The Anglo-Saxons Part 2
"The days are gone / When the kingdoms of earth flourished in glory; Now there are no rulers, no emperors,
No givers of gold, as once there were, / When wonderful things were worked among them." The Seafarer
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The Students have just put on their Beowulf skits - we've read Beowulf, it's time to get back to the rest of the Anglo-Saxon Literature covered in this course. The wonderful thing about doing this after Grendel, is that the students are hopefully becoming adept at seeing just how much Literature from many years ago, lives on today. The poems and riddles that we will go over continue that pattern of recognition that began on the first day of class when we learned that at least one reason that we read Literature, is to "know that we're not alone." Click here to go back to Anglo-Saxons Part 1 (on the historical background).
Illuminated Texts - creating a video that explicates a text (usually a poem or short piece of prose) using movement, color, fonts, and music - was born in my classroom. This project for two students (in about a month or 5 weeks) has them pick a text, and then they use software (most likely Power Point) to make the words, letters, and pictures move in a way that makes the text come alive. For more on Illuminated Texts go to this page.
In addition to the short term assignments that the students work on (mainly reading) - I believe it's important to have a Long Term assignment as well. I believe the two types of homework work on different skills and should complement each other. Before there were Illuminated Texts - this was the Long Term Assignment that students did after they finish their Beowulf Skits. The students will find one of their favorite modern quotes (or songs, or speeches) and they will find the origin of the words (at least a consecutive 50 of them) in that text. At the same time in class, they will be reading (and we will be discussing) the origins of the English Language.
Back to poetry - and Anglo-Saxon poetry at that. We go over the Exeter Book (very briefly) and two poems that the students have read for homework. "The Wife's Lament" and "The Husband's Message". We take our time - read a part - stop - and ask and answer questions. We pretend they go together (they don't). And we use my Three Rules for Understanding Poetry. This class is crucial - a lynch pin if you will - in getting students to see that the most important thing that they can understand in a poem is the "What" of what's going on. No symbolism - no hidden meaning - just reading and trying to understand the words. We then look at a poem they did not read for homework - "Wulf and Eadwacer" (also Anglo Saxon) and I let them guide the understanding - the questions - the answers and they come to understand it - using what they've learned.
The students will learn first hand what made Bede different and important as a historian in part by chronicalling their first six weeks of school. They will also connect his work (and their reading) to what the novel Grendel had to say about The Shaper - and the idea of history being shaped to bring about a certain effect (propaganda). There is also a part of the lesson that asks students to look at how histories (and education) can sometimes contribute to systematic racism or bias, when the methods of Bede are not used.
Are there lessons that teachers are allowed to look forward to? I know I do this one. We finish the Exeter Book with the Anglo-Saxon poems found there (ok we have few more left) - and introduce students to Celtic Poetry (end rhyme finally!) We will listen to a song "John Barleycorn" try to figure out some riddles (from The Hobbit), look out the window and see the answer to the toughest riddle staring at us in the face (if the wind is right). We will also see some beautiful Celtic poems and a couple of Illuminated Texts to go with them.
The students will be looking at this epic Anglo-Saxon poem "cold". They will get into groups - be given a part of the epic poem - and then each group will act it out (in order) so we get the complete poem - the complete story. In my classroom, I had a few props, some sound effects, and I projected a background of the waves breaking against the rocks - all aimed at getting us in the mood, while keeping our focus on the very human elements of this poem.
I only used this lesson once or twice which is a shame. It has a very well-thought-out essay prompt and is in the form of a state (Illinois) assessment - thereby giving them more practice. Finally, it does what we've been doing all year - comparing modern and ancient texts - and seeing how little things have changed.
The students have been working on these for quite a while (on their own time) - and now that we've finished the Anglo-Saxon period and are about to start with the Middle Ages - it's time watch what they've done. Please see the original page for this assignment or the page on Illuminated Texts for more information.
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