Penelope, switching her tail at the flies and wearing her lighter summer coat, nibbles at the remains of the hay bail.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Hello
Tonight the children and I played a "game" of volleyball. Actually we just tried to get it over the net several times in a row without having to end the play by running half way to the neighbor's to get the ball. The skies are cloudy, so I will not be going out with my telescope tonight, but last night I spent over an hour looking up deep sky objects like M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) and M13 (a globular cluster)--these are objects identified and catalogued by a Frenchman named Messier. Jupiter was beautiful. The cats were a pest while they begged for attention and crawled onto my books and into my bags.
My hubby's eye has remained the same. So now we watch and wait. I've been surprised at how many of you have responded to his macular degeneration with stories of your own. Apparently we are not alone. The rest of us seem to be healthy, but I must say my husband's commute to work and his 4 days away from home each week does not seem to get easier.
I'm spending as much time on lesson plans for this fall as I can. I'm going to have my daughter prepare for college by reading and working out of the Write for College handbook which I will send with her next year. I'm going to buy her a Franklin electronic dictionary, and I'll also get a grammar handbook to send with her. She is not sure where she wants to go to school, but we will try to be ready for it!
When I went out to check the cows today, I found one very sad and loney Penny. All the cows had jumped the fence into another pasture, and my little donkey was all by herself. She heehawed to let me know something was wrong. I lead her through the gate by urging her to follow me. She tried to eat my pants. Silly donkey.
How are all of you? Thanks for your faithfulness to check in on me. I'll try to get here a little more often for you. Blessings!
Jean
My hubby's eye has remained the same. So now we watch and wait. I've been surprised at how many of you have responded to his macular degeneration with stories of your own. Apparently we are not alone. The rest of us seem to be healthy, but I must say my husband's commute to work and his 4 days away from home each week does not seem to get easier.
I'm spending as much time on lesson plans for this fall as I can. I'm going to have my daughter prepare for college by reading and working out of the Write for College handbook which I will send with her next year. I'm going to buy her a Franklin electronic dictionary, and I'll also get a grammar handbook to send with her. She is not sure where she wants to go to school, but we will try to be ready for it!
When I went out to check the cows today, I found one very sad and loney Penny. All the cows had jumped the fence into another pasture, and my little donkey was all by herself. She heehawed to let me know something was wrong. I lead her through the gate by urging her to follow me. She tried to eat my pants. Silly donkey.
How are all of you? Thanks for your faithfulness to check in on me. I'll try to get here a little more often for you. Blessings!
Jean
Friday, July 14, 2006
Shakespeare
This is the compilation of the suggested Shakespeare plays and materials I received from everyone. Although I cannot recommend each item myself, I pass it on to you in hopes that someone can use the information. Jean
Plays
Here is the list of plays that were recommended we read; I followed the title by the number of people who recommended them. Many suggest doing one of each: histories, tragedies, and comedies. One person mentioned that it took 3 to 4 hours to read them out loud.
As You Like It 1
Hamlet 7
Henry IV 2
Henry V 6
Julius Caesar 2
King Lear 4
MacBeth 5
Merchant of Venice 2
Midsummer night’s Dream 3
Much Ado About Nothing 4
Othello 2
Richard II 1
Richard III 2
Romeo and Juliet 3
Taming of the Shrew 5
Tempest 3
Twelfth Night 3
Winter’s Tale 1
Books/School materials
Brightest Heaven of Invention (Christian POV)
Click Notes (good scene explanations)
Cliff’s Notes
DK Essential Shakespeare Handbook (480 pg. book covering all the “essentials”)
Everyman Shakespeare
Leon Garfield’s Shakespeare Stories (Good place to start—easy reader)
Lightning Literature’s Shakespeare units (Hewitt.com)
No Fear Shakespeare books (modern English/ original on opposing pages—cheap on ebay)
Oxford School series (Excellent intro, background info and notes)
Sparknotes
Top Ten Shakespeare Stories (for children)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Short retelling by E. Nesbit for children and teens)
CD’s/DVD’s
Branagh seems to top the list over and over again!
