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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Teaching Resource Collection

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Performing a novel just might be the best way to read it.

Hamlet
Teaching Resource Collection

Hamlet

Let’s challenge all those assumptions about this “biggie” of a play!

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Teaching Resource Collection

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Myth, mirth, and magic? Enter the Dream world!

American Moor
Teaching Resource Collection

American Moor

What happens at “the corner of Me Street and Shakespeare”?

Folger lesson plan

Lesson Plans

Explore lesson plans that get students grappling on their own with a wide range of complex texts.

Become an expert on teaching anything the Folger way: Hamlet, Lucille Clifton’s poems, In the Time of the Butterflies, primary sources from the Folger vault, A Modest Proposal, Their Eyes Were Watching God, American Moor, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Twelfth Night, The Declaration of Independence, and lots more.

Explore all lesson plans

 

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Professional Development

Teacher Members of the Folger enjoy exclusive access to live-streamed workshops and a video library of on-demand professional development.

Watch master classes on teaching Shakespeare plays and webinars on engaging all learners in attentive, thoughtful reading. Meet Folger experts and fellow teachers from across the country and around the world. Join a community working to help all students fall in love with literature and the power of their own minds.

Explore all professional development

Most popular resources

What to Do–and What Not to Do–in Week One of a Successful Shakespeare Unit

Teaching Resource

What to Do–and What Not to Do–in Week One of a Successful Shakespeare Unit

What are the best, and worst, things you can do in the first week of a Shakespeare unit?

2-Line Scenes - General Shakespeare
Teaching Resource

2-Line Scenes - General Shakespeare

Introduce any Shakespeare play this way. Trust us– it works!

Free resource

Teach Their Eyes Were Watching God with Rigor and Joy

Teaching Resource

Teach Their Eyes Were Watching God with Rigor and Joy

How does the Folger Method help students discover and interpret Their Eyes Were Watching God?

Pre-reading: A Snapshot of Othello

Teaching Resource

Pre-reading: A Snapshot of Othello

Introduce the language and story of Othello and prepare your students for courageous conversations about race and power. A twist on 20-minute plays.

Essential Everyday Bravery
Teaching Resource

Essential Everyday Bravery

Use literature as a tool for anti-racism. Even if you don’t teach Merchant, this curriculum will help your students think and act with courage.

Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech

Find out why Dr. King’s speech should never be studied silently again. What your students do in this lesson will amaze you–and them.

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Exploring Race & Whiteness in Shakespeare

Teaching Resource

Exploring Race & Whiteness in Shakespeare

Explore the ways critical race work, representation, and power in literature connect. This professional development was recorded March 15, 2023 at 8PM ET.

Exploring Gender: Shakespeare’s Take on Chaste, Silent, and Obedient

Teaching Resource

Exploring Gender: Shakespeare’s Take on Chaste, Silent, and Obedient

Join us for a fascinating talk with Dr. Gail Paster as she explores the role of women in Shakespeare. This professional development session was recorded on December 8, 2022 at 8pm ET

Shakespeare and the Immigrant Experience

Teaching Resource

Shakespeare and the Immigrant Experience

In this lesson, high school English teacher and Folger Teacher Fellow, Noelle Cammon, leads participants through an exploration of depictions of “other” in Shakespeare and the messages those depictions send about humanity and dignity. This professional development session took place on November 10, 2022 at 8pm ET.

Two Juicy, Interactive Lessons for Your Next Class!

Teaching Resource

Two Juicy, Interactive Lessons for Your Next Class!

Experience the power of choral reading, paired texts, discovery and analysis, all with no explaining from the teacher. This professional development was recorded on October 27, 2022 at 8PM ET.

Sonnets & Social Justice

Teaching Resource

Sonnets & Social Justice

Explore Shakespeare’s sonnets, along with more modern sonnets, and engage students in their analysis of sonnets, social justice, and race. This professional development was recorded February 23, 2023 at 8PM ET.

Sonnet Performances: Shakespeare’s Sonnets as Scripts

Teaching Resource

Sonnet Performances: Shakespeare’s Sonnets as Scripts

Let Shakespeare do the teaching as students read, edit, and perform Shakespearean sonnets all with minimal help from the teacher

Free resource

Shakespeare’s Sisters and Modern Sonnets

Teaching Resource

Shakespeare’s Sisters and Modern Sonnets

Have students discover the many kinds of sonnets that are being written today addressing familiar themes in contemporary language.

Free resource

Spenser, Shakespeare, and the Blazon

Teaching Resource

Spenser, Shakespeare, and the Blazon

Students will read and respond to a Shakespearean sonnet and gain new insights into Shakespeare’s originality, wit, and humor

Free resource

Easing into Shakespeare with Edna St. Vincent Millay’s, “What My Lips Have Kissed, And Where And Why”

Teaching Resource

Easing into Shakespeare with Edna St. Vincent Millay’s, “What My Lips Have Kissed, And Where And Why”

Introduce students to both a classic form of the sonnet and to one of its most recurrent and popular themes, lost love.

Free resource

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138: A Close Reading Module

Teaching Resource

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138: A Close Reading Module

Watch as students become increasingly more comfortable reading Shakespeare as the close-read Sonnet 138.

Free resource

The English Sonnet: Michael Drayton

Teaching Resource

The English Sonnet: Michael Drayton

Give students a greater understanding of the literary context in which Shakespeare was writing through the examination of Michael Drayton’s “The Parting.”

