it was disassembled and secretly moved to a new location under cover of darkness. After Shakespeare's death, the Puritans closed theatres such a the Globe and there its story would end except for a 20th century Shakespeare lover who started the major project of rebuilding the globe as authentically as possible (with the exception of sprinklers in the thatched roof!). This book is really an interesting history book covering other major figures of Shakespeare's day (including, unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth I). The pictures include small figures of characters from Shakespeare's plays. These could be reproduced with a color photo-copy to make little finger-puppets for your little ones to reenact their own Shakespearean dramas. That might be fun especially if they enjoy some of the children's versions of the Shakespeare stories such as Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children by Edith Nesbit.
I don't see the need to wait till high school for Shakespeare, particularly with the nice children's versions available. Although I'm not a big proponent of reading children's versions of every classic novel available, William Shakespeare's influence is so good and so widespread, that I believe an earlier introduction can be an excellent thing.
Language - Studying Shakespeare's plays gives us an understanding of the origin and meaning of many words and phrases commonly used today which have their origins in Shakespeare's works.
The challenging language stimulates the mind and the imagination. This challenge can be very satisfying challenge because the stories are creative, enjoyable and sometimes very funny. The stories are meaty and can really make you think. They are rich with discussion material and "learning opportunities". Shakespeare had an amazing understanding of human nature and so his stories can give us a great deal of perspective on life in general.
Catholic perspective - rooted in Catholic philosophy (stories mention Purgatory, etc. e.g. Hamlet) - moral problems and questions wrestled with in the stories....most especially the consequences of sin.
Specific examples from parts of MacBeth...How justifying and committing one sin (in this case a very serious one) usually leads to more and more problems. MacBeth kills the king in order to gain power but finds himself committing more murders and other atrocities in order to cover up his actions. We also see the dangers of "the occult" by how his ambitions were amplified by consulting with the witches. I noticed when reading MacBeth in college (which was probably my third time through this particular play) that MacBeth commits (in order) the crimes punishable in the innermost rings of Hell according to Dante's Inferno (Book One of the Divine Comedy).
Common Experience - Given the wide-spread study of Shakespeare in America's high schools and colleges, his plays form a "common experience" for many people. Examples from Shakespeare can readily illuminate discussions about politics, the faith, various moral topics, etc.
Shakespeare Readings: Our family has offered Shakespeare nights several times now to a number of local families. We pick a play, assign parts ahead of time and read an entire play over the course of an evening. The parts are assigned a little ahead of time so readers can have a chance to review their parts ahead of time. There is a wide mix of talent within the group, so we try to shuffle the parts around a bit - adults and kids participate together (this has been a nice way to encourage dramatic reading). People show up with a few small props and a little bit of acting goes on (death scenes seem to be a favorite!) but the atmosphere is fairly casual (one reader has to bring her own braille text!). This format, which has run two or three hours with some light refreshments afterwards (little ones - except nursing babies - stay home with babysitters) has turned out to be a really big hit - from grandparents all the way down to the nine and ten year olds!!! It has worked well for us to offer this every 2 or 3 months.
The Bard of Avon from Ye Hedge School
Article: "Shakespeare Scholars Say the Bard was ... Catholic?" from The Catholic Educator's Resource Center
Interesting example of Shakespeare as a tool of "common experience" from a Fox News article
Back to top
"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
St. Francis of Assisi
Apologetics Art Books about Education Civics Enrichment Geography History Language Arts Languages Latin Literature Math Music Parenting/Organization Practical Skills Religion Science
Get great free widgets at Widgetbox!
love2learn.net
