Are you frustrated by searching for activities to engage readers in their study of Much Ado About Nothing? Sigh no more. Young thespians will find much to do in this Royal Shakespeare Company 23-page Toolkit. Included in the sections are...

How does Shakespeare use dialogue to develop the idea that the star-crossed lovers are more concerned with their relationship as individuals than they are with their roles as children of warring families? That is the question facing...

How does Lady Macbeth's ambition help advance the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth? Scholars explore the topic using discussion and a jigsaw activity. Next, they complete a quick write to analyze how Shakespeare develops Lady Macbeth's...

A tragic play includes imperfect heroes, pity and fear, and a fatal flaw. Scholars analyze Shakespeare's Macbeth as an example of the tragedy genre. Pupils demonstrate understanding by completing a Quick Write discussing how Shakespeare...

How do film adaptations differ from their literary counterparts? Scholars watch and analyze the 2011 Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Pupils complete a Quick Write analyzing how the RSC production...

How do complex characters develop throughout a text? Pupils read Act 5.1 from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which depicts Lady Macbeth's descent into madness. Using discussion and writing exercises, scholars analyze how Shakespeare develops...

Using the resource, scholars read Act 3.3 of Shakespeare's Hamlet. They analyze two soliloquies and discuss how Shakespeare develops the characters.

Pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp. Oxymorons are awfully good! Scholars reread Act I, scene 2 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream while participating in a drama circle. Next, they begin working on anchor charts to dissect Shakespeare's...

Simon Schama's article "The Shakespeare Shakedown" allows young writers to see how authors respond to conflicting viewpoints. Class members participate in discussion appointments with five peers to explore the author's point of view.

Pupils continue reading and discussing Simon Schama's article "The Shakespeare Shakedown." They work together to analyze the article's paragraph structure, completing a note-catcher worksheet.

After finishing Act I, scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, class members study the theme of control as it relates to the play and start an Evidence of Control note-catcher worksheet.

Scholars read the story "Pyramus and Thisbe," analyzing word choice, tone, and meaning. They then try to find the gist of the story and discuss how Shakespeare used the myth in his play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Scholars continue reading the Greek myth "Pyramus and Thisbe," analyzing why it was written into Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next, they complete a Venn diagram to compare the two texts.

How do the narrative and play versions of the myth "Pyramus and Thisbe" affect meaning? Scholars reread Act 5, Scene 1 from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and compare its structure to "Pyramus and Thisbe." Next, they use a...

Annoyed or bewitched—how does an author's word choice affect a text? Scholars begin the instructional activity by analyzing word choice in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Next, learners take a closer look at the narrative...

After reading Julius Caesar 1.2 and 1.3, break your class into pairs for this role-play. Each pair will receive one of four prompts (or more, if you create additional examples), in which one person tries to persuade the other to do...

Connect a scene from a class play to events in your middle and high schoolers' own lives. First, they act out a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream in pairs. They work to role play a scene as an extension of the one they have read,...

Shakespeare was such a talented writer, but why? It must be his use of figurative language, blended with his clever, twisting plots. This worksheet focuses on his use of metaphor, simile, personification, oxymoron, and hyperbole within...

Readers of Twelfth Night use a KWHL chart to record information about what they know about Shakespeare's play, what they want to find out, how they plan on finding this information, and what they have learned or still want to learn about...

Who speaks the first line of Shakespeare's Hamlet? Who is the last character to die in the tragedy? Whose death drives Ophelia mad? Readers' knowledge of the play is tested by 24 such clues in a crossword puzzle.

Lovers, madmen, and readers of A Midsummer Night's Dream will need seething brains to complete a crossword puzzle designed for Shakespeare's engaging comedy.

Oh, beware, reader of the clues in a Othello crossword puzzle. What you know of Shakespeare's tragic tale of the Moor, his wife Desdemona, and the manipulative Iago, you know. Or you just might have to use the text of Othello to find the...

What is the setting of Romeo and Juliet? Who is the rich count who wants to marry Juliet? The 24 clues in a crossword puzzle test readers' knowledge of the events in Shakespeare's famous play of two young star-crossed lovers.

Learners won't consider a practice crossword puzzle on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar proves to be the unkindest cut of all. As they complete the puzzle, high schoolers review key concepts and characters from the play, checking both...