Free resource

Petrarch, Father of the Sonnet

Teaching Resource

Petrarch, Father of the Sonnet

An introduction to Petrarch and the influence he had on sonnet writing in the 16th and 17th centuries and beyond.

Free resource

A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 3 Ways: Through Scholarship, On Stage, and In Your Classroom

Teaching Resource

A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 3 Ways: Through Scholarship, On Stage, and In Your Classroom

If you teach A Midsummer Night’s Dream—but maybe particularly if you don’t—dive in with us!

THE FOLGER METHOD IN ONE FELL SWOOP: Teach Shakespeare and Any Complex Text Using These Principles and Practices Effective for All Students

Teaching Resource

THE FOLGER METHOD IN ONE FELL SWOOP: Teach Shakespeare and Any Complex Text Using These Principles and Practices Effective for All Students

JOIN US! For the first time ever, Folger staff and experienced mentor teachers take you through the principles and the essential practices that provide you and all of your students with a way to approach not just Shakespeare but any complex text.

Navigating Race and Difference: In Shakespeare, In Class, and Elsewhere

Teaching Resource

Navigating Race and Difference: In Shakespeare, In Class, and Elsewhere

Most often, literature—and certainly Shakespeare—can be the catalyst for meaningful conversations about race and difference. How do these topics arise? Should they?

William Shakespeare and Gwendolyn Brooks: Processing Death

Teaching Resource

William Shakespeare and Gwendolyn Brooks: Processing Death

Explore the anxieties and fears of death within the works of Shakespeare and Gwendolyn Brooks. This professional development was recorded April 27, 2022 at 8:00PM ET.

 

March Lesson of the Month: Pairing Clint Smith’s “My Hopes, Dreams, Fears for My Future Son” with Hamlet

Teaching Resource

March Lesson of the Month: Pairing Clint Smith’s “My Hopes, Dreams, Fears for My Future Son” with Hamlet

What happens when fatherly voices dialogue across gender, race, time, and region? Check out this professional development, and dive into one of our most popular lessons. This professional development was recorded on March 31, 2022 at 8PM. 

“Officers and Torches: Race and the Editing of Othello” with Patricia Akhimie

Teaching Resource

“Officers and Torches: Race and the Editing of Othello” with Patricia Akhimie

What’s the connection between race and the power and uncertainty of editing? Get the inside scoop of Patricia Akhimie’s findings and process as she discusses her experience while editing a scholarly edition of Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. This lecture was recorded on March 9, 2022.

Race and U.S. Education: Historical Perspectives

Teaching Resource

Race and U.S. Education: Historical Perspectives

Join our May Keynote speaker, Dr. Brian Jones. He supplies us with both research and reality about the role that race has played in American education, particularly in K-12 education. This lecture was recorded on May 11, 2022 at 8:00PM ET. 

Free resource

The Two New Paths: Censorship, Reclamation–What is Our Argument? with Jocelyn Chadwick

Teaching Resource

The Two New Paths: Censorship, Reclamation–What is Our Argument? with Jocelyn Chadwick

Join our April 2022 keynote speaker, Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick in a wonderful and stimulating conversation. This presentation was recorded on April 28, 2022, at 8:00PM ET.

Sneak Peek! Lessons from the Forthcoming Folger Guide to Teaching Hamlet.

Teaching Resource

Sneak Peek! Lessons from the Forthcoming Folger Guide to Teaching Hamlet.

Get a taste of The Folger Guide to Teaching Hamlet., You don’t want to miss this! This teacher workshop was previously recorded on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 8pm ET.

“Jamestown: A Shakesperien Tragedy” with Mark Summers

Teaching Resource

“Jamestown: A Shakesperien Tragedy” with Mark Summers

What do 1619 Virginia and the making of America have to do with William Shakespeare? Uncover the answers with Mark Summers!.

Reading Fred Wilson’s Art Alongside Shakespeare’s Words: Folger + Smithsonian American Art Museum

Teaching Resource

Reading Fred Wilson’s Art Alongside Shakespeare’s Words: Folger + Smithsonian American Art Museum

How do we teach the intersections of art and literature, race and gender, then and now? And why?

Unapologetically Black Shakespeare: Core Lessons from Folger & Reconstruction.us

Teaching Resource

Unapologetically Black Shakespeare: Core Lessons from Folger & Reconstruction.us

Learn about the groundbreaking partnership between the Folger Shakespeare Library and Reconstruction.us, creating an unapologetically black educational experience for young students across the country.

 

This Illness is No Metaphor: Romeo and Juliet and the Plague

Teaching Resource

This Illness is No Metaphor: Romeo and Juliet and the Plague

You may think Romeo and Juliet might be an unusual play to choose to address the plague. Well, just you wait and see.

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race 2021: A Virtual Folger Workshop for Teachers – The Online Archive of Program Videos, Slides, and Materials

Teaching Resource

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race 2021: A Virtual Folger Workshop for Teachers – The Online Archive of Program Videos, Slides, and Materials

What happened at Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race 2021, and what can I use in class right away?

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race. It is?

Teaching Resource

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race. It is?

Join Corinne Viglietta, former Associate Director of Education, for a quick, jam-packed 30-minute exploration of “Teaching Shakespeare is Teaching Race.”

