Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
1 The play’s the thing by Julie Hopkins
Julie Hopkins, secondary English teacher,
literacy teacher for KS1/2 and a Teachit contributor
If William Shakespeare were alive today, we are told he’d be writing
populist TV or Hollywood movies. His plots and characters offer rich
opportunities for grabbing the attention and engaging the interest
of our students. All those murders, betrayals, broken hearts, mistaken identities, cruel
fathers and heroic leaders ... and let’s not forget all that lovely language – imagery
and insults, puns and poetry. And now that the misery of the KS3 NC test is a thing of
the past, we can get on with enjoying the teaching and learning!
Julie’s five favourite approaches
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To focus students on key ideas and events as well as important language and images,
challenge them to create: the play in 10 actions/an act in 10 lines/a scene in 10
words. Get them to work in groups to compare and justify choices. Then they present
the actions as mime and get other students to provide appropriate lines. Alternatively,
give them a printed, cut up version for sequencing and dramatising.
2
Create a bank of appropriate character adjectives that you can allocate to
students. At intervals (after key scenes or at the end of an Act, for example) ask
students to say whether or not ‘their’ adjective describes a particular character, or ask
them to say which character it does describe, with evidence drawn from the relevant
section of the play. If you get them to write the words on Post-it® notes, they can stick
them onto a large piece of paper labelled with yes/no columns, or onto a ‘role on the
wall’ template (see (18079) Role on the wall). Revisit this to explore links between
characters or to analyse how a character changes during the play.
3
Good old storyboarding works a treat, perhaps for a scene, a plot strand or even
a movie trailer. Ask students to include all or some of the following: images; a
description of what’s happening in each frame; a relevant line from the play; dialogue
in speech bubbles – modern or original; camera angles with reasons; notes on desired
audience response; thought bubbles; synopsis of the scene; sound effects or music.
(See (14823) Storyboards for a ready-made template.)
4
Hot seating: a quick and versatile drama activity that doesn’t require a lot of
space. Have the teacher or student(s) in role as a character – or even as the
director or actor in a performance the class has seen. Other students can make up
questions to ask, as an audience or as other characters in role. Turn the tables and let
the person in the hot seat ask questions of the audience!
5
Compare different versions of the play. If you can take your class to the theatre,
great; if not, find two or three screen versions. Don’t forget to direct your
students to consider audience response.
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2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
Whizzy and web-based ideas
(4676) Complete the sentences to
summarise the plot (Twelfth Night – Act 3
Scene 4). Use this to introduce the scene before
reading it and/or as a recap after reading. Alternatively, you could
create a paper version for students to cut up and match individually,
or distribute to each student a card bearing the second half of one
sentence. As the teacher reads out the first part, students with the
correct completing part stand up.
1
(4672) Match the lines with their modern versions
(Much Ado About Nothing). Use this before reading the
play to encourage discussion about what the plot, characters and
themes might be, or after reading the play to recap key aspects of
plot, characters and themes. Alternatively, students could rank the
quotations in order of importance and justify their decisions. (For a
useful ranking template, see (7285) Diamond ranking template.)
2
(4998) Apostrophes starter activity. Although this is classified
as a resource for Richard III, it could be used with any play to
help students decode the language and read aloud more fluently.
3
Use Teachit’s Choptalk to present key quotations in the form
of a challenging puzzle. For example: (7517) Choptalk –
Indelible blood. You could differentiate this resource by increasing
or decreasing the length of the chosen quotation and the number of
characters on each tile.
4
Of the various insult generators, (5974) Create your own
Shakespearean insult is my favourite. You could use it as a warm
up before a Drama lesson or as an active break to liven up a flagging
lesson. Alternatively, why not collect your own nouns and adjectives
from whatever play you are studying to supplement this resource?
5
See the site
Find the editable
resources, links, interactive
materials and special
versions of Magnet,
Cruncher and Syntex
at www.teachit.co.uk/
takefive
2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
When teaching
Shakespeare:
1. you don’t have to read the
whole play. Decide on your
focus before you start and feel
free to leave out anything that
isn’t relevant to your aim.
2. treat the play as a drama
first and foremost. Every
lesson should make your
students think about the play
from the point of view of an
actor, director or audience.
3. students will find the
language more difficult to
understand than you expect.
Use modern English versions
of key speeches or key scenes
to minimise time spent
dictating translations line
by line.
4. showing students how to
read Shakespearean verse
aloud is a good investment.
