I've mentioned before that several weeks ago, I enrolled Ginger in a pretty large homeschooling co-op. The co-op is for children in Kindergarten through 12th grade. In Ginger's group of 4th through 6th graders, there are about 20 kids. It meets every week for a few hours. They have 4 separate "terms" in which they focus on different topics. This term, which is our first, happens to be "drama".
The primary group, grades 1-3, will be putting on Romeo and Juliet. The intermediate group, grades 4-6, will be putting on Macbeth. The older kids, in grades 7-12, will be putting on Hamlet. All of the kids are working together on costumes, set design, and props. The three plays will be tied together by a student asking a teacher why he should study Shakespeare. Then Shakespeare somehow appears and introduces the plays through discussion. I don't see how everything gets pieced together. I'm solely a Macbeth gal and work only with those kids.
Yesterday, after we did our lessons, I told Ginger to get out her script and I would read through her lines with her. She has two small parts, Donalbaine and Ghost number 3. She said she was having a great time with drama and wished she could narrate the whole play and just let others act it out. This was great to hear, especially since there is still a "flavor" of Shakespearean language left in our Macbeth. I definitely think she picked up on the meter of the play, however, which is why I think she liked to read it so much.
She did say that even with all of our discussion and practice some parts are confusing and she doesn't understand what exactly is happening. We discussed it some more and then I had her watch the BBC's Shakespeare Animated Tales version of Macbeth. I will be reading Charles and Mary Lamb's retelling of Macbeth, from Tales from Shakespeare this coming week. Ginger asked if we could find a play "with real people" of Macbeth to watch, also. I told her, "Absolutely!" So, now I have to look around for that.
This week, I am also going to pull out our copy of Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley. She has already read the Magic Tree House Book, Stage Fright on a Summer Night, by Mary Pope Osborne, but if I leave it hang about she might reread it, especially since it is on a younger reading level. She'll get through it fast. My plan is to also get to the library to see what books they have on Shakespeare.
I will try to get pictures of Ginger at co-op this week. I definitely have to chronicle and scrapbook her first Shakespearean performance!
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Thanks for submitting this post to the Charlotte Mason blog carnival. Your co-op has an intriguing approach, especially for such a large group!
ReplyDeleteDH and I will be seeing MacBeth performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in a few months. Do you have a link for the BBC animation? I'd love to share it with my kiddos who are too young yet to see the performance?
ReplyDeleteJimmie, from One Child Policy Homeschool, has two great squidoo lenses. One can be found here: http://www.squidoo.com/shakespeareforchildren and then also http://www.squidoo.com/shakespeare-animated-tales . The BBC productions can be found at the second link.
ReplyDeleteMakita, I wish!!!!! You'll have to tell us all about it!
I would love for you to keep us updated with pictures from the group.
ReplyDeleteSounds fun! It's great to make Shakespeare fun even for the younger ages. My daughter gets excited when it's time to read one the Lamb's Shakespeare stories. ♥
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