My last Shakespeare Post

I've started a new blog about Adult Literacy Resources at  http://adultliteracyresources.blogspot.com/ .  If you've liked this one perhaps you'll find my new blog useful.  If not thanks, once again, for taking the time to follow this one.

Best wishes.

Running out of steam

This is going to be the second to last post of this particular blog.  It's much easier to think of activities for a particular text, it transpires, than to write in general terms about Shakespeare lessons.  I don't think I did too badly in that I managed to get to 155 ways to teach Shakespeare even though its not half way to my target. 

I've learned also about being organised when you write your blog, how to use blogger (which is wonderfully straight forward) and not fencing yourself into a corner with the actual title of the blog! 

My last post will provide the details of my new blog which will be more general and about Literacy teaching. 

Many thanks to those of you who have read this blog.

Compare and contrast

Watch a film that deals with some of the same issues as the play that your students are studying.

Ask them to compare and contrast how the play and the film tackle the issues and how social and cultural factors impact on our understanding.

Instructions

Ask students to write a set of instructions that are relevant to their play e.g. how to murder someone or how to conduct a feud.

Make an analysis of the format, language and content.

Introductions

Ask students to read the introduction to their play.  Make a critical analysis of it.

Now ask them to write their own introduction, as though to a new edition.

Identify that text

Cut up bits of important dialogue- obviously use key words and phrases.  Ask students to tell you who is speaking, where in the play and why its important.

This can be turned into a game.

Updating Shakespeare's plays or not.

Discuss which of Shakespeare's plays have been updated.

Discuss in class, you may wish to provide prompts, whether it is right to update Shakespeare's plays or whether they should be performed as they were first intended.

Once the class discussion has taken place ask students to write a discursive essay justifying their opinions.

Write a script.

Ask students to scan their copies of their play in order to list the format and features of a script.

Ask them also what kinds of information actors and directors need in order to create a play that matches the writer's vision.

You could also ask them to research a radio script and the features it includes. 

Now ask students to write a short play script for the radio based on the scene that they are studying- the events should be updated to take part in modern times.

Mini saga

The focus is on plot and a principle character within the play that students are studying.

A mini saga is a fifty word story- no more, no less- with an additional fifteen words for the title.

Can your students tell the story of the play in that number of words.

Shakespeare game.

This is creative.  Ask students to study board games - to make an analysis of the rules etc.

Now ask them, in small groups, to create a board game based on the Shakespeare text that they are studying.  It is entirely up to them how they do it and what aspect of the play is covered, it coul dbe language based or it could be based on plot or character - but it should be created, packaged and there should be an advert to go with it.  Groups should present their board game and explain the target audience and the format.

They should write a review of it.

Deflection

Shakespeare often uses a situation where the characters want to speak about themselves but deflect the talk on to someone else or onto 'a friend'- this means that they don't talk plainly, there are hints and implications that the audience is aware of but the characters on the stage are talking at cross purposes.

Discuss what the advantages are of this kind of conversation, what are the dangers and how Shakespeare uses it to further the plot or increase tension.

Similarities and differences

identify two key speeches in the play that is being studied.  Give students a chance to make an analysis of the two speeches.

Start the discussion by saying something that the two speeches have in common e.g. the use of similes.
The next person to speak (and it may be fairer to do this by the spillikin method where each person's name is on a stick which can then be drawn at random) must say in what way the speech is different e.g. The similes follow the same theme but the emotion expressed is different.

You can either nominate similarities, differences or leave it in the hands of the students.

Its in the words.

Many of Shakespeare's speeches don't rely on rhyme but on rhythm.  Ask student to rehearse a specific speech and to video record or make an audio of it,  Ask them to identify what they think is different about the words when they see them and hear them - there should be a greater sense of 'wholeness'. 

Ask them to revisit the role of punctuation and to explain what use the punctuation has and also to discuss what other factors impact on the pace and intonation of their chosen video.

Now ask them to write it up as a constructive criticism as though a director is giving notes to an actor about to undertake the role.

Prioritisation

Create a set of strips of card with a key event or exchange on each card.

Ask students to prioritise the cards in order of importance for the outcome of the play and justify their responses.

Recipe for a tragedy.

This is for younger students who are also looking at other audiences and purposes.

