Lesson Planet
Search educational resources
  • Sign In Try It Free
  • AI Teacher Tools
    • Discover Resources Search reviewed educational resources by keyword, subject, grade, type, and more
    • Curriculum Manager (My Content) Manage saved and uploaded resources and folders To Access the Curriculum Manager Sign In or Join Now
    • Browse Resource Directory Browse educational resources by subject and topic
    • Curriculum Calendar Explore curriculum resources by date
    • Lesson Planning Articles Timely and inspiring teaching ideas that you can apply in your classroom
    • Our Story
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Testimonials
    • Contact Us
  • Pricing
  • School Access
    • Your school or district can sign up for Lesson Planet — with no cost to teachers
      Learn More
  • Sign In
  • Try It Free

Hi, what do you want to do?

Create a lesson plan
Create a lesson plan
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Find a teaching resource
Find a teaching resource
Did Shakespeare Write His Plays? Instructional VideoDid Shakespeare Write His Plays? Instructional Video
Publisher
TED-Ed
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
6th - 12th
Subjects
English Language Arts
2 more...
Resource Type
Instructional Videos
Media Length
4:07
Audiences
For Teacher Use
1 more...
Instructional Strategies
Direct Instruction
2 more...
Technology
Video
Projection
Internet Access
Accessibility
Closed Captions
1 more...
Year
2015
Usage Permissions
Fine Print
Instructional Video

Did Shakespeare Write His Plays?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Did Shakespeare Write His Plays? instructional video also includes:
  • Think
  • Dig Deeper
  • Join to access all included materials

Can we test whether lines ascribed to William Shakespeare were actually written by someone else? Science and linguistics join forces in this fantastic TED-Ed video to help us investigate the theory of whether history's greatest writer composed his own plays.

50 Views 34 Downloads
CCSS: Adaptable

Concepts

william shakespeare, author's style, writing styles, linguistics, statistics

Additional Tags

english language arts

Instructional Ideas

  • Have learners conduct additional research on the field of linguistics and practice of stylometry to supplement what they learn from this video
  • Refer to this video when discussing an author's unique voice and writing style, as well as the inherent structure that exists within poetry and other various forms of writing

Pros

  • Animation engages learners and helps to illustrate content
  • Customize the discussion prompts and additional resources provided on the TED-Ed website

Cons

  • None

Common Core

RL.7.5 RL.8.5 SL.9-10.5 SL.11-12.5

See similar resources:

Assessment

Writing Informative Text: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?

Fluence Learning
William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...
7th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Activity

The Martian Chronicles: Fishbowl Discussion

Novelinks
Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles provides the text for a fishbowl activity. Class members to sit in concentric circles, with the center circle discussing the topics from the book, and the outer circle observing the...
9th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Lesson Plan

Merely Players

Curated OER
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...
9th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Activity

Zach’s Lie: Multi-Genre Writing Assignment

Novelinks
How do people solve problems in healthy ways? Writers explore a topic of interest in their multi-genre writing assignment exploring Zach's Lie. The final resource in a series of seven includes multiple scaffolds and organizers for...
6th - 8th English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Website

Reading to Write

University of North Carolina
Silly journal and essay prompts may be fun to write, but they don't model the kind of writing needed for college papers and standardized tests. The 15th part in a series of 24 covers the concept of reading to write—during and after...
9th - Higher Ed English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Lesson Plan

Shakespeare: Standing on the Bookshelves of Giant

Curated OER
A phenomenal lesson on Shakespeare! Middle and high school learners create WebQuests about the texts and authors that Shakespeare himself studied when he was in grammar school. They use a variety of media in order to create dramatic...
6th - 11th English Language Arts
Unit Plan

Ted: Ted Ed: Did Shakespeare Write His Plays?

TED Talks
Some people question whether Shakespeare really wrote the works that bear his name- or whether he even existed at all. Could it be true that the greatest writer in the English language was as fictional as his plays? Natalya St. Clair and...
9th - 10th English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Lesson Plan

Writing Classroom Agreements using Inspiration & Word to Go

Curated OER
How can you foster a thoughtful learning community for your class? First, the class brainstorms a list of behaviors that will help make the classroom a great place to learn. Then learners group similar ideas together and come up with...
3rd - 8th English Language Arts
Instructional Video

Stratford 1: Shakespeare, Glove Maker

British Council
Shakespeare did not go to university, and that may have been the best decision he ever made. A video, part of the Shakespeare English exercises series, describes the famous playwright's early years in Stratford-Upon-Avon, sharing details...
5 mins 9th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Instructional Video

How to Write Fiction That Comes Alive

TED-Ed
Launch a fiction writing unit with this video that encourages writers to craft their stories with language that permits readers to experience the illusions of their stories.
5 mins 9th - 12th English Language Arts
Try It Free
© 1999-2026 Learning Explorer, Inc.
Teacher Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Resources

Sign up for the Lesson Planet Monthly Newsletter

Open Educational Resources (OER)

  • Health
  • Language Arts
  • Languages
  • Math
  • Physical Education
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Special Education
  • Visual and Performing Arts
View All Lesson Plans

Discover Resources

  • Our Review Process
  • How it Works
  • How to Search
  • Create a Collection

Manage Curriculum

  • Edit a Collection
  • Assign to Students
  • Manage My Content
Contact Us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Use