Shakespeare as a stoner? All smoke & no substance

Shakespeare a stoner? What’s your opinion? I’m good with most anything that helps you be creative… I’m no one to judge!

sarij's avatarThe View From Sari's World

Were herbs to blame for this play? Were herbs to blame for this play?

By now you’ve undoubtedly have heard the news: Pipes from Shakespeare’s property have been found to contain cannabis! Shakespeare was a stoner! If you haven’t heard, here’s a snippet from the Telegraph:

South African scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his famous works while high. Residue from early 17th century clay pipes found in the playwright’s garden, and elsewhere in Stratford-Upon-Avon, were analyzed in Pretoria using a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, the Independent reports. Of the 24 fragments of pipe loaned from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to University of the Witwatersrand, cannabis was found in eight samples, four of which came from Shakespeare’s property.

The author of the piece goes on to suggest Shakespeare must have smoked weed while writing his plays…

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Cute Shakespeare Sonnet Readings by a 6 year-old

I recently met someone on Twitter who showed me a couple very cute videos that I thought I would share, enjoy the cute kid:

Cute Shakespeare Sonnet Readings by a 6 year-old was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books

Great fun with a group of 6th graders today!

Classroom Insult-a-thon

Classroom Insult-a-thon (Don’t forget, April 23rd is National Insult Like Shakespeare Day!) It’s simple and fun and works like this: Everyone writes up 3-4 different insults using the Shakespeare Insult Generator They spend about 5-10 minutes practicing their insults, working on generating the appropriate delivery with angst! Split the class into 2 groups that line…

Classroom Insult-a-thon was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books

The Astor Place riot, or why we don’t say Macbeth

Some insight to why Macbeth is the “cursed” play… Great for classroom discussions.

sarij's avatarThe View From Sari's World

astor-place-riot-new-york-state-everett

I’ve always wondered why it’s considered bad luck to say “Macbeth” in a theater, or why production companies often refer to the play as, “that Scottish play”. Actors and directors will tell you the play is cursed; yet oddly this doesn’t stop them from producing it.

Why do we think the play is cursed? I’ve tried in vain to find the origin of this myth. My research led me to several stories that are purported to be examples of this curse, yet no one can say where theses stories originally come from. Even Harvard Professor Marjorie Garber, a well-respected Shakespeare scholar, adds to the myth without bothering to cite any sources. If she is to be taken at her word, the three witches use an actual spell in the opening scene. This supposedly has cursed the play right from the start.

And again if she is to be believed, the…

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Introduce your kids to Shakespeare insults

Ahhh, More insults the better!!!

sarij's avatarThe View From Sari's World

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get our kids hooked on Shakespeare at an early age? You know, so they don’t gasp or panic when their high school literary teacher pulls out a play and announces, “Today we will start reading Shakespeare!”.

Anyone who has been around children understands they love performing. There is something about childhood that compels kids to “act”. Maybe it is a way of mimicking and understanding the world around them. Perhaps it is a early chance at self-expression in a way that is none threatening to adults. Who hasn’t watched a child perform a puppet play (usually with stuffed animals) and wondered, “where did that thought come from?” Toys are great stand-ins for children, as the toys say what the child cannot.

What if we could turn the love of performance towards Shakespeare? Is it possible to foster a love of classic theater in…

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Raising awareness for Autism Awareness Week

Green leprechaun pees in the toilet

The Story of the Rainbow Leprechauns

Green leprechaun pees in the toiletSo everybody knows about the green leprechaun, but do you know about the history of the other colored leprechauns? Every year we go through this story with my son, it is so much fun leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, since this is one of our favorite holidays.  The legend of the rainbow leprechauns goes a little something like this (spoken in your best Irish accent):

Everybody knows about the lore of the green leprechaun. But what people don’t really know, is the history of the rainbow leprechauns. The little brothers and sisters of the green leprechaun.
The rainbow leprechauns check in every day before St. Patrick’s Day and can leave little gifts if you’re being a good boy or girl before their big brother, the green leprechaun, the most mischievous of them all, comes by for a visit.  They are getting your house ready for their big green brother, to make sure everything is in order so he can cause the most trouble!  Lots of different troubles, that you have always thought were caused by the green leprechauns, were really the work of his rainbow gang, but blue leprechaun on fridgeGreen takes all the credit, because, he is the oldest and the wisest!
The reason nobody knows about the other colors is they are not allowed to be seen.  I try to catch one every year, but all that is ever left behind are little colored footprints!  As they prove their worth through mischievous deeds, they can, over time, change colors to become green one day.
All of the different leprechauns are mischievous, it’s just part of their nature. They typically come at night, one day after another, each day before St. Patrick’s Day, when the Green Guy finally shows up. However, they have been known to show up two or three on a given night, just to try to cause more mayhem.  Every once in a while, although rare, they have even been known to show up during the day!
To get an idea of what these other leprechauns are like, let’s start with the blue leprechaun. He is a messy leprechaun. Just figuring out how to be a leprechaun and he leaves his blue marks everywhere. On the cupboards, on the floor, even in the toilet.  His intentions are good, but he just purple leprechaun in bathroomdoesn’t know how to control his blue yet.
The purple leprechaun is a risk taker. He is not shy, but is always doing something a bit extreme to get the attention of anybody that will watch. His footsteps are bold, and prominent and sometimes things get broken, not on purpose, of course, but by accident. And when he leaves a gift, sometimes, it’s a bit edgy and risky. And yes, it’s not uncommon to see purple sink and toilet water!
The red leprechaun is just curious. Always poking his nose, fingers, hands, or feet in places they probably shouldn’t belong. He typically leaves his little red gifts in these places as well. He is definitely in trouble from time to time.
The orange leprechaun is always is running late, typically missing the night time visits.  He is the king of procrastination.  Some feel he just likes to visit during the day and risk being caught, where others feel he likes to watch the kids behaviors during the day to make sure they are doing everything juuuust right!
red leprechaun on tileThe yellow leprechaun is shy. You can barely see his footprints at times, and doesn’t want to come out in the middle of the room. He is always a bit hidden and difficult to find.  He always leaves gifts, yellow in nature, and they are difficult to find as well.
The green one, well… he is a combination of them all, the best definition for him is: mischievous. He is the craftiest, the wisest, the eldest, a risk taker, and definitely the biggest troublemaker of them all.  He typically leaves his footprints everywhere around the house. The toilet water is always green, the milk and other such foods are green, and he even seems to dance on the little kids faces from time to time leaving green dots all over their faces when they wake up.  Green is also the most fun!
So, that is the story of the rainbow leprechaun gang.  I hope to hear about their shenanigans around your house next year!
As you can see in the photos, they stopped by our house again this year!
purple leprechaun letter

green leprechaun on mirror

Where is the Cake? for Language Development

The Skinny: Where is the Cake? and its sequel Where is the Cake Now? are wonderful illustrated books without any words. Taking away the text can be great for some children who are nervous about reading, and prompt them to create their own narratives about the pictures. What it is: Where is the Cake? and Where is…

Where is the Cake? for Language Development was originally published on KidConnectionZ

Shakespeare’s Top 10 Dirty Jokes

I work hard to make sure kids find him funny with my Shakespeare for Kids books.  But what’s equally clear to me, teens generally consider Shakespeare boring or “Why is my teacher wasting my life reading this #$%@”  As I have seen on Twitter many times.  But hey, if it’s not presented right, it comes…

Shakespeare’s Top 10 Dirty Jokes was originally published on Shakespeare for Kids Books