Digital Spotlight: Discovering Literature: Shakespeare

DISCOVERING LITERATURE: SHAKESPEARE from the British Library is a digital collection and educational resource focusing on Shakespeare’s plays.

Contents: This resource features digital objects from the British Library. Users can explore the materials by works, articles, collection items, themes, teaching resources, and a person area. The works section features 15 plays. The articles area provides nearly 100 articles written by scholars, performers, curators, and journalists focusing different aspects of Shakespeare and his works. The collection section provides easy access to collection items. The themes area explores themes such as comedies, tragedies, histories, and more. The Shakespeare biography page includes links to many collection resources. The teacher resources contains a couple dozen lesson plans and resources.

Classroom Connections: Librarians and English teachers will find that these high quality digital objects and supplemental materials are useful additions to the English curriculum. Use the themes section to immerse students in a variety of works related to topics of interest from ethnicity to interpretations of madness.

Featured Digital Objects:
Comedies https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/themes/comedies
Tragedies https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/themes/tragedies
Deception https://www.bl.uk/…/th…/deception-drama-and-misunderstanding

To visit the collection, go to https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare.

Book Review: Dara Palmer's Major Drama

DARA PALMER’S MAJOR DRAMA by Emma Shevah tells the humorous story of a girl who comes to terms with the fact that she’s not a amazing actress.

Dara and her best friend enjoy practicing their dramatic faces and anticipate getting lead roles in the upcoming musical. When Dara doesn’t make the cut, she thinks it’s because she’s a Cambodian adoptee. However she soon discovers that she simply lacks acting skills. Her humorous voyage of self-discovery will charm young readers.

Librarians will find this middle grade novel will appeal to youth readers who enjoy humorous realistic fiction. Of particular note is the focus on diversity, adoption, identity, and personal development. The title would be an excellent choice for reading groups and class discussions.

To learn more about the author, go to https://emmashevah.com/.

Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky on July 5, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Book Review: Will's Words

WILL’S WORDS: HOW WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE CHANGED THE WAY YOU TALK by Jane Sutcliffe is an informational picture book explore the impact of Shakespeare on the English language.

Designed for intermediate grade students, the book begins with a letter from the author explaining that the focus of the book is on Shakespeare’s fascinating words and phrases. This beautifully illustrated picture book immerses readers in the time period, while weaving Shakespeare’s famous words into the narrative. Phrases like “too much of a good thing” and “wild-goose chase” are a couple examples of the many words made famous by this famous playwright. The book features sidebars containing Shakespeare’s words, their meaning, and where they can be found in his work. The book concludes with a second letter from the author, a timeline, and a bibliography.

Librarians will find this book to be a fun and engaging way to introduce young readers to Shakespeare’s world and his love of wordplay. Place the book in a learning center along with other books about Shakespeare, online resources, and a hands-on activity involving his famous phrases.

Learn more about the author at http://www.janesutcliffe.com/.
Learn more about the illustrator at http://www.jshelley.com/.

Published by Charlesbridge on March 22, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: Shakespeare for Kids

SHAKESPEARE FOR KIDS from the Folger Shakespeare Library contains eight, web-based learning resources for students.

Using primary source documents, the eight pages immerse children in the history surrounding Shakespeare and his works. While some resources focus on facts, others incorporate challenges and other activities.

Librarians will find this website to be an interesting way to explore facts related to Shakespeare and his works. However, much of the content relies on students having some background knowledge of the time period and Shakespeare’s works. Consider using the content to create your own bulletin board or display featuring the works of Shakespeare.

For older students, the main website contains a wealth of information about Shakespeare.

To visit the website, go to http://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-kids.

Website Review: World of Greek Arts

WORLD OF GREEK ARTS from ArtsEdge is a fascinating, interactive, multimedia exploration of the origin and influence of the performing arts of Greece.

The resource is divided into two sections focusing on music and theater.

The Music of Greece area provides an audio series exploring both ancient and contemporary music of Greece. Users download three audio programs. these programs can also be accessed through iTunes.

The City Dionysia area explores the development of theater in Ancient Greece. The interactive takes students through key concepts using images, animation, and text to help students learn. Then, students follow the process of writing their own play based on the rules and structure of Greek tragedy. An engaging interactive allows students to select the players, masks, and props to stage their play.

A Glossary can be downloaded as a PDF to review key terms.

Librarians will find this resource to be popular among literature, art, theater, and history teachers.

To learn more, go to http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/interactives/greece.

App Review: Shakespeare

SHAKESPEARE by PlayShakespeare is a free app containing the complete works of Shakespeare.

With 41 plays, 154 sonnets, and 6 poems, students can search by exact or relaxed words or phrases. The free version contains options for changing color combinations along with fonts and text sizes. In addition to the text itself, students can also read detailed scene breakdowns.

The pro-version contains line numbers, a glossary, and other useful additional features.

Librarians will find this to be a practical resource for students seeking the works of Shakespeare for their English classes.

To learn more about the app, go to http://bit.ly/shakesfaqs.