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race

Teaching Resource

Teaching Shakespeare Is Teaching Race

Join Folger Education July 19-23, 2021 for a professional learning experience unlike any other, no matter which Shakespeare play you teach. Help students use their own minds and voices—and the power of the humanities—as a force for good. Teach Shakespeare for a changed world.

Teaching Shakespeare Institute 2021: Shakespeare and the Making of America

Teaching Resource

Teaching Shakespeare Institute 2021: Shakespeare and the Making of America

In this three-week virtual summer institute (June 27 – July 16, 2021) sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 25 middle and high school teachers immerse themselves into the hold that Shakespeare and early America have had and continue to have on each other–with full attention to the roles that indigenous, Black, brown and Latinx people play during this slice of history.

ALL Students Deserve the Real Thing: Teaching Shakespeare to English-Language Learners

Teaching Resource

ALL Students Deserve the Real Thing: Teaching Shakespeare to English-Language Learners

In this 60-minute workshop, Dr. Christina Porter shows you easy-to-use techniques to make Shakespeare’s plays accessible to all students, particularly English-Language Learners.

Text Set: AMERICAN MOOR Talks Back to OTHELLO

Teaching Resource

Text Set: AMERICAN MOOR Talks Back to OTHELLO

What happens when a Black American actor gives the word “Moor” a whole new set of meanings?

Text Set: Maya Angelou Talks Back to Romeo

Teaching Resource

Text Set: Maya Angelou Talks Back to Romeo

Students confront Romeo’s racist language, with help from Maya Angelou.

Free resource

Macbeth Without Ambition with Dr. Adam Zucker

Teaching Resource

Macbeth Without Ambition with Dr. Adam Zucker

What if we teach Macbeth without ambition? What if we push back against the Shakespearean cliché in an effort to make more room for our voices and the voices of our students? How might we clear some space to see this old, familiar text in new, and newly useful ways? This lecture was recorded on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 8PM ET .

Free resource

Speaking and Writing with Shakespeare at the Heart, a Smithsonian American Art Museum + Folger Library Workshop

Teaching Resource

Speaking and Writing with Shakespeare at the Heart, a Smithsonian American Art Museum + Folger Library Workshop

What if we stepped back as teachers and let students write their own essential questions for this text set? What if we set up a zone of discovery where students made their own insights into what these texts have to say to each other and to our world today?

Shakespeare to Malcolm X: Helping ALL Students Grapple with Race and Complex Texts

Teaching Resource

Shakespeare to Malcolm X: Helping ALL Students Grapple with Race and Complex Texts

Walk away with techniques you can use tomorrow and every day to help ALL students read with skill and confidence. Join the Folger community of brilliant, curious, caring, and committed teachers, and gain colleagues, ideas, and resources that will inspire you for the rest of your teaching life. We can’t wait to work with you. AFT-SML Virtual Conference 2021 — Thursday, March 25th at 8PM ET

The Tempest, Colonialism, and Early America

Teaching Resource

The Tempest, Colonialism, and Early America

Teaching The Tempest means creating a space for classroom conversations about race, power, indigeneity, slavery, and the painful making of America.

Juicy Lesson! Creating a Promptbook for Poet X (or ANY novel!)

Teaching Resource

Juicy Lesson! Creating a Promptbook for Poet X (or ANY novel!)

Are you thinking about teaching, Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo’s emotionally piercing story about an Afro-Latina heroine? Join FolgerED for the simple instructions you need to get students doing rigorous literary interpretation and evaluation–all without you!

Here’s to Black Women Poets, Part II. May We Know Them. May We Read Them. May We Teach Them.

Teaching Resource

Here’s to Black Women Poets, Part II. May We Know Them. May We Read Them. May We Teach Them.

Gwendolyn Brooks. Lucille Clifton. Teri Ellen Cross Davis. Join poet, instructor, and the Folger’s own Poetry Coordinator Teri Cross Davis along with Maryam Trowell, former Manager of Teacher and Student Programs, for the second exploration of Black women poets you should know and be teaching.

“Race, Racism, and the Shaping of Shakespeare” with Dr. Ruben Espinosa

Teaching Resource

“Race, Racism, and the Shaping of Shakespeare” with Dr. Ruben Espinosa

This Feed Your Teacher Brain! conversation on Shakespeare and Race was FREE for all educators on Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 8:00PM ET. Includes Ruben Espinosa’s bibliography “Diversifying Shakespeare”

Free resource

What Says She? Listening to Women’s Voices in Shakespeare with Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos

Teaching Resource

What Says She? Listening to Women’s Voices in Shakespeare with Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos

This Feed Your Teacher Brain! conversation on Shakespeare and Gender was free to all teachers on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 8:00PM ET.

Here’s to Black Women Poets. May We Know Them. May We Read Them. May We Teach Them.

Teaching Resource

Here’s to Black Women Poets. May We Know Them. May We Read Them. May We Teach Them.

You may know Phillis Wheatley, the first African American author to publish a book of poems, but do you know Frances E.W. Harper and Anne Spencer? Immerse yourself in the poetry of Black women in America and walk away with ideas for text sets that will spark the ears, eyes, and minds of you and your students.

Juicy Lesson! Pre-reading: A 20-minute Hamlet

Teaching Resource

Juicy Lesson! Pre-reading: A 20-minute Hamlet

Don’t miss this juicy lesson on how to introduce students to the plot, setting, and characters of a play in a straightforward way so that quickly get inside the language of the play.

