Curated OER
Promptbook Act 2.1: Katherine vs. Petruchio
Compile a promptbook with your young theater designers using a scene from Taming of the Shrew. The lesson outlines several activities, though it doesn't provide any examples of a promptbook or text from the play. Additionally, it...
Curated OER
Macbeth - Analyzing Characterization in Drama
The writing activity in this lesson could be used to assess student understanding of previously taught concepts of how language reveals character.
National Literacy Trust
Mark The Bard!
Commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a packet of cross-curricular literacy lessons and activities centered around two of the Bard's most popular plays, Macbeth and The Tempest. Class members look for evidence of...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Four Corners
Forgiveness can be a difficult step to take in any circumstance, but is it more difficult if the offense is more egregious? High schoolers consider the concept of forgiveness before reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As kids read...
Curated OER
Twelfth Night: QAR
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is used to model for readers how to craft four levels of questions that promote comprehension. Questions that can be answered with evidence right there in the text, questions that require readers to think and...
Curated OER
The Tempest: The K-W-H-L Strategy
What does your class want to know about William Shakespeare's The Tempest? Host a discussion about the questions high schoolers have about the play with a KWHL activity in which they write down their inquiries, what they already know,...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Linked Text Set (Pre-Reading)
Before you begin your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest, introduce the themes of the play with a instructional activity based on the biblical story of Joseph. Taking your high schoolers through selected text from Genesis 17-44,...
Novelinks
The Tempest: Anticipation Guide
Begin your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest with a helpful anticipation guide. Learners read ten statements that connect to the play's literary themes, and note whether they believe the statement is true or false.
Curated OER
Twelfth Night: The K-W-H-L Strategy
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...
Curated OER
Twelfth Night Act 2 Scene 5 Lesson Plan
Students read and complete activities for the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night. For this play analysis lesson, students discuss the themes, characters, and literary devices used in Act 2, Scene 5 of the Twelfth Night. Students complete a...
Curated OER
WHY IS LEONTES JEALOUS? FINDING A CAUSE IN THE WINTER'S TALE
Students examine several possible ways of understanding Leontes' jealousy through close reading, a performance activity, and the use of a primary source document. They, in groups, perform a scene.
Curated OER
Twelfth Night Act 3 Sc 1
Students read, act, and write about an act from the play Twelfth Night. In this play analysis lesson, students read a summary of the act and discuss various segments of the play. Students identify literary and vocabulary points and...
Curated OER
Shortened Shakespeare
Young scholars discover the two main ingredients of a play: speech and actions. They then listen to a shortened version of "Macbeth" and write down one sentence to describe what is happening in each of the comic-strip cells.
Curated OER
Shakespeare by Choice
Students identify the most important elements in a scene. In this editing a scene lesson, students decide what elements are absolutely necessary to a scene. Students discuss the main criteria for editing or cutting a scene and decide...
Curated OER
Shakespear Scavenger Hunt
Students use the internet to study basic biographical facts about Shakespeare in the form of an internet scavenger hunt. This activity is a great introduction to a Shakespearean unit of study.
Curated OER
New York City: Passionate About Shakespeare
Students read passages from Shakespeare and have a Town Hall meeting in which they defend Shakespeare as part of American culture.
Curated OER
Hamlet's State of Mind
Analyze various excerpts from Hamlet and read articles to develop an argument about his sanity. Middle and high schoolers write an argument essay defending whether or not they believe Hamlet is insane. You could modify this assignment...
Curated OER
Lesson 8: Prithee, Pause!
High school learners examine primary source materials on history and the supernatural which relate to Julius Caesar. They then act out a scene based on different historical understandings and identify facts, theories, and similarities in...
Curated OER
Scene Writing: Literacy and Playwriting
Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The activities...
K20 LEARN
Preparing for Othello - Frontloading Meaning (Part 1): Pre-reading Strategies
The success of any lesson based on a complex text relies heavily on what instructors do before beginning the reading. Before reading Othello, scholars engage in a series of pre-reading activities, including completing an anticipation...
Curated OER
Relationship Role Plays from A Midsummer Night's Dream
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,...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 4: Unit 2, Lesson 17
Madness, violence, despair—the titular character of Shakespeare's Macbeth is spiraling out of control. Pupils first explore the topic with a collaborative jigsaw discussion. At the end of the instructional activity, they write about how...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 4: Unit 2, Lesson 15
What goes around, comes around. Using the resource, pupils read Act 4.3 of Macbeth, in which Macduff and Malcolm plan to attack Macbeth. Scholars then hold a discussion and complete writing activities to analyze Shakespeare's structural...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 24
How do central ideas build on each other in Shakespeare's Hamlet? Scholars begin the first part of an end-of-unit assessment. They complete a Central Idea Evidence Collection Tool worksheet to prepare for a writing activity to discuss...