Lesson Plans and Ideas For Teaching Shakespeare's Poems
Something For Everyone
The wonder of Shakespeare is that he wrote something for everyone - romance, treachery, action, history, fantasy, and, of course,
comedy. What makes his work even richer is that the reader can find all of that in one play!
A master of language, Shakespeare was able to satisfy the demands for theater productions by the aristocracy of his time, while likewise giving the peasants something for their money. His twists of language were not lost on the audience, nor were his commentaries on the situations of the day, which he artfully masked within his characters, dialogue and settings.
The following are articles and lesson plans on Shakespeare, himself, as well as his works, in general.
- Shakespeare Online: A Webhunt
- Short History of William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare WebQuest
- Strategies for Analyzing Shakespeare
- Teaching Shakespeare Themes through Music
- Why Study Shakespeare
Fun and Fantasy
While lesson plans on his most famous works cover a multitude of topics, students of all ages enjoy the fun of his plays based on romance and fantasy. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is silly enough to share with elementary students, yet serious enough that high school students enjoy it also.
- Midsummer Night’s Dream for Middle School
- Midsummer Night’s Dream for High School
- Study Guide for Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Teaching Children A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Romeo and Juliet
Few would argue that the most famous of Shakespeare’s romances is the tragic story of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Within the lines of this play, educators can pluck the themes of family, rebellion, and teenage angst, which can then scaffold to topics of long-lasting disputes, blind loyalty to a cause, conflict negotiation, and prejudice.
- Family Shields: Lessons on Romeo and Juliet
- Tips and Ideas on Teaching Romeo and Juliet
- Major Themes in Romeo and Juliet
- Romeo and Juliet Character Lesson Plans
- Prologue Analysis in Romeo and Juliet
- Fun Shakespeare Lesson Plans
- Drama Lesson Plans: Updating Romeo and Juliet
History and Shakespeare
The plays Julius Caesar, Henry VIII, and Richard III by Shakespeare add an element of drama to history classes. Shakespeare wrote ten plays on British Kings and several on the Romans. While some of these plays are more famous than others, they each present bits of history that, through the characters in the plays, comes alive. For instance, here are some lesson plans on the play, Julius Caesar.
- Teaching Figurative Language with Julius Caesar
- Teaching Julius Caesar
- Julius Caesar Study Guide
- Summary of Julius Caesar
Other Plays
Shakespeare’s plays are broken down into three categories - romance, comedy and history. As mentioned before, his writing often incorporated all the elements of romance, drama and comedy in one play. When teaching Shakespeare it is good to give students well-rounded exposure to his works in order for them to grasp the genius of the man.
- Lesson Plans on The Merchant of Venice
- Classroom Ideas for The Tempest
- Oral Presentation on Hamlet
- High School Lesson Plans: Is Hamlet Insane?
- Exploring Comic Themes in Twelfth Night
- Othello Study Guide
- King Lear Character Analysis
- Teaching Children MacBeth
Sonnets
A sonnet is a poem in which the writer tells the reader about the relationship between two things that appear the same but are different. The English or Shakespearean sonnet is written in a rhyme following the pattern abab, cdcd, efef, gg or in 3 quatrains and a couplet. Sonnets have a turn or volta, in which the second idea is introduced to the reader. Shakespeare would place the volta at Line 9, as the Italian sonnets do, or sometimes wait until the couplet to present the volta.
- Getting Creative with Shakespeare’s Sonnets
- Metaphors and More in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
- Poems About Love: Sonnets
- Analysis of Sonnet 13
Life’s a Stage
No study of Shakespeare would be complete without a lesson on the Globe Theatre. Plays and theater were fairly new to the Elizabethan world. Shakespeare and his colleagues literally built the Globe after the place where their dramas were acted out called simply, “The Theatre,” was destroyed.
Like the plays presented on its stage, the Globe was a place where everyone from the groundlings (the people who stood directly in front of the stage, having paid for the cheapest tickets) to the aristocracy who sat on stage, not so much to see the play as to be seen by those attending the performance.
The following offer background on the Globe as well as ideas on involving students in the world of Shakespeare.
- History of the Globe Theatre
- What Is it Like to See a Play at the Globe?
- Shakespeare Comes Alive
- Shakespeare for Gifted Students
- Download this PowerPoint on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Era
The End
Students need to learn not only about his writing, but also about the man and his world in order to answer the question, “Why is Shakespeare called ‘The Bard’?” This guide provides articles and lesson plans to help in that endeavor.
References
- Denault, L., Shakespeare and The Early Modern English Theatre, 2002 - http://www.watson.org/~leigh/shakespeare.html
- Sonnets: Basic Sonnet Forms - http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm
- Globe Theatre: Globe Theatre Facts - http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/globe-theatre-facts.htm