British Literature Lessons for the Classroom

Some poems, originally written in Old English, regarding or reflecting the fall season.  These are usually a nice touch as we begin the year with the Anglo-Saxons just as autumn is commencing.  A couple of years ago we went outside under the autumn trees and read the poems aloud.  It is important with all of these Anglo Saxon poems to remind students that they are the product of a translation.

This project, designed for four students, not only asks students to answer questions based on a close reading of their excerpt from Bede -- it also attempts to get them to realize that Bede's research methods were fundamentally different than most historians before him.  In doing so, they collaboratively recreate a history of their first five weeks at school.  In 2010, I also saved each of the weekly bulletins and made enough so the students could use them as primary resources.

This project directs the students to perform the action of "The Seafarer" - the epic Anglo-Saxon poem.  As with all performance work, the thought is that, essentially, it is impossible to act out a text without having, at least, a minimal understanding of that text.  In the past I have also used the sounds of the ocean, the sounds of wave to fill the background as the students perform their scenes.  As we have lost more and more actual teaching time in the classroom - it has been a number of years since I have been able to cover this poem or  use this lesson.

This assignment asks students to find a favorite quote, and to find the origins of its words (25-50 consecutive) using the Oxford English Dictionary. After we are done, we spend a day discussing what they came up with, including some very intersting disparities between the available words in the dictionary, and the words that we actually use in every day life.  Sadly, due to losing so much seat time over the course of the year - we no longer have time to do this assignment - I really feel the loss throughout the year.

Students perform the final part of Beowulf in a setting of their choice (ie Star Wars), though they must remain faithful to the translated words. This assignment has a two-fold goal: 1) To have students show that they understand the text of Beowulf by performing it.  2) To prepare students for later Shakespeare performances by allowing them to see that many settings are possible for a given text -- not just the one that it was originally created in (though it takes more than a bit of critical thinking to come up with an appropriate setting).

This brief slide show begins with the moving, translated words of Beowulf where he states that he would not race ahead of his friend Brecca, because he had promised him he would stay by his side.  There is now an .mp4 version of this presentation.   The video recounts some of the heroes of 9/11while subtly (I hope) comparing it ideas of heroism from Beowulf.  It ends with the fiery funeral of Beowulf and the casket of the last 9/11 firefighter being carried away on his fire truck.  This is used with a group work on the same subject.

Presentation in Power Point form

Group work
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