Henry V (Branagh)
Macbeth (Ian McKellen, yes; mixed opinion on the BBC version)
Naxos Jr. Library CD’s
Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh)
Netflix’s Animated Shakespeare
Download Shakespeare plays on iPod for $10-15
Reduced Shakespeare Company Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare (Abridged)--use as a follow up to the unit; great humor
Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli version liked; Baz Luhrman, a modern version—loved and hated)
Taming of the Shrew (Liz Taylor and BBC were both suggested)
Hamlet (Zeffirelli version liked; Mel Gibson, mixed reviews—do you like Mel?)
Teaching Company sets: “Comedies, Histories and Tragedies” and “The Word and the Action”
Plays
Here is the list of plays that were recommended we read; I followed the title by the number of people who recommended them. Many suggest doing one of each: histories, tragedies, and comedies. One person mentioned that it took 3 to 4 hours to read them out loud.
As You Like It 1
Hamlet 7
Henry IV 2
Henry V 6
Julius Caesar 2
King Lear 4
MacBeth 5
Merchant of Venice 2
Midsummer night’s Dream 3
Much Ado About Nothing 4
Othello 2
Richard II 1
Richard III 2
Romeo and Juliet 3
Taming of the Shrew 5
Tempest 3
Twelfth Night 3
Winter’s Tale 1
Books/School materials
Brightest Heaven of Invention (Christian POV)
Click Notes (good scene explanations)
Cliff’s Notes
DK Essential Shakespeare Handbook (480 pg. book covering all the “essentials”)
Everyman Shakespeare
Leon Garfield’s Shakespeare Stories (Good place to start—easy reader)
Lightning Literature’s Shakespeare units (Hewitt.com)
No Fear Shakespeare books (modern English/ original on opposing pages—cheap on ebay)
Oxford School series (Excellent intro, background info and notes)
Sparknotes
Top Ten Shakespeare Stories (for children)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Short retelling by E. Nesbit for children and teens)
CD’s/DVD’s
Branagh seems to top the list over and over again!
Henry V (Branagh)
Macbeth (Ian McKellen, yes; mixed opinion on the BBC version)
Naxos Jr. Library CD’s
Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh)
Netflix’s Animated Shakespeare
Download Shakespeare plays on iPod for $10-15
Reduced Shakespeare Company Complete Works of Wm. Shakespeare (Abridged)--use as a follow up to the unit; great humor
Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli version liked; Baz Luhrman, a modern version—loved and hated)
Taming of the Shrew (Liz Taylor and BBC were both suggested)
Hamlet (Zeffirelli version liked; Mel Gibson, mixed reviews—do you like Mel?)
Teaching Company sets: “Comedies, Histories and Tragedies” and “The Word and the Action”
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Shakespeare Deficiency
I composed a plea for help to my dear friends at ClassEd (Yahoo) requesting they assist my choosing Shakespeare plays for next year's English class. I thought I'd share it here as well. Blessing on your day! Jean
P.S. We are doing well, just very busy!
P.S. We are doing well, just very busy!
O coward conscience, how dost though afflict me? I have decided that I shall no long assume a virtue I do not have...I must admit that my beloved dd is going to be a senior and she has not "done" any Shakespeare yet. (But I suppose that is gone and past help.)
Why has this come to pass? Because it was Greek to me in high school and I've never gotten over it.
There. The damned spot is now out.
I thought I'd include my 16 year old and we would read some synopses, watch the videos, and then choose two or three to read out loud together.
How to choose? A comedy, a tragedy, and a history? A rose by any other word? Perhaps someone here could help me out of my dark ignorance and break some light through yonder window by giving me advice? What 2 or 3 would you suggest? Or am I making much ado about nothing and ought to let the children choose which they prefer to read after we have seen the plays?
Jean
