"But we still have five minutes!!" Next up: toga party...




The funniest thing happened yesterday in Brit Lit (I hope you are not tired of my stories yet): we were getting close to the end of class, and we still had a little bit more to go in Act V of Julius Caesar. I was going to call it a day, finish today, but NO!! "But we have five more minutes--there's only two pages left!"

Think they were engaged? 😊

Today, we'll recap the highlights of the play, and they'll choose from my list of preselected speeches and scenes for the "toga party" on Monday. They will practice the chosen bits over the weekend, then bring large bedsheets to class to create their togas-- then, in class on Monday, we'll have our presentations. They don't have to be "off book," but they do need to be well-versed in what they are reading. Any props, gestures, and so on need to be attended to. Then, they'll all join in to re-enact the murder of Caesar. Fun, eh?

Today is the Ides of March, so we made it! I'm proud of them. They've worked hard. And we'll see how those Macbeth analyses are coming along, too. Likely, the slow-roll process I put in place is a good thing, as they have not done any sort of analysis essays before. They'll catch on, I pretty confident.

What's next? O, we'll head back to the chronology of literature. Wait'll they find out they get to research just about anything in medieval or Renaissance English history for a midterm presentation. Years ago, one student built a working trebuchet that tossed marshmallows. Others researched the symbolism in stained glass windows and used markers to transform one of the school windows. Another one made a battle mace... we do have fun!

I hope your day is a good one. We have yet more cold/rain. I'll be glad if spring warmth comes to stay soon. In the meantime, though, we'll be at the Forum, if you need us...

Take care,

C


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