Free resource

Juicy Lesson! Words as Images with Twelfth Night

Teaching Resource

Juicy Lesson! Words as Images with Twelfth Night

Whether you are teaching Twelfth Night or a different piece of literature, don’t miss this juicy lesson on using images as a scaffold to get students into a complex text.

The Key to Getting ALL Students Understanding and Interpreting Complex Texts

Teaching Resource

The Key to Getting ALL Students Understanding and Interpreting Complex Texts

Watch live students tackle tough texts online and IRL. Learn how to get every single student not only understanding but also speaking back to a vast range of texts.

Free resource

Film Expert Groups: The Closet Scene

Teaching Resource

Film Expert Groups: The Closet Scene

There’s a wrong way to use film in class. This lesson shows you how to avoid it—and teach thoughtful analysis!

Juicy Lesson! Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech

Teaching Resource

Juicy Lesson! Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech

Powerful speeches are meant to be spoken and heard. Muscular language is meant to be flexed. This lesson is all about helping students discover the power of Dr. King’s groundbreaking 1963 speech from Washington.

Free resource

The Folger Method Online: How to Teach ANY Play Fast and with Rigor!

Teaching Resource

The Folger Method Online: How to Teach ANY Play Fast and with Rigor!

Wondering how to teach a play online and fast without sacrificing rigor? This workshop will give you a blueprint for helping students to make meaning of the juiciest parts of a play without losing the plot.

Free resource

Taking the Folger Method Online to Teach ANY Text and Get Students to Turn On Their Cameras!

Teaching Resource

Taking the Folger Method Online to Teach ANY Text and Get Students to Turn On Their Cameras!

Get ALL students to turn on their cameras with a sure-fire, student-centered, and easy-to-implement teaching technique that can be used over and over again.

Trailblazing Women Poets You’re Probably Not Teaching—And Practical Strategies for Teaching Them Now

Teaching Resource

Trailblazing Women Poets You’re Probably Not Teaching—And Practical Strategies for Teaching Them Now

Susan Barber and Corinne Viglietta dive into poetry by trailblazing women poets. Learn how to design learning so that ALL students live inside the language of these extraordinary poems written by trailblazing women.

Folger Community Conversation: Teaching Literature During COVID-19

Teaching Resource

Folger Community Conversation: Teaching Literature During COVID-19

Join Folger Education and teachers from around the country for a virtual community conversation.

 

Introducing Twelfth Night with 2-Line Scenes

Teaching Resource

Introducing Twelfth Night with 2-Line Scenes

A favorite and essential way of introducing a play!

Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.4

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.4

Cutting a scene is a powerful classroom routine that gets students reading and rereading, evaluating language, and making collaborative decisions.

Choral Reading: Sonnet 18

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Sonnet 18

Get students inside the beauty of Shakespeare’s most-well known sonnet with this choral reading lesson.

Choral Reading: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.1

Choral reading is one of those techniques that works brilliantly in person and online!

Cutting a Scene: King Lear 4.6

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: King Lear 4.6

Get students evaluating Shakespeare’s writing all on their own with this low-prep, high-impact way of teaching close reading.

3-D Shakespeare: Twelfth Night 1.2

Teaching Resource

3-D Shakespeare: Twelfth Night 1.2

Get the whole class working together to put a scene on its feet as they question the text and cite evidence–sneaky close reading!

3-D Literature with Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun 1.1

Teaching Resource

3-D Literature with Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun 1.1

Get students out of their seats and on their feet bringing close reading to life with 3D Literature!

Pre-reading: Tossing Lines from To Kill a Mockingbird

Teaching Resource

Pre-reading: Tossing Lines from To Kill a Mockingbird

Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird? Instead of a teacher-led presentation, try this student-centered least intimidating way in.

Choral Reading with Images from A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading with Images from A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.1

Get students comparing and challenging interpretations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream using images and choral reading.

Cutting a Scene: Julius Caesar 3.1

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: Julius Caesar 3.1

Get students close reading with a purpose by challenging groups to eliminate half the lines from Julius Caesar 3.1 while retaining its meaning.

Reading Macbeth 1.3 with Art

Teaching Resource

Reading Macbeth 1.3 with Art

Use art to get students thinking about the witches in Macbeth and the way in which artists have represented these characters over time.

Creating a Promptbook: Julius Caesar 3.1

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: Julius Caesar 3.1

Students bring to life Julius Caesar’s death scene through close, imaginative reading.

Creating a Promptbook: Twelfth Night 2.5

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: Twelfth Night 2.5

Give students a real purpose for reading closely and creatively, and be amazed at what happens.

Writing a Group Sonnet: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Teaching Resource

Writing a Group Sonnet: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Writing a group sonnet is a collaborative learning exercise–and is also noisy and fun!

Choral Reading: Much Ado About Nothing 1.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Much Ado About Nothing 1.1

Let the comedic insults of this play get your students excited about reading Much Ado About Nothing!

Cutting a Scene: The Merchant of Venice 3.1

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: The Merchant of Venice 3.1

Get students evaluating Shakespeare’s writing all on their own with this low-prep, high-impact way of teaching close reading.

Cutting a Scene: A Tale of Two Cities, Chapter Two

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: A Tale of Two Cities, Chapter Two

Watch as students experiment with and own the language of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities in this low-prep, high impact way of teaching close reading.