Don’t be afraid to insist you
read the most important parts
yourself.
5. other teachers are a great
resource! Pick the brains of
your MFL colleagues, your
EAL co-ordinator or anyone
who has done some TEFL.
Teaching methods that help
students learn a foreign
language can be useful (for
example, glossaries displayed
around the room or preteaching key vocabulary).
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Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
Julie’s top essential Shakespeare resource
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(4987) Act 2 Scene 2 – reacting to murder (Macbeth)
How it works
This is a simple series of
multiple choice questions
based on a set of quotations
and their modern English
equivalents, yet it offers a
wealth of opportunities for
active learning. You will need
to reproduce the quotations
and/or the modern English
equivalents on individual cards.
Five things to try
1
Before you read the scene, recap Lady Macbeth’s plan and
discuss the attitudes of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the
murder. What have we learned about the relationship between
them? Then get students into groups and ask them to (briefly)
predict what they think will happen in the next scene (explain that
it takes place immediately after the murder). Once you’ve done this,
give out sets of cards (a full set to each group or a selection so that
there is variation between groups) and allow them time to read the
cards and discuss who the speaker might be and what he/she means.
Each group should devise an improvised scene that incorporates the
lines on the cards. (You can specify roles as actors and directors, or
have two actors playing one role where one actor speaks the lines
and the other voices their private thoughts – step in to freeze the
scene at any time and question the ‘thoughts’.)
2
After reading, give small groups a set of quotations and ask
them to select 10 that they think are key to an audience’s
appreciation of the scene. Use these to prepare a ‘scene in 10
actions’ and present the scenes to the class.
Tip!
Use the many
modern film adaptions
there are to consolidate
understanding and expose
students to the numerous
ways Shakespeare’s plays
can be interpreted.
3
Delete the quotations from the worksheet and ask students
to find the matching lines from the play to fill in the gaps.
Alternatively, add thought bubbles in a third column and ask students
to fill in what the character might be thinking at that moment.
4
Create a straightforward matching exercise with the two sets
of cards. Make a bingo game by giving each student a (varied)
selection of the quotations and, as you read out the modern English
version, getting them to tick off any of the matched quotations
that appear on their sheet. If you’ve already read the scene, the
‘winner(s)’ could be asked to decide which character said each of the
ticked-off quotations. You could also ask students to sort the cards
into Macbeth/Lady Macbeth columns and then sequence them.
5
The questions on the worksheet can be answered as they are,
or you could delete the multiple-choice options to make things
a bit more challenging. Get students learning from each other by
separating the questions about Macbeth from those about Lady
Macbeth. Then use expert pairs to work on one character before
splitting up and joining with their ‘opposite’ and peer teaching their
new partner.
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2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
And four more choice essential Shakespeare resources
2
(emotive) Emotive language in Act 2 Scene 2 (Henry V)
This basic template can be completed after reading the scene to collect
examples of different types of language used. Another option (perhaps suited to
more able students) would be to hand out sets of cards containing the headings
before reading, then ask students to hold up the appropriate card if they hear one of
the techniques while the scene is being read. Instead, a starter activity could involve
matching the names of the techniques with their definitions and examples. After the
sheet is completed, students could work in pairs to explore and analyse the effects of
the language on the audience (Henry’s audience or a modern-day audience).
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(1236) Shakespeare’s grammar
Although designed for KS5 students, this is a really useful resource that (with
a little tweaking) could be invaluable for younger students too. The short exercises
on key language differences mean that the work can be done in short bursts, perhaps
as starters, while the speaking and listening tasks consolidate learning in a fun way.
Another option would be to get groups of students tackling different topics and then
peer teaching one another.
4
(15314) The two worlds (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
This is a word sorting activity to identify characteristics of the two worlds (Athens
and the woods). The resource can be used as it stands or made more interactive. The
interactive approach could consist of designating two distinct areas of the room as city
and woods, and making a set of cards with one word on each. Students take turns to
collect a card and move to the appropriate area. Alternatively, if your room has an IWB,
you could put the words into Teachit’s Magnet and start with the tiles stacked. Students
from the two teams can take it in turns to say where a tile should be placed as each one
is revealed. This resource could be adapted to compare the settings of Rome and Egypt in
Antony and Cleopatra or court and tavern in Henry IV, Part 1.
