The+Canterbury+Tales

=The Canterbury Tales =

__Translations __
===The Canterbury Interlude and Merchant's Tale of Beryn + Helpful Footnotes ===

 This page has two separate parts: The top portion of the page a cts as its own window and has the Interlude and the Merchant's Tale in Middle English. In the bottom half, there is another window with accompanying footnotes to further aide the understanding of the pieces. I felt this was helpful because Middle English can be hard to decipher at times.

Canterbury Translations
This is a link to a site that is similar to the Interlude & Merchant's Tale but has three windows instead of two. It also contains more than one tale and has a "Middle English Glossary" rather than simple footnotes.

This site contains links to numerous lesson plans for Chaucer but also has pages for other subjects as well.

 [|Chaucer Re-mix].
In this lesson, students become the characters from //The Canterbury Tales//. As a class they choose their destination for a wedding, location, and mode of transportation. On this journey, each student shares their speech that they are giving at the wedding. Just as the characters share their personal stories in the prologues and tie them to the "point" story, the students must construct their own narratives (fictional or not).

Trivia Game
Learn NC is a site generated out of North Carolina. Their educational standards are fairly identical to those in Ohio. This link is for a lesson plan where the students play a trivia game in groups of four or less and quiz each other. There are two Word files to download with questions and answers for the game. ===Death and the Miser === This is a very detailed unit plan for Death and the Miser that examines symbolism and plot. There are detailed instructions as well as links to the handout files and other resources. ===Satire in Fiction === Satire is a key element in //The Canterbury Tales//. This unit from the Ohio Department of Education examines satire in all different types of media and suggests the //Tales// as one of the resources that students can use. While it is not designed specifically to the //Tales//, I feel that it is important for students to understand (and create) satire in writing, film etc.

Reading Between the Lines of the Wife of Bath
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The Wife of Bath has been noted as one of the first openly feminist characters in literature. Chaucer weaves his opinions on marriage and a woman's place in marriage/society into the story and this lesson helps students understand those opinions. The lesson itself has links to resources for the teacher on how to read Middle English aloud properly and what questions to ask students in order to facilitate a proper discussion. An activity is included where students use computers to learn to read Middle English and judge the points between the to holy men that Allisoun alludes to in her prologue.

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">A British View
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a .pdf file with an opening essay by a British scholar about why //The Canterbury Tales// are so important to American schools. There are three lesson plans included that start near the end of the fifth page. One involves students creating a presentation about each pilgrim and the setting in which he/she lived, another has students create character maps to analyze each pilgrim more in depth, and the final (my favorite!) involves students creating their own stories in the style of Chaucer. They then go on a class pilgrimage to different parts of the school campus where each of their stories fits the setting most. The stories are then read aloud.

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The Seating Chart
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This lesson is creative, interactive, and promotes critical thinking and analysis? Yes, it is true- analysis of Middle English text can be fun for high school students. This lesson involves students getting into groups and creating a poster-sized seating chart with pictures of each pilgrim at the 12-person table in the Drabat Inn. Students will need to analyze all of the nuances of each pilgrim and work together to create a seating chart based upon the personalities, socio-economic statuses (etc) of the pilgrims and provide a reason for each. After creating the charts, students will present to the class.

===<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Chaucer's Biography and a Class Manuscript === <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This page offers a study sheet for students to fill out about Chaucer and his purpose for //The Canterbury Tales// along with a lesson to follow. The lesson is an activity where students pair off and are assigned a different pilgrim. Students must write a summary about the character describing all of the details about the pilgrim and accompany the description with a picture of what they think he/she looks like. The teacher will then bind all of the pilgrims' descriptions with the Prologue into a class manuscript.

===<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Take it to the Stage === <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a lesson designed to have students put on an Opera. However, it can be altered so that students are put into groups and each group assigned a tale. Each group can then put on a play based upon their tale. It would be a great transition from Chaucer to Shakespeare & theatre.

===<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Marriage, Stereotypes and the Church, Oh MY! === <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a link based upon NCTE standards that includes three lesson plans with writing prompts and a final paper proposal. All of the lessons involve writing with critical thinking based off of selections from the Tales.

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">1-2 Class Period Activities
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a list of six simple lesson plans with short descriptions for each. Two of the lessons are meant to be taught before starting the Tales, two are for tying the Tales across subjects, and the last two are for either during or near the end of the unit.

__<span style="color: #0b7bda; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Videos __
===<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">A Brief Biography of Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales ===

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a link to Kent State's library where teachers can download this 1/2 hour long film about Chaucer and how he created the Tales.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This YouTube video shows that it is possible to rap in Middle English. It can be a way to show students that Chaucer "wrote for the ear," and that they may need to read aloud rather than silently in order to have a better chance at understanding what Chaucer was writing.

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The Wife of Bath's Tale
= = <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Students from a senior English class act out the Wife's tale with a few modern spins in a very clever way.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This site has a plethora of resources including handouts, worksheets, vocabulary activities, lesson plans and journal set-ups to go along with a unit on the //Tales.// ===<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Cliff's Notes for the Canterbury Tales ($) === <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This offers a great resources for teachers and students alike when reading //The Canterbury Tales.// It includes a great study guide, character list with detailed descriptions, and the summaries can help students see if they understood the text properly. Both teachers and students can also use this tool to see if they caught on to each of Chaucer's messages that were woven between the lines.

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Online Quiz
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is an online multiple-choice quiz based upon The Canterbury Tales//.//

<span style="color: #0b7bda; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Apple App Quiz Description
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This is a link to the description of an application made for the iPod touch, iPad or iPhone with a study guide and quiz for the Prologue.