Promptbook: Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Teaching Resource

Promptbook: Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

An irresistible and effective way to introduce students to Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel-in-verse Poet X.

3-D Shakespeare: Julius Caesar 3.3

Teaching Resource

3-D Shakespeare: Julius Caesar 3.3

Let your students discover for themselves the power of Shakespeare’s language and the power of their own brains with 3-D Shakespeare.

Creating a Promptbook: Hamlet 1.1

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: Hamlet 1.1

Give students a real purpose for reading closely and creatively, and be amazed at what happens.

Creating a Promptbook: “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros

Although short, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros is a complex story just begging for students to bring it to life. Get students reading closely and making meaningful annotations as they create a promptbook of this emotional narrative.

Creating a Promptbook: Chapter Five of 1984

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: Chapter Five of 1984

Get students meaningfully close-reading and purposefully annotating as they create a promptbook of Chapter Five of George Orwell’s captivating dystopian novel.

Historical Characterization of Othello

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Historical Characterization of Othello

Introduce your students to the character of Othello and the way in which artists have represented him over the years.

Tossing Lines: Fences by August Wilson

Teaching Resource

Tossing Lines: Fences by August Wilson

Starting with a single line is the least intimidating way to get students grappling with the language of a complex text. These juicy lines from Fences will have students owning Wilson’s language in no time at all.

Cutting A Scene: Toni Morrison’s Beloved Part I

Teaching Resource

Cutting A Scene: Toni Morrison’s Beloved Part I

No need for a lecture or a lengthy explanation. Get students examining the opening pages of Beloved all on their own.

Paired Texts: Ma Rainey from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing

Teaching Resource

Paired Texts: Ma Rainey from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing

What new understandings about race, gender (and so much more) will be unearthed when students pair soliloquies from Beatrice and Ma Rainey?

Paired Texts: Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson and Othello 1.3

Teaching Resource

Paired Texts: Boy Willie from The Piano Lesson and Othello 1.3

What interesting ideas might students unearth when they have two characters speak across time and region?

3-D Shakespeare: Othello 1.1

Teaching Resource

3-D Shakespeare: Othello 1.1

Get the whole class working together to put a scene on its feet as they question the text and cite evidence–sneaky close reading!

Free resource

Introducing Much Ado About Nothing with 2-Line Scenes

Teaching Resource

Introducing Much Ado About Nothing with 2-Line Scenes

A favorite and essential way of introducing a play!

Promptbook: The Wedding Scene of Much Ado About Nothing 4.1

Teaching Resource

Promptbook: The Wedding Scene of Much Ado About Nothing 4.1

Challenge your students to think about how they would want to tell the story of Much Ado About Nothing.

Historical Characterization of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice

Teaching Resource

Historical Characterization of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice

Introduce your students to the characters of Shylock and the way in which artists have represented the character over the years.

Introducing The Bluest Eye with 2-Line Scenes

Teaching Resource

Introducing The Bluest Eye with 2-Line Scenes

2-line scenes are a wonderful, student-centered way to introduce students to the language of The Bluest Eye.

Choral Reading: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Allow choral reading to bring to life the lyrical power of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s writing.

Choral Reading: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Allow choral reading to bring to life the lyrical power of Toni Morrison’s writing.

Paired Texts: Portia from The Merchant of Venice and Nessa from District Merchants

Teaching Resource

Paired Texts: Portia from The Merchant of Venice and Nessa from District Merchants

The power of asides, in plays separated by centuries and united by common questions…

Introducing Julius Caesar with 2-Line Scenes

Teaching Resource

Introducing Julius Caesar with 2-Line Scenes

A favorite and essential way of introducing a play!

Choral Reading: Juliet’s Soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet 4.3

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Juliet’s Soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet 4.3

A longtime Folger favorite lesson!

Choral Reading: Othello 3.4 Handkerchief Scene

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Othello 3.4 Handkerchief Scene

Let your students discover for themselves the drama and tension of this moment from Othello.

Cutting a Scene: Hamlet 2.2

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: Hamlet 2.2

What happens when your students edit Shakespeare’s Hamlet?

Cutting a Scene: Queen Mab in Romeo and Juliet 1.4

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: Queen Mab in Romeo and Juliet 1.4

Students do the work of directors and teachers everywhere: cut the strange, long, and imagery-rich “Queen Mab” speech!

Choral Reading: Twelfth Night 1.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Twelfth Night 1.1

Let the topsy-turvy poetry of this play work on your students!

Pre-reading: Tossing Lines from Romeo and Juliet

Teaching Resource

Pre-reading: Tossing Lines from Romeo and Juliet

Students never forget this first day of their Romeo and Juliet unit!

Pre-reading: Tossing Words from The Color Purple

Teaching Resource

Pre-reading: Tossing Words from The Color Purple

Starting The Color Purple? Instead of a teacher-led presentation, try this student-centered way in.

Introducing The Great Gatsby with 2-Line Scenes

Teaching Resource

Introducing The Great Gatsby with 2-Line Scenes

A surprising and ridiculously effective way to start The Great Gatsby!

Choral Reading: Shylock’s Revenge Speech in The Merchant of Venice 3.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Shylock’s Revenge Speech in The Merchant of Venice 3.1

What’s going on in Shylock’s revenge speech?

