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Ariel, the (occasionally) tricksy spirit
Students will focus on the character of Ariel. Using both online research and close reading in small groups, the students will come to a better understanding of this tricksy spirit.
This lesson will take one to two …
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Bloody Business
Students will focus on word frequencies in Macbeth to understand how Shakespeare uses a word or particular group of words in each play that form a web through which he invites his audiences to associate various meanings. Students will …
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"Divinity of hell!": Soliloquies, Cutting and Computers
Students struggle with soliloquies—the language is poetically rich and dense, and they often complain, "Why can't Shakespeare just get to the point?" This lesson sets students loose on the language and gives them permission to cut …
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Exploring Rhythm in Richard III
Students will examine meter and experiment with pauses in the dialogue between Lady Anne and Richard in 1.2, in order to analyze how rhythm affects meaning and tone. This lesson will take approximately 50 minutes.
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"For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings"
After hearing sonnets read, students will pick one to which they have a strong reaction-favorable or unfavorable. They will choose one which contains words/phrases that strike them emotionally, visually and can be represented by images. Visual …
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I want to believe:Astrologers and Sceptics in King Lear
How much did an Elizabethan audience want to believe in destiny? To what degree was astrology an accepted science, and how was it used in everyday life? It is tempting to consider Shakespeare’s audience a gullible lot, not exposed to …
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Interviewing the Players
Having students act out scenes or portions of scenes is a powerful tool in persuading them to look closely at Shakespeare's words. The following lesson plan begins with this assumption, but then moves on to ensure that students both understand …
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It's All In The Way You Say It
Often, young readers have difficulty understanding Shakespeare's meaning or context. Through a close study of three basic ideas students need to know before beginning to read any play—denotation, connotation, and …
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King Lear's Storm
Act 3, Scene 2 is a pivotal moment in King Lear and one that can really get students involved with the play. The text of this scene demands careful analysis by the students if they are to play it well.
This lesson …
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Lesson 17: In Search of Caesar's Ghost
Students will travel back in time today and become compositors at the local printing house that is about to publish Shakespeare's First Folio collection after his death. While working on the layout for 4.1 of Julius Caesar, they …
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Lesson 21: Betrayal or Honest Mistake?
Julius Caesar hinges largely on the theme of betrayal. Students must wrestle with the questions that Brutus himself considers: Does loyalty come first to a friend, a superior, a nation, or the self? Is betrayal justified if it is …
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Mistaken Identities, Misrepresentations, and Changes of Mind in Twelfth Night, Lesson 1 of 3
Students will come to understand and identify the terms, Mistaken Identities, Misrepresentations, and Changes of Mind as they exist in Twelfth Night.
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Mistaken Identities, Misrepresentations, and Changes of Mind in Twelfth Night, Lesson 2 of 3
In this second of three lessons, students will apply and differentiate the terms Mistaken Identities, Misrepresentations, and Changes of Mind in the play by way of a scavenger hunt. When they find deception in the …
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Multiple Texts, Multiple Editions
King Lear exists in two distinct versions, a quarto edition from 1608 and the First Folio of 1623. Here, students will compare Lear's last speech in the two texts, evaluate the two different versions, and edit the speech …
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"Not her Fool, but her corrupter of words"-- a Twelfth Night Festival
Students will edit and perform selected scenes from Twelfth Night in order to analyze Feste, the Fool. Students will give two performances: they will perform the scenes once in their entirety, after which the class will …
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"Say you will be mine": Unspoken Answers and Unscripted Scenes
Many of Shakespeare’s plays offer tantalizing tidbits of information that allude to scenes, moments, and responses that are not included within the specific text of the play. For example, in Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice says of …
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Shakespeare, the 900-pound Guerilla: or Performing Scenes for Unsuspecting Audiences
In groups, students will produce and perform a scene by Shakespeare as a piece of guerilla theater: in other words, they will perform in a public setting, in front of an unsuspecting audience. Performances do not need to be "perfect" as this …
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Sonnet Performances: Shakespeare’s Sonnets as Scripts: Lesson 9
Breaking a sonnet down into parts for different speakers and presenting it dramatically can help students to listen carefully to the language and hear different “voices” in the poem. In this lesson, small groups of 3-5 students work …
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"Strike a Pose:" Music and Vogueing in The Winter's Tale
In this lesson, students will reduce Act 3 into lines, images and songs which will help them navigate the many moods of The Winter's Tale in this lynchpin act. The lesson culminates in a performance for the class. It works best after …
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To Love, Honor and Obey (One's Parents!)
This lesson will encourage students to think about parent-child tensions regarding obedience and communication, in order to understand the conflicts in the opening scene of King Lear.
This lesson takes one to two …
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