Last fall, as I read and planned lessons for Beowulf, “The Wanderer,” and “The Seafarer,” I kept coming across “The Dream of the Rood.” It wasn’t included in our textbook, but since I kept reading about it (and it was included in my trusty Norton anthology, after all), I became more and more curious. Fast forward: my “Dream of the Rood” close reading activity is here!
Category Archives: British Lit
A new movie for your Anglo-Saxon poetry unit
The 1-hour and 52-minute movie is captivating, and builds suspense and excitement around the very culture awash in The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife’s Lament, and Beowulf.
Resources for Everyman, the Morality Play
A media mix brings Everyman to life My senior British literature classes ended the first semester with a study of Everyman, the 1510 morality play. Again, just as with The Canterbury Tales and Le Morte d’Arthur, I felt challenged to find a supplemental text and activities as a result of the minimal two-page treatment ourContinue reading “Resources for Everyman, the Morality Play”
Le Morte d’Arthur: Resources for high school
My quest with my high school seniors into British Lit continues with one of the last two texts in our Medieval Era unit: Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. This text, published in 1485, provides the tales of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. (A post on our last medievalContinue reading “Le Morte d’Arthur: Resources for high school”
Canterbury Tales lesson plan resources
This year, I taught The Canterbury Tales for the first time. Here are the resources and activities I used.
When Christian Bale becomes Beowulf
Here’s another way to infuse relevance into Beowulf If you extend your Beowulf unit into a mini-unit on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, three things will happen: 1) You’ll build excitement to read an Anglo-Saxon poem so old we don’t even know exactly when it was written or by whom. 2) You’ll open students’ eyes toContinue reading “When Christian Bale becomes Beowulf”
Life lessons from Beowulf
I tried this Life Lessons in Beowulf essay with high school seniors. Here’s how it went.
Three new articles to pair with Beowulf
Three contemporary articles to pair with Beowulf to build relevance for high school students.
Prepping for the Coronavirus break
Paper paper everywhere. Distance learning doesn’t mean high-tech for me. Yesterday at 3:35 pm, my school released until April 1st in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus. The night before, I was sitting at my dining room table preparing plans for students to accomplish over the break. Just because we’re not inContinue reading “Prepping for the Coronavirus break”
