Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Measure for Measure: Are You Talkin' to Me?
Learners rehearse and perform an exchange from act three, scene two of the play, Measure for Measure, in pairs. They read the lines from the point of view of a different character in the play, and perform for the class.
Curated OER
Playing Humanity: Comparing Shylock and Antonio
High schoolers read a scene of "The Merchant of Venice" and write remarks by Antonio and Shylock that indicate traits of their personalities. They enact both characters and discuss the treatment of anti-Semitism, bigotry, persecution and...
Curated OER
A Series of Tragical Mirth
Students read and perform various scenes from the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They perform each scene as both a tragedy and a comedy, then discuss the difference in the way the scenes were presented.
Curated OER
MTV Othello
Students read a scene in Othello. They create a performance of a song in Othello. They perform their "ow Song"s and compare and contrast the interpretations.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
"O, I have lost my reputation" - Why Reputation Matters in Othello
Students examine Othello's references to and attitudes toward reputation.
Curated OER
Leontes from Head to Toe
Students read Act One of "The Winter's Tale" and analyze the importance, influence and actions of Leontes. They predict what happen next in the play.
Curated OER
"Blame not this haste of mine": Creating a scene for Twelfth Night
Pupils read a section of Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night and write a scene that would fit between scenes 4.1 and 4.3. They present the scene in small groups.
Curated OER
Scatterbrained Soliloquies
Students reconstruct a famous soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet which the teacher has cut apart and scattered. They piece the soliloquy back together making sense of the passage.
Curated OER
Can't Buy Me Love?
Students activity find the multiplicity of meanings buried within Shakespeare's language. They examine how the meanings of words differ in modern America and in Venice.
Curated OER
Lose the Lute!
Students use Shakespeare's plays to add modern music to match the mood in the play. They assign adjectives to the original songs of the play and find a song with the same mood. They work together to role-play the play with new music.
Curated OER
Prospero: Turkey or Tyrant?
Students study characterization and the difference between subjective and objective points of view by creating tableaux to depict three interpretations of the story of Prospero's overthrow, each with a very different point of view. They...
Curated OER
What? Did Caesar Swoon?
Pupils discover the "dumb show," a scene that enacts a story silently while focusing on an example from Hamlet. Divided into groups, they act out the silent scene from the play. Again, in groups, they create a "dumb show" from Julius...
Curated OER
Divinity of hell
Learners have to look at the text of the play Othello and cut the text in half. Each group then moves to the computer to their right and continues on with what that group wrote. They then have to stage the final script and perform in...
Curated OER
Folger on the Ramparts
Students use the website "Hamlet on the Ramparts" to investigate different ways of producing the ghost scenes 1.4 and 1.5 of Hamlet. They use this information to help them develop their own ideas on staging these important scenes.
Curated OER
Enter the Evil Stepmother
High schoolers realize that what the characters say may be very different from what they are thinking. They analyze a script that deals with intrigue, lies and manipulation. Students comprehend the different performance choices inherent...
Curated OER
Lesson 9: Would the Real Portia Please Stand Up?
Students explore the subtext of the two scenes in which Portia appears. They compare the language she uses with her husband Brutus in 2.1 with the language she uses with her boy servant Lucius in 2.4. Students use their analysis of...
Curated OER
Interviewing the Players
Students analyze Shakespeare's words through scenes and portions of scenes. They compare the characters' motives and make connections between the text they are performing and the larger context of the play. They participate in panel...
Curated OER
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...
Serendip
Golden Rice – Evaluating the Pros and Cons
More than half the world's population eats rice as a daily staple ... imagine if that rice could prevent illness. Scientists genetically engineered rice to include vitamin A for just that purpose. However, room for debate still exists....
Global Oneness Project
The Man and the Wolf
Human attitudes toward the big bad wolf come into focus in a photo essay that asks viewers to consider their own feelings about the endangered species.
Global Oneness Project
Resurrecting a Home
Davina Pardo's documentary Minka asks viewers to consider that value of preserving traditional dwellings and traditional building techniques by examining how American journalist John Roderick and Japanese architect Yoshihiro Takishita...