Study recipes - their format and the kind of language they use.  This is a reading activity.

Now ask students to create a recipe for a tragedy.  It should identify the ingredients and then the method should demonstrate an understanding of the way in which the plot develops.

The same can be done for other genre styles.

Essay writing

Model the process of writing an essay by having the group write an essay by sharing their ideas and then break the essay down into paragraphs and have students write the separate paragraphs in pairs.  Then when they are joined up to form an essay ask the whole class to work on providing better links and editing.

Psychology characteristics

Provide students with a picture of the character and a very large thought bubble.  Add all the characters traits into the bubble so that you end up with an overview of the character.

This can be done alone or in groups.  Ask them to draw arrows to join up conflicts and other links that are apparent inside the character's mind through what they say and what they do.

New Beginnings

This is creative.  Ask students to choose a character- create a mind map showing what they know about that character.  Now ask them to decide how they could help that character escape into a different story or their own story depending on whether it is a major or minor character they have chosen.

Ask students to work on their own and then in pairs to share ideas.  Feedback and then let them loose with their imaginations.

Fishbowl discussion.

Ask the class to discuss an important issue e.g. Macbeth's fatal flaw is ambition. Love does not conquer all. etc.

Half the class should sit in a circle to discuss the topic while the other half sit outside the circle, observe and take notes on what they hear.  It may help to match the students in pairs.

Part way through the roles are switched.
The listening students have focus and hear more points of view rather than simply focusing on their own ideas.

Draw it!

This activity is for younger students or those with a visual learning style.

Working in groups, ask students to draw a specific scene.  They should draw but also incorporate as many appropriate quotes as possible. - e.g. a cloud bearing the quote- 'in thunder, lightening and in rain."  In drawing and labeling the scene students should become more aware of the imagery and the language that Shakespeare uses to evoke a scene.

Annotation post-it challenge.

Annotating text is an important skill.  Photocopy a scene or an important passage from the play that you want learners to study in detail. Ask students to use post-its to sign post important information (one colour); language features (another colour); things they're unclear or uncertain about (a third colour).

You should have a large copy of the text available at the front or on the interactive white board.  Students should then place their post its in the correct place on the large text.  Discuss where there are similarities, go through the things that learners are unclear about using question and answer technique.

Macbeth- prophesy and prediction 2.

How far do the witches trick Macbeth with their prophecies?

Provide learners with a list of the prophecies.  Ask them to find the quotes with the exact words.
Then ask them to decide what interpretation Macbeth gives to the prophecies and what the consequences of his beliefs are for him and for the people around him.  Then ask them to identify how the prophecies are really fulfilled.  What elements of supernatural are there in the way the prophecies come true?

This can all be completed on a matrix so that learners can see how the plot strands progress.  ideally they should have a quote to accompany the way in which the prophecies come true and also the interpretation that Macbeth gives them and their consequences.

Once the matrix is complete they can discuss whether the witches trick Macbeth or whether he is self-deluded.

Macbeth- prophesy and prediction.

Ask learners to identify the prophecies and predictions in the play. 

How far do the prophecies cause Macbeth to act as he does?

Create a  PNI table.  P stands for positives, N for negatives and I for implications.

Positive:  Macbeth is not ambitious until he hears the prophecies on the way home from the battle.
Negative: He does not believe the witches until he is made Thane of Cawdor - a position that he has won on his own merits.
Implications: Macbeth chooses to believe the witches when one element of the prophecy comes true.  This suggests that there is latent ambition in his personality.

Quiz

Ask students to create a multiple choice quiz on some aspect of the play that they are studying.

These should then be shared with the rest of the class.

Macbeth

The role of women in Macbeth

1) Identify the female characters.
2) Identify their roles.

Draw a female shape.  Ask students to fill in facts, quotes and opinions about the females in the play - in appropriate places e.g. out damn spot would be best on the hands; MacDuff's wife's comments should be near the heart.

What do they learn about the way Shakespeare portrays women?

Culpability

Who is most culpable for the events.

Write the different names on pieces of card.

Learners should rank these in order of importance and be prepared to justify their responses.

Macbeth 4

Ask students to write their views/opinions about the role of the witches in the play.

This could be done as a snow ball activity.

Then create a table.