5
(14406) Weighing up the themes (Othello)
This resource suggests a number of themes such as appearance/reality and
darkness/light. It asks students to identify where these themes are reflected in the
plot and by which characters. They then deepen their understanding and develop their
analysis through a closer look at the theme of appearance/reality. Introduce the topic
by asking students to award each theme marks out of 10 according to its significance,
or to rank them in order of importance. Then move on to the first stage, which could
be done using the ‘circuit training’ method – label 8 large pieces of paper as per the
headings and prompts on page 1 and position them on tables around the room. In pairs
or small groups, students move from station to station, adding notes to the sheets. (You
can pass the sheets around if too much movement in the classroom is impractical.)
2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
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Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
The photocopiable resource – (4987) Act 2 Scene 2 – Reacting to murder (Macbeth)
Lady Macbeth’s words
Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t.
(If, as he lay sleeping, Duncan hadn’t looked so much like my father,
I would have murdered him myself.)
What does this tell us about Lady Macbeth?
a) She is not as ruthless as she appears to be
b) She loved her father very much
c) a and b
• Is there any other evidence in this scene to suggest that Lady Macbeth is less hard-hearted
than she seems?
Macbeth’s words
I have done the deed.
(I have murdered Duncan)
How do you think Macbeth sounds as he speaks these words?
a) happy
b) matter-of-fact
c) agitated
d) resigned
e) desperate
Macbeth’s words
I could not say ‘Amen’
When they did say ‘God bless us’.
(I could not say ‘Amen’ when the grooms guarding Duncan said ‘God bless us.’)
Why do you think Macbeth was unable to say ‘Amen’?
a) He realised he had committed a terrible crime
b) He felt guilty
c) He had a sore throat
d) a, b and c
e) a and b
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2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
Lady Macbeth’s words
Consider it not so deeply.
(Do not let it worry you so much)
In what kind of way do you think Lady Macbeth speaks these words?
a) dismissive
b) impatient
c) encouraging
d) kind
Macbeth’s words
I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’
Stuck in my throat.
(I was sorely in need of blessing,
but I could not say ‘Amen’.)
• Does it worry Macbeth that he was unable to say ‘Amen’? What does this tell us about
his character?
Lady Macbeth’s words
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so it will make us mad.
(If we have these kinds of thoughts we will go mad.)
What would Lady Macbeth’s facial expression show while speaking these lines?
a) concern
b) anger
c) impatience
d) worry
Macbeth’s words
Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more:
Macbeth does murder sleep’.
(I thought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more:
Macbeth has murdered sleep’.)
The fact that Macbeth thinks he heard a voice speaking to him after the murder shows
that he is:
a) mad
b) agitated
c) has a vivid imagination
d) a, b and c
e) b and c
2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
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Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
Lady Macbeth’s words
You do unbend your noble strength, to think
So brainsickly of things. Go, get some water
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
. . . go carry them and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
(Such morbid thoughts will be your undoing.
Get some water and wash the blood from your hands.
Take these daggers back inside and place them beside the sleeping grooms
then smear the grooms with blood.)
If you were directing a stage performance of Macbeth, how would you advise the actor
playing the role of Lady Macbeth to sound in the above lines?
a) angry
b) stern
c) impatient
d) sympathetic
e) disgusted
f) commanding
• Which words should she emphasise?
Macbeth’s words
Look on’t again I dare not.
(I cannot look at Duncan again.)
• How do you think Macbeth would react if he were forced to return to the scene of the
murder?
Macbeth’s words
Whence is that knocking?
(Where does that knocking come from?)
• How do you think the actor playing the role of Macbeth should react to the sound of the
knocking?
Macbeth’s words
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?
(Will all the water in the ocean be enough
to wash the blood from my hand?)
• What do these lines tell us about how Duncan’s murder has affected Macbeth?
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2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
Take Five
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Strategies for teaching Shakespeare
Lady Macbeth’s words
I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal,
For it must seem their guilt.
(I’ll smear blood on the grooms’ faces,
for they must be blamed for Duncan’s murder.)
My hands are of your colour, but I shame
to wear a heart so white.
(My hands are also covered in blood, but I would be ashamed if I were as lilylivered about it as you.)
A little water clears us of this deed.
How easy it is, then!
(All it takes to remove the evidence of the murder is a little water. How easy
it is!)
• Look at what Lady Macbeth says in the above three quotations. What
are your feelings about Lady Macbeth at this point? Do you admire her, or
does her behaviour disgust you?
Macbeth’s words
Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst
(You’ll waken Duncan with that knocking: I wish you could)
• Explain how you think Macbeth should speak these lines.
2012 Teachit (UK) Ltd
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