Magic Treehouse Book Club Celebrates Shakespeare

On April 18, our Younger Readers Book Club met to discuss Magic Treehouse #25, Stage Fright on a Summer Night in which Jack and Annie whisk away to merry olde England and meet William Shakespeare.  I chose this book because April 23 would have been Shakespeare's 449th birthday, so we made it a book club and a birthday party all in one!

Back in 2008, before Spark READiness was officially Spark READiness, I hosted an enrichment workshop on Magic Treehouse #25.

 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to 2013, and I'm still on a mission to bring Shakespeare to young kids in a fun, relatable way.  Our Younger Readers Book Club, with kids ranging from kindergarten to second grade, had a great time discussing Magic Treehouse #25. 

 

We watched Taylor Swift's video for her song Love Story and talked about how the song is based on one of Shakespeare's most famous plays.  (The boys didn't like all the talk about love but they perked up when I told them about the fighting and dying in R&J.)

 

We sang happy birthday to Shakespeare and enjoyed cake.  Why not?

 

 

We learned about words that Shakespeare invented and talked about some of the most famous quotes from his plays.  Then, we used feather quills to write those quotes on our wooden scrolls.  It was messy and fun!  And isn't that what Shakespeare's plays are all about -- our complicated, funny, sometimes tragic lives?  (Good news:  The only tragedy for us was that book club had to end.  Well, and maybe that the paint took a while to dry.)

 

Next Magic Treehouse Book Club:  We're heading to Hawaii!