Have a number of columns.
1) Witches contribute to the plot.
2) Witches create an atmosphere of evil.
3) Witches used to show that natural order has been destroyed and chaos reigns.

Fill in the students ideas in the row section of the column and decide which of the columns their ideas apply to. 

Ask students to provide quotes to back up their ideas.

Macbeth 3

This would work well for any play.

Explore the importance or influence of power of different people.

Prepare cards with different size circles.

Make a list of all the different people involved.

Ask learners to choose the best sized circle to represent each person or group of people on the list. 

Then ask the learners to place the circles different distances from one another to show their different relationships and relative importance.

Macbeth 2

Card cluster:

Is Macbeth a tragic hero.

Learners write their responses and the reasons for their responses on individual cards- one per card.  These individual cards can then be sorted into categories.

This is a good starter for a discursive essay.

macbeth 1

This activity requires you to have identified a problem: Why does Macbeth want to be king?

This question is the trunk of your tree.

The roots are the causes of the problem.  Ask students to add on their own roots e.g. the witches prophecy, heroism in battle etc.

The branches are the solutions to Macbeth's problem -e.g. kill Duncan but there are lots of other factors too - think of Banquo and the role of Lady M.

Then there are the fruits.  What are the fruits of Macbeth's desire to be king?  This can be produced as a diagram on the board.  Students can work together to produce their own trees.

Romeo and Juliet 5, opposites

This could be a matching or sorting exercise or a worksheet based exercise.  Draw a broken heart.  Place one of each of the opposites in each half of the heart e.g. Montagues and Capulets, night and day, love and hate.

Alternatively provide students with half the completed heart and ask them to fill in the other half.

A follow me exercise- Create cards.  Each card has a question and an answer to a different question.  The first person asks their question and this is answered by the person who has the answer on his or her card.  They then ask the question on their card etc until everyone has had their turn.

Romeo and Juliet 4, love and hate

Romeo and Juliet is a play about love because... 

Go around the class room asking students to finish off the sentence.  They should identify that there are different kinds of love demonstrated in the play.  Encourage the more able students to use Shakespeare's language to exemplify why the play is about love.

Then ask students to complete a snowball exercise, a mind map or a list to show that it is a play about hate.

1. Weighing activity- use a set of scales to balance out what is about love and what is about hate.  The scales should be the balancing variety.  Ask students to decide the merits of each action and see whether the play is about love or hate and which is stronger.

2. Love is... based on the old cartoons.  e.g. Love is climbing up onto a balcony.

3. Ask students to compose a verse for a Valentine's Day card using some of the imagery they encounter in the play.

4.  It is said that love and hate are flip sides of the same coin.  Create a coin with love on one side and hate on the other.  Ask students to flip the coin and say what love or hate is in their own words.

Romeo and Juliet 3, light and dark

"What light at yonder window breaks?"

Shakespeare uses the theme of light and dark throughout Romeo and Juliet.

Ask students to snow ball what they associate with light and what they associate with darkness in terms of experiences and emotions e.g. the sun is associated with warmth and summer - with life.

Depending on the age of the students ask them to find references and place in two separate columns.  If the students are younger ask them to find the references and add on to a spider diagram in the form of a sun and a moon.

Who and what are associated with light?

Who and what are associated with darkness?

Why is this helpful for the audience?

Literature- How does Shakespeare use the theme of light and dark to extend our understanding of the play?

Creative Writing - Write a piece using light or dark images to describe a memory.  Remind students that they should not write about anything that they don't wish to share with anyone else.

Romeo and Juliet 2

The role of the chorus.

A device used in ancient Greek plays- helps to set the set and directs audience about what to think.

Ask students to look at the opening scene and the speech made by the chorus.

What do they learn about the play and its characters? 
What is the effect on the audience of giving them this information before they meet the main characters?

Why do you think Shakespeare uses a device found in classical plays?

Specific plays_ Romeo and Juliet

"A pair of star crossed lovers."

Ask students to explain what they think this quote means.

Do they believe in fate?

Queen Elizabeth I believed in astrology.  John Dee drew up her astrological chart.

Where do we find astrology today?  Ask students to shower this- magazines, radio, phone lines etc.

