2007 National Shakespeare Competition

As you can probably tell by now, I'm a huge Shakespeare fan. I'm trying, on occasion, to mention other authors, since surely there's another author or two out there. But right now, I'm reading Stephen Greenblatt's biography of Shakespeare, Will in the World, so I'm a bit focused on the Bard of Avon.

So, in my digging, I ran across these amazing videos of High School Students performing Shakespeare. Wow, are they good. The first kid is as good as any Shakespearean Actor I've ever seen. Take a few minutes to check out his and some of the other 16,000 entries at the Shakespeare Competition Website.

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Linguistical Analysis of LOLcats

Okay, so you may not be familiar with the internet meme du'jour called LOLcats (my favorite one is posted to the left), but this article should be amusing to anyone interested in the way language changes, especially in how rapidly it changes with the internet and text messages.

Lolcats are amusing images of animals, primarily cats, with text on them in the vein of the old "hang in there" posters, used primarily sarcastically in online message boards -- some are cute, some are funny, and some are vulgar.

In these images, cats have their own kind of pidgin English (Don't be laughin I are learnin to waltz.) which they speak which people have noted has a -- some are cute, some are funny, and some are vulgar. In the last few (weeks/months?) the movement of creating new ones has grown at an amazing rate. This article analyzes their growth from a linguistic perspective -- you'll get a kick out of it.


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Prestwick House Poster Review

Last year we submitted some posters to Edutopia, the George Lucas Educational Foundation magazine, for review, and didn't hear back from them.

We sent them a copy of both our Language of Politicians and AEP award winning Language of Advertising posters.

Well, it looks like they liked them. They were given a brief review in October's issue.

Both poster sets are designed to prepare your students to listen & read with a critical eye and ear what advertisers and politicians are saying. They're a great introduction to rhetorical devices, and as the election frenzy gets underway, it's a great opportunity to get students thinking about the use of language.

Thanks National Curriculum Advisory Board!

We'd like to extend our thanks to the two members of the 2006 National Curriculum Advisory Board, Barbara Bretherick and Catharine Routh.

Members of the Prestwick House National Curriculum Advisory board are chosen from an extensive list of dedicated teachers to help keep us up to date on the latest trends in the educational field.

Each member is given a stipend of $300 to pay for curriculum materials as well as sample copies of many new & in-development to review. On their own, these teachers give us valuable insight into what teachers are looking for in new products and what we can do to make our products more useful.

This year's advisory board was very helpful in getting many of our newest products, especially 3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing, our New Poe Anthology, and Discovering Genre: Poetry off the ground and into classrooms.

Due to the success of the 2006/2007 program, we're extending the PHNCAB to 13 members this year. We're in the final stages of selection, and we'll announce all those who are chosen next week. If you'd like to be considered as a member of next year's PHNCAB, send me an E-mail at keith[at]prestwickhouse.com and we'll send you an application!

We're very proud to have a group of teachers helping us out who are so dedicated to their profession. Thanks!

Book Review: The Life of Pi

Since Yann Martel's appearance at last year's NCTE conference, we've seen a big uptick in teacher interest in his book The Life of Pi, winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize, though many teachers still aren't familiar with this fun story, and some with just a back-cover knowledge may have put it aside (or considered adding it) to their classroom, when it might be a good (or bad) choice.

Summary: Pi Patel is a young man growing up in a zoo in India. In the first third of the book (my favorite part) we find Pi wandering the streets of India getting to know many holy men, and becoming a devote of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. He gets himself in trouble because he doesn't feel that these religions are mutually exclusive, while everyone else tells him he must choose one faith and follow only that faith.

When Pi's family plans to move their zoo to Canada, they board a ship for the journey. Caught in a storm the ship goes down, and when the chaos ends, Pi finds himself aboard a life raft with an Orangutan, a hyeena, and a Bengal tiger. The bulk of the story involves young Pi's survival at sea on a life raft on a tarpaulin over the head of a 400 lb. Bengal tiger. His ingenuity and faith keeps him alive for 227 days as he fishes, not only for himself, but also for his tiger.

The story eventually gains a bit of a surrealistic quality, and I won't spoil the ending, but you'll be left wondering at the end what's real and what's imaginary.

While I'd recommend the book to many classrooms, and as far as I remember, there's little or no foul language, there is a bit of cannibalism that might come as a bit of a shock to some readers. The story, however, is told in a delightful way that will really interest most of your students, and there's really something in here for everyone.

