Curated OER
Merely Players
Disguises and role playing are the focus of a resource that uses Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part I, to demonstrate how we all play many parts in our lives; how we all are “merely players.” The many...
Curated OER
Shakespeare and Poe Teach Six-Trait Writing
A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...
Curated OER
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
Shakespeare Uncovered
Merely Players
“. . . one man in his time plays many parts,/His acts being seven ages.” Jaques famous speech from Act II, scene vii of As you Like It sets the stage for an examination of the roles people play. Class members not only consider the roles...
Curated OER
A Way with Words or Say What?
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. For this literature lesson, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short story...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 26
How do directors' choices emphasize different elements of a drama? Scholars participate in a discussion about the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth and Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Finally, they write an analysis of...
Curated OER
A Way with Words or Say What?
Students examine Shakespearean language. For this word study lesson, students investigate the meaning of words that Shakespeare invented. Students draw and pantomime with the words prior to writing short stories that feature...
Curated OER
Much Ado About Illumination
Students analyze the language and characters in the Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing. In this Shakespeare play lesson, students read section of the play and discuss the speech of Benedick and Claudio. Students record the speech...
EngageNY
Character Confessions: Peer Critique of Narratives
Shake up the writing process with a peer critique. The second of four lessons in the Grade 8 ELA Module 2B, Unit 3 series first has young writers compare their interpretations of a scene from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's...
PBS
Does Art Imitate Life?
Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...
Shakespeare in American Life
"We Few, We Happy Few": Motivational Speech in Henry V
Class members may "think themselves accurs'd" when they first hear of an assignment that asks them to create a motivational speech. After studying the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V; however, they will count...
Curated OER
Cutting Antony's speeches: "I am meek and gentle with these butchers"
Tenth graders identify Mark Anthony's scheming brilliance in his three major speeches in 3.1. They isolate the main idea by cutting the speech in half and then they perform the speech chorally. Each student also identifies three phrases...
Curated OER
ESSAYS ABOUT IAGO'S METAPHORS
Students examine the first two scenes of Act I and do a metaphor interpretation exercise. They write an essay on the following question: Through Iago's metaphors, what is he trying to do to Brabantio? To answer this question they ...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Pre-Reading Hamlet with "Hamlet: An Insider’s Guide"
Prove that Gertrude did kill Ophelia from practicing the word inflections activities with these pre-reading strategies for Hamlet. Thespians practice the line, “Is that your sandwich?” as they stress and accent different words, and...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - Romeo and Juliet
“What is the theme of this story?” Now there’s a question all pupils dread. Rather than encountering a sea of faces that look like they were painted by Edward Munch, face a classroom filled with smiles and confidence. Show your readers...
Curated OER
"Pray, Why Speakest Thou Thusly?"
Examine popular language and slang and how they have changed over the course of American history. Conduct Internet research, use an online interactive Colonial House website to translate 17th century language into 21st century language,...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - My Last Dutchess
Draw back the curtain, add a spot of joy to your class, and let learners be instructional activityed by a close reading exercise that models how to develop an interpretation based on evidence drawn from a text. Robert Browning’s dramatic...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Reading Literature - The Ruin
Cross-comparison, the technique of focusing on two different texts with the same themes, motifs, events, etc., is employed in an exercise that asks groups to examine two different translations of “The Ruin,” a poem, written in Old...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Close Reading in the Classroom
Close reading is key to the analysis and interpretation of literature. A close reading of the title and the epigraph of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” offers readers an opportunity to examine how even single words or names can...
Curated OER
What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Conforming?
Dive into Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and determine what it means to conform in society, and discuss as a group with the thoughts and plans available in these documents. Included are multiple activities and brain targets that form the...
Curated OER
Dogberry: The Most Vigilant Lawman Ever
High schoolers analyze the character and find the malapropisms of Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing
Curated OER
"We few, we happy few": Motivational Speech in Henry V
Learners explore how to write and deliver a motivational speech by examining King Henry's in "Saint Crispin's Day".
Curated OER
Cable in the Classroom
Students understand how to successfully work in a group. Students create and perform their own autobiographical rap songs. Students conclude how rap music and music in general can help us to deal with emotional issues.