For some unknown reason, this primarily elementary school person has been spending time learning about resources for middle and high school. Most of the sessions I attended at NCTIES were related to middle or high school, and I have spent the first three days of this week at either a middle or a high school. I wonder if someone is trying to tell me something ...In the workshop I did today, I asked teachers for resources they thought would be useful to other teachers so I could include them in a teacher resource my school system provides. After one session, a teacher asked me if I had ever heard of Shmoop. I had to tell her that was one I had not heard of (and in my mind I was wondering about the site based on the name). That teacher said that site was shown to them last year, and when she starts a lesson series on The Odyssey, she visits Shmoop. She showed me that Shmoop has learning guides and teacher resources. According to the website, it is a collections of "lively learning guides by experts and educators."
For The Odyssey, I found information on the characters, quotes, themes, assignments/activities, setting, analysis, music/video/photos, as well as a summary and even more. They are even sections on certain types of quotes (ex. lies and deceit quotes). When I kept looking, I found a section of the challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities of teaching The Odyssey and with a guide to the Homer writing style in The Odyssey. Wow!
Here are the Popular Learning Guides listed on the site:
There are areas in Shmoop devoted to Literature, Poetry, Shakespeare, Best Sellers, US History, Civics, Economics, Biography, Music, Pre-Algebra, as well as exam prep and College 101. I was impressed by the high levels of information and background building materials to support critical thinking and analysis skills.
image from the shmoop site
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