The Bard
Oh the language of the master! We spent the 2007-08 school year watching and reading William Shakespeare plays. A word of caution: Every company that puts on a Shakespeare play has their own interpretation of that play. Shakespeare left us no stage direction or commentary on his plays so liberties are taken. PLEASE preview all books, audio and video before you let your children loose as some material may not be suitable for your children.
The works (unparticular the website and videos) are not a complete catalog of what Shakespeare wrote, only the ones that we watched or studied. Please do your own research. The plays we studied were:
comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors
tragedies: Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Merchant of Venice
Histories: Julius Caesar,
| Resources--books | Resources--web sites | Projects | Writing assignments |
Resources
Books
Non-Fiction--Information books:
 | Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children retold by E. Nesbit (Smithmark, 1997; ISBN: 0765194902) |
| How to Enjoy Shakespeare by Robert Thomas Fallon (I.R. Dee, 2005; ISBN: 1566636183) |
| Shakespeare by Peter Chrisp (DK, 2002; ISBN 078948336X) |
| Shakespeare for Dummies by John Doyle and Ray Lischner (IDG, 1999; ISBN 0764551355) |
| Simply Shakespeare by Jennifer Kroll (Teachres Ideas, 2003; ISBN 1563089467) |
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| The Everything Shakespeare Book by Peter Rubie (Adams, 2002; ISBN 158063591-6 |
| The Young Person's Guide to Shakespeare by Anita Ganeri (Harcourt Brack, 1999; ISBN 0152021019) |
| Usborne Stories from Shakespeare by Anna Claybourne, illustrated by Elana Templorin (EDC, 2005; ISBN 0794509126) |
| Who was William Shakespeare? by Celeste Davidson Mannis, illustrated by John O'Brien (Grosset & Dunlap, 2006; ISBN 0448439042) KR |
| William Shakespeare by David Scott Kastan & Marina Kastan, illustrated by Glen Harrington (Sterling, 2000; ISBN 0806943440) |
| William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki Harper
Collins, 1999; ISBN 006027820X) KR |
Activity Books:
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Fiction:
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Audio/visual:
| Shakespeare for Children by Charles and Mary Lamb (Tantor Media, 2005; ISBN 1400100925) |
| Shakespeare for Children as told by Jim Weiss (Greathall Productions, 1995; ISBN 1882513150) EXCELLENT |
| Standard Deviants 12 disc look at Shakespeare Standard Deviants (12 DVDs) |
| Stories from Shakespeare by Geraldine McCaughrean (Chivers, 2001; ISBN 0754065391) |
| Stories from Shakespeare 2 by David Timson (Naxos AudioBooks, 2006; ISBN 9789626344095) |
A list of movies we watched:
| The Taming of the Shrew 1967, F.A.I. directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton |
| Much Ado About Nothing 1993, BBC, directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring: Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson, Danzel Washington, Michael Keaton. EXCELLENT! 1985, BBC (masterpiece theater), directed by Stuart Burge, starring: Lee Montague, Cherie Lunghi, Jon Finch, |
| Comedy of Errors, 1983, BBC, directed by James Cellan Jones, starring: Roger Daltrey, Cyril Cusack, Michale Kitchens |
| Othello 1981, BBC, directed by Jonathan Miller, starring: Anthony Pedley, Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins 1965, BHE directed by Stuart Burge, starring: Laurence Olivier NOTE: this has Laurence Olivier in black make-up playing the part of Othello. |
| Macbeth 1983, BBC, directed by, Jack Gold, starring: Nico Williamson, Ian Hogg 1979, Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Philip Casson, starring : Ian McKellen, Judi Dench |
| Hamlet, 1996, Castle Rock, directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring: Kenneth Branagh, Billy Crystal, Jack Lemmon, Kate Winslet, Robin Williams, Charlton Heston 1980, BBC, directed by Rodney Bennett, starring: Patrick Steward, Claire Bloom |
| Romeo and Juliet 1978, BBC, directed by Alvin Rakoff |
| 1968, BHE, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring: Michael York, Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Laurence Olivier NOTE: bedroom scene has nudity |
| King Lear 1998, BBC, directed by Richard Eyre, starring: Paul Rhys, Finbar Linch, Timothy West, David Burke 1974, NY Shakespeare Festival, directed by Edwin Sherin, starring, James Earl Jones, Paul Sorvina, Lee Chamberlin. This play was filmed in front of a live audience in New York City. Excellent. |
| Merchant of Venice 1980, BBC, directed by Jack Gold, starring: John Rhys-Davies, 2004, SONY directed by Michael Radford, starring: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, NOTE: not for children--nudity |
| Julius Caesar 1970, Commonwealth United Entertainment, directed by Stuart Burge, starring: Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, Diana Rigg, Richard Chamberlain |
Web sites
Projects
Pick a play and put it on.
Play the game "Shakespeare: The Bard Game" (buy it here)
Writing assignments
Write your own Shakespeare scene in Elizabethan English.
Completed 2008
July, 2008
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copyright © 2003-2007 Doreen Blanding, Helaman's Academy