Looking for ways to implement the words and works of William Shakespeare into your curriculum? This list of activity ideas is a great starting point, as it covers a wide range of grade levels and a wealth of online references to explore.

In groups, learners design sets for the play, "Shakespeare Stealer." They sketch a scale model of a set and present it to the teacher, who will choose which group gets to design the entire set. 

Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...

Young thespians can try their hand at writing a script and acting out a scene, while gaining a deeper understanding of the universal topics presented in Shakespeare's wide array of plays. Begin the activity by conducting a compare and...

Students explore Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In this analysis lesson, students recognize the use of poetic conventions as a principle of dramatic structure after analyzing the sonnetShakespeare created for the first meeting between...

Students explore current events by completing a list of worksheet activities. In this William Shakespeare lesson plan, students identify a resident of China who wishes to undergo plastic surgery to give himself the face of William...

After reading Acts III and IV of Othello, give your class a fun, interactive, music-related activity. Begin by asking young scholars about songs they have heard in movies or plays. Let them look up the lyrics online and ruminate about...

High schoolers perform a scene from Shakespeare for an unsuspecting audience in a public setting.  In this Shakespeare lesson plan, students create a Shakespearean "flash mob" or "guerilla theater" event.  High...

Young scholars study the work of William Shakespeare. They survey the elements of comedy and tragedy and read plays and poems. They discuss the texts they read and recite poetry. They dramatize poems with movement and sounds and write...

Young scholars create original costumes and make-up for a puppet presentation of a scene from Shakespeare in this week long creative project. Performances of the Shakespeare scenes end this lesson geared towards state and national...

Students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing his astonishing command of rhetoric and figurative language. The diverse set of activities below include short group performances, writing exercises and the guided use of...

Learners, after an introduction to Shakespeare's "Othello," compare/contrast the themes in the play to today's society. In addition, they write their own script for the play of "Othello" based on predictions of what they think will...

Pairs of pupils choose a person who they consider to be a hero. They research that person, develop a speech, and deliver it to the class in hopes of persuading them that this person really is a hero. A vote is taken after the...

Class members compare the ways the subject of immigration is treated in The Tempest, Act I, scene ii, Act II, scene i and Act III, scene ii with patterns in American history. After tracing their own family’s journey, a series of...

Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...

Before your high schoolers read Julius Caesar, have them complete this thought-provoking activity! To familiarize them with some of the play's most important lines, break the class into pairs and have them create a skit around...

Students explore where Shakespeare exists in local community plays. In this Shakespeare lesson, students create a documentary to define the existence of Shakespeare in their community drama activities. Students participate in community...

Students create found poetry using lines from hip hop songs and Shakespeare's plays. They try to rewrite the words to music so that more people can explain Shakespeare's plays. They discuss the results of the activity.

Students choose a Shakespearean play to reenact into a modern setting. In this Shakespeare lesson, students practice insulting each other using Shakespearean language. Students watch Shakespeare plays and complete online research....

High schoolers examine Shakespeare's language. They select and explore death scenes from plays that they're familiar with and practice delivering famous death lines to one another. They should attempt to recreate the emotions that they...

Students study, interpret, perform, and present various Shakespearean works adapted for middle school Students. They choose a scene from one of the plays covered in this teaching unit to reenact with a group.

Young scholars create a visual notebook of a Shakespearean play by taking the actual written work, hanging it up on the wall, and highlighting various literary aspects of the play as they unfold.

Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...

Students explore life and language development in the Elizabethan Age. In this English lesson students complete web-quests and other activities surrounding Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.