Nexus resource
Hamlet Act I
DARTs activities
Subject:
Age range:
Topic:
English
12–14, 15–16
Hamlet
Licence information | This resource is free to use for educational purposes. ©British Council 2015
Source | This resource was originally developed by EAL Nexus. Images are from Self-Made Hero’s
Manga Shakespeare series.
Act One: Scenes 1 and 2
What do we find out about the main characters?
Match the adjectives in the cloud
to the character.
Use a dictionary.
Horatio and the guards
vengeful
content
upset
fearful
furious
King Claudius
terrified
grieving
smug
Hamlet
Fortinbras
Now make some sentences about the characters.
vengeful
Fortinbras
Hamlet
upset
is
terrified
Claudius
Horatio and
the guard
fearful
are
smug
grieving
content
furious
he is the king now.
his mother married Claudius.
they saw the ghost of Hamlet’s
because father.
his father is dead.
the King of Denmark killed his
father.
You can make lots of different sentences using the table. Here are
some examples:
 Fortinbras is vengeful because the King of Denmark killed his
father.
 Hamlet is grieving because his father is dead.
 Hamlet is upset because his mother married Claudius.
 Horatio and the guard are terrified because they saw the
ghost of Hamlet’s father.
 Claudius is smug because he is the king now.
Act One: Scenes 3
Giving advice! Match the speech bubbles to the character giving the
advice.
A
C
B
Don’t lend money!
Be friendly!
Don’t trust
Hamlet!
D
E
Be polite!
Keep away from
Hamlet!
Polonius
?
Laertes
Now make some sentences.
trust Hamlet
Laertes
Laertes
tells
Polonius
Ophelia
to
not to
lend money at college
be polite at college
keep away from Hamlet
be friendly at college
You can make lots of sentences using this table. Here are some
examples:
 Laertes tells Ophelia not to trust Hamlet.
 Polonius tells Laertes to be polite at college.
 Polonius tells Laertes to be friendly at college.
 Polonius tells Laertes not to lend money.
 Polonius tells Ophelia to keep away from Hamlet.
Act One: Scenes 4 and 5
Put the sentences in the clouds
in the right order to find
out what the ghost of Hamlet’s father said.
not Gertrude must
harm You
must revenge You
get Hamlet
me murdered to
my
ear
Claudius
into poison
poured
The ghost said:
“You must not harm Gertrude”.
“You must get revenge, Hamlet.”
“Claudius murdered me to be king.”
“Claudius poured poison into my ear.”
be
Claudius king