Shakespeare Resources

What's Schoolin'?

The olders have already had several exposures to Shakespeare.  They performed in a play that incorporated several of his plays, including a part of The Tempest.  They have read Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Youngest dd has listened to the original play of A Midsummer Night's Dream and performed in a Seussified version of the same.  Here are some more resources...

I have not yet perused this site but it looks fantastic:
http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/meetmrs/index.html

Here is a hilarious version of Who's on First in Shakespearean.  Note:  If you or your child isn't familiar with Who's on First, you should watch that first. (Thanks, Professor Carol, for sharing this link!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaGHVWKrcpQ

[Abbott and Costello original version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg ]

Okay, this is in fun, purely fun... The Shakespearean Insult Kit (Thanks, M., for sharing this link).
http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

I wrote specifically about our study of Julius Caesar at this post and there are a few links there as well:
http://eclecticlvng.blogspot.com/2012/11/julius-caesar-shakespeare.html






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Murder in the Cathedral [T.S. Eliot] ~ St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury

What's Schoolin'?

The olders have just finished reading T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral which won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1935.  It is a short read, but very rich in content and literary merit.  Here is what we did:

1. Independent instructions:  Read up to page 16.  List unfamiliar words in Lit Response Notebook.  Write a brief summary of what is happening so far in the play.

2. Finish reading independently.

3. I read the Chorus part aloud on pages 18 - 19 beginning with "Here is no continuing city, here is no abiding stay.  Ill the wind, ill the time..." and ending with "...A doom on the house, a doom on yourself, a doom on the world." [I read very dramatically :)]

4. Writing extension:  Write a comparison/contrast essay comparing Murder in the Cathedral to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

5. Read If All the Swords in England: A story of Thomas Becket by Barbara Willard [Note: dd said it was really good because it was written from both perspectives (King Henry II and St. Thomas Becket). The 2 main characters are twins and go to serve each side.][One of them read this before Murder in the Cathedral and the other dd read it after - doesn't matter.]

6. Here is a biography of St. Thomas a Becket:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14676a.htm

7. Here is part 1 of 15 of the movie Becket starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole (1964). I was able to find this in the library.  This is not based on Eliot's play, but rather a play by Jean Anouilh entitled Becket:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJsy2bEj14g

Same movie except in only 4 parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Km6ZzGY4s

8. Horrible Histories of Henry II as he reaches the end of his pilgrimage of public penance for the murder [If you are not familiar with Horrible Histories... it's sort of like Monty Python-ish so preview first!]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8NxoAwTYg4

Other resources:

This is an audio of the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxA_3qyN1lk


This book happens right after the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket but really has nothing to do with it :). The Hidden Treasure of Glaston (Living History Library)





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A Little Inspiration

What's Inspirin'?

Here is a music video by Stephen Curtis Chapman.  May it bring you joy and encouragement:

Gottatries ~ Baked Zucchini with Cheese

What's Cookin'?

Baked zucchini with cheese:  Inspired by this recipe, I slit open 2 zucchinis from our garden (and cut them in half because they were big), layered cheese on top, and baked for about 15-20 minutes on 350F (while some chicken was baking).  It was so good that one dd that has started to grumble about eating more squash ~ after eating it almost daily for 2 months, at least... I can't blame her! ~ came back for seconds and even thirds!  I used some Salvadorean cheese that my cousin brought me (Capitas for anyone that might know Salv cheeses) but mozzarella would work great or even cheddar.  Here is the original recipe and a picture before I slid it into the oven (I don't normally use foil but we were at my mom's house and I needed an easy clean-up).

"Gottatries" from around the web that I want to remember :)

Gluten-free banana muffins.  A good way to put to use the almond flour and coconut flour I have in the freezer.
http://www.nourishingcharlotte.com/healthy-banana-muffins/

Crock pot chile rellenos:
http://www.stacymakescents.com/crock-pot-chile-rellenos

Crackers.  I have made a lot of homemade crackers but am always willing to try another recipe :)
http://homefront.prudentliving.com/recipe-box-homemade-crackers/

Breakfast pudding (using flax seed!).  I have to try this at least once!  I have some flax seed in my freezer...
http://eatplaylovemore.com/2013/08/04/pudding-for-breakfast-woot/

Some summer salad ideas:
http://nomyumfree.com/summer-salad-collage/

Taco salad... I need to remember to make taco salad!  Sautee the meat with onions, bell peppers, other veggies.  Serve with lettuce, avocado, olives, sour cream, tomato, shredded cheddar, or whatever is on hand.  Yum!

Granola recipe:
http://www.waldorfmoms.com/2013/08/homemade-gluten-free-granola.html

Strawberry semifreddo.  This looks so good I can hardly stand it!
http://nourishwithkaren.squarespace.com/new-blog/2013/8/7/summertime-strawberry-semifreddo

Polymers [Chemistry]

What's Schoolin'?

Our next Chemistry chapter is about polymers.  We are using the first edition of Real Science 4 Kids' Chemistry (level 2) , which goes up through 9th grade.  You can find my complete document with internet links sorted and grouped by correlating chapters at this post here:
http://eclecticlvng.blogspot.com/2010/07/chemistry-links.html

Here are a few polymer resources from around the web.  They could be used as stand-alone resources for interest, as part of a polymer unit, or as a piece of a more in-depth Chemistry study.

Good interactive tutorial:
http://pslc.ws/macrog/kidsmac/index.htm

Playing with Polymers lesson, which includes making slime.  It also has a 'scavenger hunt' using 2 provided links and several other resources. 
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html#Anchor-poly
[If the above link didn't work, try going to the main page http://www.sciencespot.net
and entering polymers in the search bar.  Then select The Science Spot: Science Classroom with the url of: sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html ]


This is not really about polymers but it's still a cool interactive site:
http://strangematterexhibit.com/

Other Chemistry-related items

You can see my Bohr Model work here:
http://eclecticlvng.blogspot.com/2010/09/montessori-chemistry-works-part-1.html

...and my cards that we use with it and for 3-part cards here:
http://eclecticlvng.blogspot.com/2010/10/montessori-chemistry-works-part-2-ive.html

Our main Chemistry resources:




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