Curated OER
Puck's Girdle
Fifth graders calculate the perimeters, areas, and volumes of everyday objects. They discuss the word problem involving Puck from the Shakespeare play "Mid-Summer Night's Dream," and invent and plan a method for solving the problem in...
Curated OER
The Play's the Thing
Young scholars describe to a partner theater experiences they have had in their lives that were memorable, and analyze why. They study about one director's original artistic choices for staging Shakespeare by reading and discussing...
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
Macbeth Madness
Students analyze Shakespeare's Macbeth. For this Macbeth lesson, students read Act Two Scene iv and Act Three Scenes i-vi in the play and complete the test from the given link.
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Character Study in Macbeth
Eleventh graders analyze a Shakespeare soliloquy by writing a prose summary of it. They keep a character journal, following one character through the play and analyzing what the character does and says, as well as, might have done or...
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Viciousness in "Twelfth Night" and "Lord of the Flies"
Students work in discussion groups to examine the treatment of Malvolio in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" by comparing the play to the novel "Lord of the Flies".
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Prospero: Turkey or Tyrant?
High schoolers study characterization and the difference between subjective and objective points of view by creating tableaux to depict three interpretations of the story of Prospero's overthrow, each with a very different point of view....
Curated OER
Can't Buy Me Love?
Students activity find the multiplicity of meanings buried within Shakespeare's language. They examine how the meanings of words differ in modern America and in Venice.
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Restaging Julius Ceasar
Students engage in a lesson looking at a major scene of a Shakespeare play. They assume the role play of being the director and apply problem solving skills in order to conduct the scene. Others must switch roles and take on the roles of...
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An Introduction To Status
Students explore the concept of status and its use in theater. Using a scene from Shakespeare's play King Richard II, students work in pairs to perform the scene. After the performance, the pairs discuss their use of physical status in...
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Introducing "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Learners are introduced to Shakespeare's play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream." In groups, they "mini-sculpt" four scenes from the play that illustrate the relationships between the four lovers. They create a living statue out of the other...
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"Set Your Heart At Rest" Word Plays
Students read Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." They create a dramatic reading of Titania's monologue in Act II by randomly assigning words of the monologue that are demonstrated using sound and movement, not the actual words. ...
Curated OER
Twelfth Night-The Musical!
Students read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In groups, they divide Act 2 and add a new character or direction to the plot. They reinterpret the scene as a musical, using contemporary songs.
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Status Games
Tenth graders, in groups, participate in a simulation activity in which they are assigned a certain "status" role to play in a given situation. After the simulation, they reveal their status roles and discuss what they observed. They...
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Performing Sonnets
Young scholars use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis lesson. In this sonnet lesson, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Young scholars work in pairs to create motions for...
Curated OER
Blow, Crack, and Rage
Students add punctuation to a passage from King Lear and compare their version to the First Folio version. In this Shakespeare and punctuation lesson, students discuss the difference punctuation can make on a set of words. Students add...
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Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's Tortured Sonnet
Learners read four of Shakespeare's sonnets and determine whether they are read from Macbeth's or Lady Macbeth's point of view. They support their decision using evidence from the text.
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Macbeth
Students discuss the changes the characters go through in Shakespeare's play Macbeth. They discuss the themes of the play write an essay comparing current events to the themes of the play.
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Deception Lesson Plan
Students explore Shakespeare's portrayal of deception. In this plot lesson, students examine the use of deception in "Much Ado About Nothing." Students write their own mini-versions of the play that are limited to 3 minutes.
Curated OER
Enter Players: Constructing Character Connections in Hamlet
High schoolers research the characters of Hamlet. In this Shakespearean literature lesson, students complete a pre-reading activity designed to improve their familiarity with the characters in the story. In small groups, high schoolers...
Curated OER
Shakespearean "Conversations"
This lesson gives some preliminary activities to ease students into Shakespeare's language while creating some original conversations. Students will not have any trouble performing these conversations because they will have created them.
Curated OER
Problematic Situation: Romeo and Juliet
Is it ok to be mad at someone who comes to your party uninvited? What about someone who interrupts you? For this prereading strategy, your class members must decide whether or not they'd get angry in the 10 situations provided. Then,...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 7
How might two completely different texts address similar topics and themes? Using the penultimate instructional activity from the eight-part Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 3 series, scholars review the central ideas they developed in a...
Anti-Defamation League
Should Washington's NFL Team Change Their Name?
"What's in a name?" Is it irrelevant, as Juliet suggests in Shakespeare's play, or is nomenclature deeply significant? Young scholars weigh in on the debate by examining the controversy over the NFL's Washington, D.C. Redskins. Groups...