Learn how to guide students into a practice of attentive reading through the transformative world of Middle Earth. I have been teaching Lord of the Rings since 2012 to students in 7th – 12th grades. One of the things I have learned is that The Lord of the Rings is one of the most accessible works for ushering students into the world of reading the great books well. The fundamental skills and mindset needed for profound encounters with the classics can be effectively cultivated by attentively reading The Lord of the Rings, a work that is enjoyable and transformative in its own right! This course will show you the way. In this course, you will learn the basic concepts needed for your excursion into The Lord of the Rings, the background and context for Tolkien’s famous work, take a guided tour through all three books, and learn a simple process for preparing, teaching, and reflecting on the journey as a teacher. We learn best by example. We designed this course with that in mind. Through immersive lessons, teaching notes, student handouts, and other helpful resources, you will walk away confident and equipped to guide your students into this great, fair, and perilous realm.
Includes
- Three 1.5-Hour Recorded Sessions
- Lifetime Access to Recordings and Downloads
- Session 1: The Role of Student and Teacher in Reading Attentively + An Intro to Tolkien, Fantasy, Fairie, and The Lord of the Rings
- Session 2: A Guided Tour through the World, Characters, Episodes, and Motifs of The Lord of the Rings
- Session 3: Teacher Prep and Reflection + the Student’s Routine
- Teacher and Student Handouts
- Course Workbook
Curriculum
- 5 Sections
- 5 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Video Preview1
- Course WorkbookCourse Workbook Download1
- Session One: IntroductionSession one includes two lessons: "The Role of the Student & The Teacher in Reading Literature Attentively" and "An Intro to Tolkien, Fantasy, Fairie, and The Lord of the Rings"1
- Session Two: A Guided Tour Through Middle EarthSession two includes a guided tour through the world, characters, episodes, questions, and motifs of The Lord of the Rings with dedicated sections for Books 1-2: The Fellowship of the Ring, Books 3-4: The Two Towers Books, and 5-6: The Return of the King.1
- Session Three: Planning & HandoutsSession three includes downloads, content, and support for teacher prep, planning, teaching, and reflection along with the student's routine handout.1
Instructor
Jennifer Souza is a classical teacher and curriculum developer with over 20 years of teaching experience. She completed her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies & English from Belmont Abbey College, is a CiRCE certified Classical Teacher, and is currently pursuing an MA at Hellenic College Holy Cross.
She has been teaching humanities, history, literature, logic, writing, rhetoric, and the fine arts for over 20 years at various Classical schools, both in person and online. Jennifer was a contributing author for The Lost Tools of Writing Level 1, published by The CiRCE Institute, was the former co-host of The Classical Homeschool Podcast, and has spoken at dozens of events across the nation on classical education and teaching. Her research interests include Classical Rhetoric, Pedagogy, the Intersection of Education and Healing, Iconography, and Fine Art Studies.
Jennifer lives with her husband Fr. John and their son in Michigan, where her husband serves at a local Greek Orthodox Church. She enjoys music, art, poetry, trying her hand at a challenging recipe, collecting more books than she’ll ever read, and sauntering about in nature.