1.  Literature- ask students to find other references to the stars.  Draw a flow chart for the plot and fit these references to the stars and fate to the plot.  How closely does Shakespeare link events to fate and how much does the plot have to do with chance and poor communication.  This could be an academic essay.

2.  creative writing- Ask students to write a brief summary of Juliet's star sign for a magazine.  You may want to analyse content before setting students on with this task.  Better students should incorporate quotes.

Pictures in the mind.

This is a warm up activity.

Choose a quote.

Ask students to identify pictures that this quote suggests to them.

Ask them why they suppose Shakespeare used these words in this particular context.

Or highlight a single word in a quote and ask students what they think Shakespeare means by that word.

Cloze

Cloze activities require students to fill in the missing word or idea.  There is often a word bank that students can use to select the correct words.

Cloze can be used to check understanding but be warned - students with dyslexia struggle with this type of exercise.

For greater freedom why not give the students the word bank as cues/ prompts for the piece that they are writing about.

All that shines

Ask students to look for imagery that glitters- jewels, mirrors, stars and moons etc.

What is Shakespeare describing?

Are there contrasts?
How do you feel about the way Shakespeare describes characters/events using glistening things?
How effective is the imagery?

Bring in a shiny object - Ask students to describe it- create an adjective ball on the whiteboard.

Now give them a series of other objects, emotions, people- ask students to choose three of the adjectives that would also describe the thing the new object/emotion/person effectively.  Write a brief description using those images. 

Diaries and letters

Diaries and other personal writing types such as letters are a useful technique to help student to think from character point of view.  Be careful that less able students don't just outline the plot.

Students should be encouraged to use quotes effectively.

Write a series of letters from the different characters in the play reflecting on key moments in the play. e.g. Juliet's first meeting with Romeo.

Storms

Shakespeare often uses storms in his plays.  These storms can be literal and/or an image.

Ask students to discuss how they feel about storms- some clips of disasters could be quite useful for debate.

Explain that we understand storms in scientific terms but that the Elizabethans saw natural events as God given or inspired by supernatural forces.

Ask students to find references to the storm that create a mood/atmosphere.

Ask students to describe a storm- this could be a good thesaurus/adjective exercise.

How does storm best display character turmoil?

Soliloquy performance.

Ask students to work on a performance for different soliloquies. Get them to think about different ways of dividing the lines/individual words between one or more voices.

Think about tempo and where volume is required.  How can a group make the soliloquy dramatic and carry effective meaning?

Reading around the class.

Enough said.

Rather than just reading ask students to be thinking about three questions which you will discuss at the end of the particular scene.

What is happening?
What makes the language interesting?
What have you learned about the character for whom you read?

Who do you think you are?

This can be done to trace Shakespeare's family history e.g. Miss Shakespeare is tracing her family history and Shakespeare is her 4x great grandfather.  This is a biographical type of activity.

Alternatively do a who do you think you are style presentation for one or more of the characters in the play that is being studied.  What sort of records might exist?  How might history see events and how much of the events would actually be interpreted correctly?  Again this is for the younger students.

Setting the scene.

Ask students to identify the details in the characters' speeches that help to set the scene.

Provide students with terms used to place actors on the stage - this could be in diagram format.

Ask them to decide how the scene they are studying could be most effectively staged.  Identify also tone that the actors should use.

An inspector calls.

Many of Shakespeare's plays include a crime of some description - in some cases murder but in others missing people, theft, impersonation etc.

What is the crime in the play that your students are studying?

Ask students (again this is for younger ones) to imagine that they are police officers investigating the crime.  Their task is to record the crime and to identify the different suspects as well as the evidence that they have - ideally they should not know the outcome of the play- where does the evidence point.  What do they think that the resolution will be.

Story boards and cartoon strips

For younger students a story board or cartoon strip is a useful way of identifying main plot points and key quotes.

Alternatively try creating cartoons from different characters viewpoint for different tellings of the story and points of view.

Follow up with a discussion as to why there are different view points and what Shakespeare does to sway the audience's opinion one way or another.

Positives and negatives

Role of women.

Ask students to identify 10 positive things about the way in which Shakespeare's characters perceive women and 10 negative things about the way in which Shakespeare's characters perceive women.

