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Do Clothes Make the Man?
Students discuss the Shakepeare play "The Merchant in Venice" to examine if dress makes a person who they are. They discuss certain situations and the dress required for them. They role-play different roles in the play to examine the...
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Lose the Lute!
Students use Shakespeare's plays to add modern music to match the mood in the play. They assign adjectives to the original songs of the play and find a song with the same mood. They work together to role-play the play with new music.
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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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The Tempest
Students discuss cultural beliefs about magic. They investigate European exploration and colonialism. They create a cartoon strip of an episode that is described or dramatized in the play.
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Julius Caesar Oral Report
Pupils conduct research on William Shakespeare and Julius Caesar. They research and explore various websites, complete graphic organizers, and develop a research paper.
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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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Til Death Do Us Part
Ninth graders read Romeo and Juliet. They complete a character analysis on one of the major players and present it in an informative and entertaining way. They rewrite and perform one scene from another character's point of view.
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So Much Can Happen in a Night!
Tenth graders explore Shakespearean comedy. They read and discuss A Midsummer Night's Dream and create a soundtrack, complete with CD cover, for the play.
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Shakespeare Project
Students research the life and times of William Shakespeare and present their research in a variety of ways. They make timelines, act out the story of one of his plays or create word searches.
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Make Your Own Soundtrack for Macbeth !
Students create a 10 song soundtrack for Macbeth explaining why the songs are included. They design a tape cover jacket that illustrates the play.
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Sonnets and Poetic Dialogue
Seventh graders read a piece of work by Shakespeare and then write a sonnet.
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Performances of Lear's Speeches
Students engage in a lesson which gives them an introduction to the text, as a way to compare and contrast the lesson learned at the end of the play. They utilize worksheets imbedded in this plan to interpret what Lear is saying.
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Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: A Dual Exploration of Macbeth
Students emulate a key practice of Renaissance theater: doubling. The goal of this lesson is for students to experience-to see, hear, and feel-the differences between characters. Each group presents scenes to the rest of the class.
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Change slander to remorse: Unscripted Scenes
Students hypothesize about the content of unscripted moments, search for evidence in the actual text to support their hypothesis, and explore how this hypothesis would affect characterization.
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Othello's Predecessors: Moors in Renaissance Popular Literature
Students gather textual citations from Othello, discuss stereotypes that they hold, examine primary source materials, and write character profiles.
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"O, I have lost my reputation" - Why Reputation Matters in Othello
Students examine Othello's references to and attitudes toward reputation.
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A Guilty Gertrude: Performing Speaking and Silent Moments in Hamlet
High schoolers examine Gertrude's (in Hamlet) behavior, lines and thoughts for what it reveals about Ophelia's madness. They synthesize what they know about Gertrude to perform her character in a scene. They write stage directions and...
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Like, Wow
Students read Hamlet. They read again and hunt for a word that appears 4 times. They identify the word "like" and define it. Volunteers act out the scene and they discuss the uses of the word like. They discuss the senses and reality in...
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King Lear's Storm
Students read speeches from King Lear. They examine the sppeach for meaning by paraphrasing and defining words. They read aloud with "storm" in their voices. Groups perform their speech and class discusses it in terms of inner vs. outer...
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Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought to Say
High schoolers examine and create their own interpretation of a particular character from the play, King Lear. They read the speeches, write a paragraph about their character, and present a short performance of their scene.
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Measure for Measure: Are You Talkin' to Me?
Students rehearse and perform an exchange from act three, scene two of the play, Measure for Measure, in pairs. They read the lines from the point of view of a different character in the play, and perform for the class.
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"I am Not Well": Unspoken Endings and Unscripted Scenes
Pupils analyze Act 4, scene 1 from the play, Merchant of Venice. They hypothesize the content of an unscripted moment and response, look for evidence in the text to support their hypothesis, rewrite the scene, and perform it for the class.
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Playing Humanity: Comparing Shylock and Antonio
Learners read a scene of "The Merchant of Venice" and write remarks by Antonio and Shylock that indicate traits of their personalities. They enact both characters and discuss the treatment of anti-Semitism, bigotry, persecution and mercy.
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False Starts
Students perform and discuss three scenes from the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They discuss the similarities and differences, identify the order of the scenes, and read the first twenty lines of the play.