Curated OER
Shakespeare Was A Black Woman
"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...
Curated OER
Sonnets
Explore the concept of rhyme scheme within a Shakespearean sonnet. After writing out their favorite (appropriate!) rap song and explaining why they like it, middle schoolers define a rhyme scheme. Afterward, they examine a Shakespearean...
Curated OER
Listening to Poetry: Sounds of the Sonnet
High schoolers experience and enjoy the sounds of poetry. They erform sound experiments with sonnets and closely read and analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare. Students write an analysis of how sound affects meaning in a sonnet chosen from...
Curated OER
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
For Thy Sweet Love Remembered Such Wealth Brings
Learners read sonnets and choose one which contains words or phrases that create an emotional reaction to study the Shakespearean language. In this Shakespearean sonnet lesson, students read Shakespeare sonnets and circle words that...
Curated OER
Reading Poems Aloud: Sound And Meaning
Students consider the elements involved in reading poetry aloud. They discuss different poetic forms and how the choices a reader makes in tone, emphasis, breaths, and pauses can affect the listener's interpretation and understanding of...
Curated OER
Line It Up
Students examine the structure of different poems by various artists. They discuss how the breaks in the poems change the way it is to be read. They also examine the use of tone in the poems.
Curated OER
The Concept of the Hero
Students explore the symbolic implications for the concept of the hero with a focus on the Beowulf theme. In this hero concept lesson, students find specific examples of monsters from Beowulf to complete the chart. Students list the...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library: Close Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets
This lesson plan teaches students to consider diction, syntax, literary devices, and rhetorical strategies in doing a close reading of Shakespeare's sonnets.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Sounds of the Sonnet
"Sound Experiments" drive this lesson plan. Sonnet analysis is accompanied by readings based on specific emotions. At this website, there are several links full-text sonnets by such authors as Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Longfellow, and...