Choral Reading: Portia’s “Quality of Mercy” Speech in 4.1

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Portia’s “Quality of Mercy” Speech in 4.1

Forget for a moment what’s been said about Portia’s courtroom speech. What do today’s students make of it?

Choral Reading: Romeo and Juliet 1.4 Queen Mab Speech

Teaching Resource

Choral Reading: Romeo and Juliet 1.4 Queen Mab Speech

Choral reading is one of those techniques that works brilliantly in person and online!

Cutting a Scene: The Merchant of Venice 4.1

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: The Merchant of Venice 4.1

What can we learn from the trial of Antonio? Your students investigate and decide.

Cutting a Scene: Richard III 1.1

Teaching Resource

Cutting a Scene: Richard III 1.1

Students own the language and story of Richard III right from the outset.

Creating a Promptbook: The Tempest 5.1

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: The Tempest 5.1

Students bring the end of The Tempest to life through close, imaginative reading.

Creating a Promptbook: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.2

Teaching Resource

Creating a Promptbook: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.2

Give students a real purpose for reading closely and creatively, and be amazed at what happens.

Free resource

Cutting a Scene: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

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Cutting a Scene: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

The single most irresistible and effective way to begin a study of Alvarez’s novel!

Juicy Lesson! Paired Texts: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing 2.1

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Juicy Lesson! Paired Texts: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing 2.1

Get students thinking deeply about control and power by pairing soliloquies in two plays: August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

The Ultimate Resource: The Folger Shakespeare

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The Ultimate Resource: The Folger Shakespeare

Learn practical tools for getting every student reading closely, making new discoveries, getting excited about literature, and engaging with the digital humanities with Anne Blaney, an English teacher at Syosset High School (NY), and Corinne Viglietta, former Associate Director of Folger Education.

Juicy Lesson! The Monologue Project

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Juicy Lesson! The Monologue Project

A much more exciting, authentic, and rigorous final assessment than an essay or test. Try the monologue project with virtually any text. Find out how and why this project works with any text, every student.

Juicy Lesson! Choral Reading Imtiaz Dharker’s “The Trick” and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43

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Juicy Lesson! Choral Reading Imtiaz Dharker’s “The Trick” and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43

Learn how to let these two poems talk to each other—and how to get your students talking back to both of them. Walk through the what, how, and why of this paired text lesson with the teachers who created it: Dr. Deborah Gascon and Corinne Viglietta.

Group Scenes: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

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Group Scenes: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Watch when happens when students are asked to find the story in a sonnet–and then perform it.

Richard III: Introducing Language with 2-Line Scenes

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Richard III: Introducing Language with 2-Line Scenes

Let students encounter the language and start to make inferences about Richard III in this low-stakes, high-energy lesson.

Two-Line Scenes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Two-Line Scenes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A collaborative, low-stakes, language-centered introduction to Midsummer

Pre-reading: Tossing Words and Lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Pre-reading: Tossing Words and Lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

How to get every single student learning and loving Midsummer from day one!

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Cutting the Opening Scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Cutting the Opening Scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

What might happen if students’ first encounter with a play was one that let them discover it–and edit it–for themselves? Turn the opening of Midsummer over to your class to find out!

Comparing Shakespeare to His Source, Holinshed: The Witches in Macbeth 3.1

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Comparing Shakespeare to His Source, Holinshed: The Witches in Macbeth 3.1

How did Shakespeare take a book of legend and turn it into drama? Students compare his witches in Macbeth to those of Holinshed.

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Choral Reading: King Lear 1.2

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Choral Reading: King Lear 1.2

A rousing and rigorous way to get inside Edmund’s monologue in 1.2! Students close-read this speech without any teacher explanation.

Choral Reading: Rena from August Wilson’s Jitney and Lady Macbeth from Macbeth

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Choral Reading: Rena from August Wilson’s Jitney and Lady Macbeth from Macbeth

What do Rena from August Wilson’s Jitney and Lady Macbeth have in common?

Choral Reading and Cutting a Text: Pairing Clint Smith’s “My Hopes, Dreams, Fears for My Future Son” with Hamlet

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Choral Reading and Cutting a Text: Pairing Clint Smith’s “My Hopes, Dreams, Fears for My Future Son” with Hamlet

Living inside the language of Clint Smith and Shakespeare, students examine fatherly advice, race, and growing up.

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Cutting a Scene: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

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Cutting a Scene: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Students work in small groups to read, evaluate, and edit an early scene from Shelley’s novel. Lively debate ensues!

Choral Reading: Fences and King Lear

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Choral Reading: Fences and King Lear

What do Troy from August Wilson’s Fences and Cordelia from Shakespeare’s King Lear have in common? This lesson asks students to consider the possibilities, actively.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: Introducing Language with 2-Line Scenes

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An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: Introducing Language with 2-Line Scenes

What’s an effective way to launch your students into engaged study of Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage?

Choral Reading: “Seven Ages of Man” from As You Like It

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Choral Reading: “Seven Ages of Man” from As You Like It

The “seven ages of man” speech–read chorally and physically by your students!

Choral Reading with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43 and Imtiaz Dharker’s “The Trick”

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Choral Reading with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43 and Imtiaz Dharker’s “The Trick”

An Imtiaz Dharker sonnet talks to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43 in this close reading lesson.

Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II

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Choral Reading: Hamlet and August Wilson’s King Hedley II

What if August Wilson’s King Hedley could talk to Shakespeare’s Hamlet? What might these characters say—and share?

Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech

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Choral Reading Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech

Find out why Dr. King’s speech should never be studied silently again. What your students do in this lesson will amaze you–and them.

Words as Images: Twelfth Night 1.5

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Words as Images: Twelfth Night 1.5

How can studying primary source images of Malvolio deepen students’ understanding of Shakespeare’s character?

3-D Literature: Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club

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3-D Literature: Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club

Students discover the “four directions” scene of The Joy Luck Club on their own, without any teacher explanation.

Julius Caesar Promptbooks: Marking Up Antony’s Speeches for Performance

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Julius Caesar Promptbooks: Marking Up Antony’s Speeches for Performance

Students discover the world of promptbooks and create their own promptbooks as a way of imagining a three-dimensional version of Julius Caesar 3.2.

Pre-reading Othello: Tossing Words and Lines

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Pre-reading Othello: Tossing Words and Lines

Set the tone for a language-focused, student-driven study of Othello.

Equitable, Engaging and Subversive Teaching with the Folger Method

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Equitable, Engaging and Subversive Teaching with the Folger Method

The future of the humanities depends on the insights of ALL our students. How do we get students not only understanding but also speaking back to a vast and rich range of texts? Gain practical ideas in this virtual workshop.

Understanding Race and Religion through Othello

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Understanding Race and Religion through Othello

What can this tragedy teach us about race and religion?

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Cutting a Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Cutting a Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Who or what has the power in this scene from Chapter 6? Whose story is it, and how can cutting the text affect that?

Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.3

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Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.3

Ask students to cut this rowdy Twelfth Night scene in half, and be amazed at what happens.

Pre-reading: Tossing Words from Romeo and Juliet

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Pre-reading: Tossing Words from Romeo and Juliet

Forget a slide deck on Shakespeare’s life and times. Start Romeo and Juliet with the words in your students’ mouths– actively and joyfully!

Pre-reading: A Snapshot of Othello

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Pre-reading: A Snapshot of Othello

Introduce the language and story of Othello and prepare your students for courageous conversations about race and power. A twist on 20-minute plays.

Macbeth in the First Folio: Sisters or Witches?

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Macbeth in the First Folio: Sisters or Witches?

Students get up close with the 1623 First Folio to solve a textual mystery about the witches in Macbeth.

“To Be” in Translation: Hamlet in World Languages

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“To Be” in Translation: Hamlet in World Languages

Hamlet’s “to be” soliloquy in 12 languages!

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Editing Macbeth: Issues an Editor Faces

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Editing Macbeth: Issues an Editor Faces

What does it mean to edit Macbeth, and what are some of the issues at stake in this work?

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Pre-reading: Tossing Words from Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Pre-reading: Tossing Words from Their Eyes Were Watching God

Instead of starting your Hurston unit with a slide deck or tons of historical context, let your students connect with the rich language of the novel right from the start.

3-D Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet 1.1

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3-D Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet 1.1

Get out of the way and let your students create the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet. Here’s how.

Is Othello Shakespeare’s American Play?

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Is Othello Shakespeare’s American Play?

Might Othello be the best Shakespeare play for discussing race, sexuality, and status in America?

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Editing Shakespeare: Word Choice in Othello

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Editing Shakespeare: Word Choice in Othello

A world of “sighs” or “kisses”? How does word choice affect what a line–maybe even a play–means?

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3-D Literature: The Opening Scene of Their Eyes Were Watching God

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3-D Literature: The Opening Scene of Their Eyes Were Watching God

The opening scene of Their Eyes Were Watching God can be challenging for students, but when they get on their feet and perform it, the scene comes alive with amazing clarity.

Choral Reading: The Declaration of Independence

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Choral Reading: The Declaration of Independence

An immersive and unforgettable way to understand The Declaration of Independence.

Pre-reading: 20-minute Romeo and Juliet

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Pre-reading: 20-minute Romeo and Juliet

Introduce the language and story of Romeo and Juliet with this lively 20-minute play.

Cutting a Scene: Othello 1.1

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Cutting a Scene: Othello 1.1

Ask students to cut the opening scene of Othello in half, and be amazed at what happens.

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Close Reading on Your Feet: Performing Macbeth’s Soliloquy in 5.5
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Close Reading on Your Feet: Performing Macbeth’s Soliloquy in 5.5

Students work in groups to read and perform Macbeth’s famous soliloquy in Macbeth 5.5

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Pre-reading: 20-minute Hamlet

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Pre-reading: 20-minute Hamlet

Introduce the language and story of Hamlet with this lively 20-minute play.

2-Line Scenes - General Shakespeare
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2-Line Scenes - General Shakespeare

Introduce any Shakespeare play this way. Trust us– it works!

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Who is the Moor? Choral Reading American Moor and Othello

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Who is the Moor? Choral Reading American Moor and Othello

What does a black actor at an audition in today’s world have to say to Shakespeare’s Othello? This choral reading mashup will ignite bold discussion.

Essential Everyday Bravery
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Essential Everyday Bravery

Use literature as a tool for anti-racism. Even if you don’t teach Merchant, this curriculum will help your students think and act with courage.

LUNA: The Folger Digital Image Collection

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LUNA: The Folger Digital Image Collection

Online access to over 100,000 images from the Folger Shakespeare Library collection!

