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Lesson Plan
Shakespeare Uncovered

War and Leadership in Shakespeare’s Henry V

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” These two views of war, embodied in George Patton’s statement and Lorraine Schneider‘s famous 1966...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare: Standing on the Bookshelves of Giant

For Teachers 6th - 11th
A phenomenal lesson on Shakespeare! Middle and high school learners create WebQuests about the texts and authors that Shakespeare himself studied when he was in grammar school. They use a variety of media in order to create dramatic...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Shakespeare & The Renaissance: Activity Ideas

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Looking for ways to implement the words and works of William Shakespeare into your curriculum? This list of activity ideas is a great starting point, as it covers a wide range of grade levels and a wealth of online references to explore.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Merely Players

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Disguises and role playing are the focus of a resource that uses Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part I, to demonstrate how we all play many parts in our lives; how we all are “merely players.” The many...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Leadership and a Global Stage

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, among other things, the study of a ruler's ambitions. Young scholars watch videos, read articles, and keep a Commonplace Book while studying the play. At the end of Act III, pupils stage the play that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th Standards
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
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Shakespeare Uncovered

“Speak, I Charge You”: Macbeth On Your Feet, Not In Your Seat

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“Is this a dagger which I see before me . . .” As part of a study of Macbeth, class members engage in a series of activities that get them up and moving. Individuals practice, then deliver, a line from the Scottish play. The entire class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Music Be the Food of Love:" Found Poetry with Shakespeare and Hip-Hop

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...
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Lesson Plan
British Council

Shakespeare’s Idioms

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Lie low. Break the ice. He's a night owl. Idioms, in this case idioms created by Shakespeare, are the focus of resource that includes a PowerPoint presentation, an activity, and a brief lesson plan, all intended to give kids a chance to...
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Lesson Plan
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Star Wars in the Classroom

"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 12

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members compare the final 30 minutes of Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with Act V of Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope and consider how the choice of media influences viewers' impression of the...
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Lesson Plan
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Star Wars in the Classroom

"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 8 and 9

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How does an author's choice of artistic medium influence an audience? What about how an author chooses to transform original source material? These are the questions class members grapple with as they compare scenes from episode IV...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Star Wars in the Classroom

"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 15

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare and The Globe

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
A PowerPoint fill-in-the-blanks exam that tests learners knowledge of the life and times of William Shakespeare? Why not? The presentation could be used as a general review or as an introductory activity to assess prior knowledge.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Active Shakespeare: Making Shakespeare Accessible

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Two sonnets, both alike in theme and story, break from ancient language to new glory. The prologue to Act I of Romeo and Juliet provides scholars with an opportunity to examine the language Shakespeare uses to create timeless stories....
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Lesson Plan
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Shakespeare Uncovered

Suits of Woe: Grief and Loss in Hamlet

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
“Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity.” Grief, and the response to grief and loss, is the focus of a series of activities that uses Hamlet as a launchpad. Groups examine Act I, scene ii to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rewriting Shakespeare

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Have your learners play around with Shakespeare's language. In this plan, small groups examine and rearrange soliloquies from Othello, noting how the language changes and morphs. All groups have a chance to change each soliloquy, making...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Allusions to Shakespeare in Popular Culture

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Send your high schoolers on a scavenger hunt through popular culture (music, television, video games, movies) to find allusions to Shakespeare. They must each provide three to share with the class, and the one they present cannot have...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare Stealer: Design a Set

For Teachers 5th - 8th
In groups, learners design sets for the play, "Shakespeare Stealer." They sketch a scale model of a set and present it to the teacher, who will choose which group gets to design the entire set. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare 2000

For Teachers 12th
Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare 2000

For Teachers 12th Standards
Young thespians can try their hand at writing a script and acting out a scene, while gaining a deeper understanding of the universal topics presented in Shakespeare's wide array of plays. Begin the lesson by conducting a compare and...
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Lesson Plan
Shakespeare Uncovered

Women’s Roles in As You Like It

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“There is nothing that becommeth a maid better than soberness, silence, shamefastness, and chastity, both of body & mind.” This line, from Thomas Bentley ‘s The Monument of Matrons published in 1582, typifies the way women were...
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Lesson Plan
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Shakespeare Uncovered

Henry IV, Part I: Does Father Know Best?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
“Yea, there thou mak’st me sad and mak’st me sin/In envy that my Lord Northumberland/Should be the father to so blest a son--.” Henry IV, Part I, provides the text for a series of exercises that ask class members to examine the...
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Lesson Plan
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Star Wars in the Classroom

"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 13 and 14

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star Wars: A New...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Ethic in Text and Film

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Young scholars research the social context of Elizabethan England for Shakespeare's "Hamlet". They identify cultural influences on the play focusing on the theme of revenge and then analyze and compare film interpretations of the play.