Link.

Using Shakespeare in Conversation

In the latest Talk of the Nation, blogger Joe Muldoon and head of the Folger Library, Gail Pastor, discuss using Shakespeare in everyday conversation.

They take calls from listeners about their favorite Shakespeare quote, and how they weave it into conversation. It may sound a little pompous from time to time, but hey, if you can't seem elitist around friends, who can you sound elitist around?

It's hard to pick out a favorite quote, but I think my favorite to pull out in everyday conversation is from Caesar, "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

By the way: If you're ever looking for a specific quote for any occasion, one of my favorite Shakespeare Resources is the Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary. The Lexicon contains every word used by Shakespeare, cross referenced, so you can always find a relevant quote for a bulletin board or handout. (Sorry there's no copy/image on our site for this one yet. I promise we're working on it.)

What are your favorites?


Thanks News on the Rialto.

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Concert Review: Lorenna McKennitt

Last night, a few of us Prestwick Housers took a road trip after work it to Washington, DC to see Loreena McKennitt in concert at the DAR Constitution Hall.

If you've not heard Ms. McKennit's music before, try to imagine Celtic folk with a middle eastern twist and beautiful soaring vocals. Then, when you can't actually imagine that, head on over to her web page, Quinlan Road and check out the samples that she shares.

If you like what you hear, make sure you check out tickets to the show -- her first tour in a decade. She and her band do a magnificent job weaving a rich tapestry of sound with 10 musicians on stage at a time and at least two dozen different instruments ranging from McKennitt's harp and piano to the Hurdy Gurdy, a wide range of drums, and more. It's probably the most well-orchestrated show I've ever seen.

Why does this bring a group of educational publishers to our capital, and why would it be of interest to English teachers?

Well, Ms. McKennitt's music has a deep literary tradition. Among the songs she played last night was a musical version of Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot (video available here), Penelope's Song, the story of Odysseus's travels from his wife's point of view, and The Highwayman, an adaptation of an Alfred Noyes poem.

Living in Stratford, ON -- home of the Stratford Shakespeare festival, she also has a history of working in Shakespeare having written a song to Prospero's closing speech from The Tempest and music to a song from Cymbeline.

If you're looking to inspire your students with the relevancy of poetry to modern life or get them working on a creative adaptation of a favorite poem, these might be of interest to your students, even if I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by MC Nuts isn't.

Book Review: Cathy's Book

More than just a book, Cathy's Book is an experiment in breaking down the barriers between the reader and and the read.

Written as a collaboration between writers and game designers, Cathy's Book is presented as a beautifully illustrated journal of a teenage girl who disappeared. As students read the book they'll come across a number of "clues" that encourage participation with the book, such as the phone number on the cover (Go ahead, dial 650-266-8233), websites, and physical clues included in a pouch in the cover.

It's a surefire way to grab your students' attention, and I bet that the discussion surrounding this book would be dynamite as students tested their theories and solved the puzzles.

While there was some controversy surrounding the book due to a paid product placement, it seems not to have affected the story.

I'd love to hear any stories of how this was used in a classroom and how it was received.

UPDATE:

Thanks Jessica -- Here's Bud's review of the book & here's Clarence Fisher's review.

Reading First Results

The Department of Education released data today confirming that Reading First has helped students become better readers.

While marred in controversy over how the program was run, it's always fantastic news when we hear that students are becoming better writers.

On average, the number of students exceeding or meeting the standards on fluency by 16% in first graders, 14% in second graders, and 15% in third graders.

Hopefully, we'll see these results translate into more than better test scores as these students mature into lifelong readers.

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Student Shakespeare Internship!

While I love huge and elaborate productions of Shakespeare, like the Tempest I saw at the Almeida, in which they built a pool on stage, there's something amazing about small, local Shakespeare Festival.

The Delaware Shakespeare Festival doesn't have the draw of some of the larger Shakespeare Festivals, like Shakespeare in the Park or The Oregon Shakespeare Festival but it has all of the charm of a larger festival, and it's well worth a trip to Rockford Park to see them.

This summer they'll be performing one of my favorites (despite the odd scene where Richard somehow woos the wife of someone he murdered!), Richard III.

For any budding Shakespereans in your class, they've also put together a fantastic internship program that they announced today! For students aged 13-18, they're offering a 4-week intensive Shakespeare course that culminates in a student performance.

This is followed by an opportunity to intern as a production assistant at this year's festival -- Should be a great opportunity!

Link.