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Performing Modernized Shakespeare
Students select a piece of text from a play and prepare it for performance to the class based on their modern setting.
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Julius Caesar: iambic pentameter
Read in iambic pentameter! Read Julius Caesar and Macbeth to study the famous meter. While the lesson points out the specific passages to use, you'll have to find them and copy them yourself.
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Bloody Business
Students research word frequencies in Macbeth and create a frozen picture inspired by a word. In this Macbeth lesson, students view Blood Will Have Blood and discuss the dual meaning of the word "blood." Students identify five major...
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"What are these...?"
Learners discuss the "witches" of Shakespeare. In this literature analysis lesson, students research the influence of Macbeth's sisters on his behavior. They examine various terms used to describe the sisters, and discuss which ones...
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Writing Process
Students read Macbeth and work in groups to organize and create an outline for a persuasive essay. In this persuasive essay lesson, students work in tiered learning groups to organize their thoughts for a persuasive thesis about the...
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The Play's the Thing
Students study the life and works of William Shakespeare. They investigate the art of playwriting and write a play of their own.
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Macbeth Presentations
Students make Powerpoint presentations or Web pages about Macbeth. Their presentations must include at least three elements from a provided list. They write reflective papers about their learning experience.
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This Was the Noblest Roman of Them All
High schoolers analyze the problems with staging and character using the play Julius Caesar. They summarize the final scene of the play and view film versions of the scene. Additionally, they prepare a promptbook for the final scene and...
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Knock, Knock, or Whose Line is it Anyway?
Students compare two versions of Macbeth and participate in improvisational acting. In this improvisational lesson, students read and discuss the text before watching two different versions of the film. Students roleplay a scenario and...
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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: A Dual Exploration of Macbeth
Students emulate a key practice of Renaissance theater: doubling. The goal of this instructional activity is for students to experience-to see, hear, and feel-the differences between characters. Each group presents scenes to the rest of...
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Knock, Knock
Students explore the use of sound as a special effect to enhance or radically change the meaning of a scene. They design a soundscape for Macbeth's porter scene, and conclude by listening to and watching two different film treatments of...
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Who's There: Acting in the Dark
Students participate in a performance of Macbeth using the lighting techniques that were employed during the Shakespearean era. Working in groups, student reenact a scene. Afterward they discuss the challenges of working with limited...
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Viciousness in "Twelfth Night" and "Lord of the Flies"
Students work in discussion groups to examine the treatment of Malvolio in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" by comparing the play to the novel "Lord of the Flies".
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The Wooden 0
In this "The Wooden O" instructional activity, learners read about the first public theatres in London and answer discussion questions about attending a play during the 1500-1600's. Students then create a poster of the Globe theatre and...
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Lesson 1: Theatre Arts
Students create and perform based on cuttings from various plays and literature to demonstrate the learning of the process of improvisation. Students connect improvisation with theatre and real life. Students participate in a class...
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Punctuation
Should that pause in your sentence be long, short, or somewhere in between? Practice using commas and semicolons with a series of grammar activities. High schoolers read a series of sentences and paragraphs and decide where they should...
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And. . . Freeze!
Pupils read a short section of a scene very closely and develop a tableaux as a start to the performance process. They write a paragraph in the voice of a character. They present their beginning, middle and end tableaux to the class.
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HAMLET HOOK
Students their personal reactions to issues of family relationships in light of the the plot, characterization, and themes of the play. They analyze the characters of Hamlet on an emotional level not just intellectual.
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The Power of Music
High schoolers analyze the music Shakespeare chose for his play The Tempest. They seek to research why he alluded to popular music and contemporary artists. Students make connections between their own musical knowledge/tastes/interests...
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Looking at Life through the Creation of Personal Metaphors
Learners focus on the creation of personal metaphors, which are first illustrated in pictures and caricatures and then extended to descriptive/analytical paragraphs. They teach the lesson to others using their own personal metaphors as...
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Othello's Father of the Bride
Students read and analyze Act one of the play Othello. They examine the themes of love and marriage and interpret Brabantio's words by using different subtexts.
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Othello's Predecessors: Moors in Renaissance Popular Literature
High schoolers gather textual citations from Othello, discuss stereotypes that they hold, examine primary source materials, and write character profiles.
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"O, I have lost my reputation" - Why Reputation Matters in Othello
Students examine Othello's references to and attitudes toward reputation.
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Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
For this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 15 multiple choice questions based on Tristam Shandy. Students may submit their answers to be scored.