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Yorick 2 Ways: Comparing Quarto and Folio Versions of Hamlet

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Yorick 2 Ways: Comparing Quarto and Folio Versions of Hamlet

Which version of Hamlet’s speech is better? Let students analyze, evaluate, and decide for themselves.

3-D Shakespeare: Hamlet 1.1

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3-D Shakespeare: Hamlet 1.1

Students discover the opening scene of Hamlet for themselves, together. Close reading on your feet!

Choral Reading: Macbeth’s Soliloquy in Macbeth 1.7

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Choral Reading: Macbeth’s Soliloquy in Macbeth 1.7

A riveting speech and the most riveting (and sneakily rigorous) way to teach it: be astounded by Macbeth’s words in the mouths of your students!

The First Week of School: Literature Line Toss

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The First Week of School: Literature Line Toss

On the first day of school, make your students want to come back to class.

The Folger Shakespeare API Tools

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The Folger Shakespeare API Tools

Powerful digital tools that enable readers everywhere to analyze Shakespeare’s plays in new ways and make fresh discoveries.

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Why Study Shakespeare Today? Dr. Kim Hall, Barnard College

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Why Study Shakespeare Today? Dr. Kim Hall, Barnard College

How does Shakespeare help us think through war, religion, race, and other issues from our own time?

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The Wonder of Will: 400th Anniversary of William Shakespeare’s Death

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The Wonder of Will: 400th Anniversary of William Shakespeare’s Death

A 2-hour extravaganza of Shakespeare stories from actors, community leaders, teachers, students, and scholars!

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Invitation from a Black Shakespearean

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Invitation from a Black Shakespearean

“You see, I am a black woman who teaches and writes about William Shakespeare, and I am also someone who teaches and writes about issues of race.”

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Shakespeare Sonnets in the Classroom

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Shakespeare Sonnets in the Classroom

Why–and how–should students read Shakespeare’s sonnets in class?

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Master Class: Teaching Romeo and Juliet

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Master Class: Teaching Romeo and Juliet

What are the most essential, and eye-opening, things any teacher must know about Romeo and Juliet? What are wildly effective approaches to teaching it?

Directing Julius Caesar: An Interview with Michael Tolaydo

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Directing Julius Caesar: An Interview with Michael Tolaydo

What can readers of Shakespeare learn from performing the text? What wisdom can we gain from a longtime actor and director?

Building Empathy in the Literature Classroom

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Building Empathy in the Literature Classroom

How do we help students grapple with race, power, and poetic language? What do student gain by putting Shakespeare in conversation with Poe, Clifton, and today’s social issues?

Dr. Kim Hall’s lecture “Othello Was My Grandfather: Shakespeare in the African Diaspora”

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Dr. Kim Hall’s lecture “Othello Was My Grandfather: Shakespeare in the African Diaspora”

Find out what’s wrong with calling Shakespeare “universal.”

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Whiteness: A Primer for Understanding Shakespeare, with Dr. Ian Smith

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Whiteness: A Primer for Understanding Shakespeare, with Dr. Ian Smith

“Whiteness is everywhere implied but nowhere acknowledged.”

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Teach Their Eyes Were Watching God with Rigor and Joy

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Teach Their Eyes Were Watching God with Rigor and Joy

How does the Folger Method help students discover and interpret Their Eyes Were Watching God?

Getting All Students Inside Tough Speeches

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Getting All Students Inside Tough Speeches

How can any student encounter a speech for the first time and make meaning from it on their own, without any teacher explanation?

Abraham Lincoln, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar, 1865

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Abraham Lincoln, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar, 1865

What does Shakespeare have to do with President Lincoln’s assassination? What is gained by examining the continuities between English literature and American history?

Master Class: Teaching Hamlet

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Master Class: Teaching Hamlet

What does it mean to teach Hamlet the Folger way? Do you have to teach the whole play? What do scholars, teachers, and artists have to say about Hamlet?

Folger Revealed

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Folger Revealed

What is Folger Education, and what’s this community of teachers all about?

Cutting a Scene: Hamlet 1.3

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Cutting a Scene: Hamlet 1.3

Start Hamlet 3.1 with this lesson, which asks students to cut this famous scene from Hamlet down to half its length.

The Monologue Project

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The Monologue Project

A much more exciting, authentic, and rigorous final assessment than an essay or test. Try the monologue project with virtually any text.

Free resource

Directing Shakespeare: An Interview with Rosa Joshi

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Directing Shakespeare: An Interview with Rosa Joshi

What drives Rosa Joshi to direct Shakespeare today? What does Shakespeare have for diverse casts and audiences?

Master Class: Teaching Othello

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Master Class: Teaching Othello

What matters most when we teach Othello? How can all students grapple with the language of race, religion, gender, and power?

Master Class: Teaching Julius Caesar

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Master Class: Teaching Julius Caesar

What does it mean to teach Julius Caesar the Folger way? What insights from performance, scholarship, and expert classroom practice can grow your knowledge and your students’ understanding?

What to Do–and What Not to Do–in Week One of a Successful Shakespeare Unit

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What to Do–and What Not to Do–in Week One of a Successful Shakespeare Unit

What are the best, and worst, things you can do in the first week of a Shakespeare unit?

Richard II stage footage | Act IV, scene 1 – the deposition scene

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Richard II stage footage | Act IV, scene 1 – the deposition scene