This is a useful warm up exercise to check understanding and as a preliminary activity activating prior knowledge for an essay writing assignment e.g. Is Lady Macbeth a role model?  Or the female characters in Macbeth are all monsters or mothers. Discuss.

Mind mapping

tragedy, history, comedy and romance.

Mind mapping activity and discussion.  Mind mapping is a good way of activating prior knowledge and giving students thinking time. It also links to Vygotsky and the concept that students learn more if they work in groups.  Mind mapping is a preliminary activity.

Students should then identify how their particular play fits into one of the different categories and justify their answer.

You may then wish to set an essay question on the topic.

Who's who

Allocate a different character to pairs of students.  The students should write a summary of the character and identify key quotes associated with that character.  They should be prepared to explain why they have selected that particular quote.

These should then be typed up and then cut and pasted into a single document.

Matching activities

Matching activities are useful to check learning and to provide cues and prompts.  They are also kinaesthetic so are good for learning styles.

Match the character to the quote.  Explain how the quote sums up that particular character.

Hot seating

Question and answers where one of the students takes on the role of a character.

Interview

A useful strategy to enable students to ask questions of characters and to find out more about the characters through the answers generated.  Interview style questions can be set up for Shakespeare, members of the audience, actors laying a part.

Set design

Ask students to design the set for the play that they are studying.

Ask them also to provide a list of props that actors would need in order to perform the play.

The set could be for an authentic production or for a modern adaptation.

Debate

There is no need to teach Shakespeare in English classes in the twenty-first century.

Ask students to think of arguments for and against.

This is best done after they have studied Shakespeare and found out more about the way in which his language still influences modern English.

Set up a debate using the correct procedures for a debate and set a limit on the time of speaking.

Draw lots as to who will speak for and against.

Take a class vote.

Now you may wish to provide students with a writing frame for writing an argument.  Student should now write an essay arguing for the statement or against it.

Shakespeare said it first.

Provide students with other Shakespearean sayings. 

They could then:

Find out what it means, which play it comes from and the context in which it was first used.

or

Explain  what it means.  Create a class dictionary of Shakespeare's language in modern English.

or

Use the quote to write a story.  Mind mapping first for ideas.  Then work on exposition, complication, climax and resolution.

What does it mean?

Some of the best known sayings that we use every day are Shakespearean in origin.

Hamlet says "I will speak daggers to her, but use none." From this comes the phrase 'looking daggers'

Ask students to explain what it means and why they think it has lasted so long as part of the language.

Shakespeare trail 4

Provide students with a map of Stratford upon Avon.  Ask them, in small groups, to design a walk around the town  - "a  Shakespeare Trail." They should design a leaflet to go with the trail using information previously gathered.  Each group should use IT skills to create their leaflet.

When the leaflet has been produced students should produce an analysis of what they included to make it both informative and persuasive (primary and secondary purposes).  They should also identify what they could have done to improve their leaflet.

Shakespeare trail 3

Using the informative writing pieces from part 2 ask students to identify informative writing and persuasive writing techniques in their peer group's writing.  You can photocopy the summaries onto A3 paper or attach them to flip chart paper.  Ask the students to write their comments on post it notes.  Remind students of ground rules about positive feedback and helpful criticism.

Shakespeare trail 2

Provide students with a map of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Ask them to list the locations that might be of interest to people who want to find out more about Shakespeare.  Ask them also to list the kind of things that people visiting these locations might be interested in knowing before they visit.

Send them in pairs to find out about one or more of these different locations.  This is an opportunity for younger students to rehearse skimming, scanning and using key words in a search engine.

In pairs students should then produce a short summary of their identified location and the key facts that visitors would find useful.  Ask them to include persuasive techniques to tempt visitors to the different attractions and be prepared to talk about what they have included and why.

The Shakespeare Trail 1

This set of activities is designed for younger students.

Prepare a comprehension exercise using a tourist brochure on one of the Stratford tourist attractions.

Explain that it is an information leaflet.  Discuss what makes it informative.


Then ask what sort of people would be attracted by the brochure and what makes it persuasive.  Introduce students to the primary and secondary purposes of a text.

Who was Shakespeare

Various people have been put forward as writing Shakespeare's plays.  Provide case note cards on each of the different people who could have been Shakespeare.  In twos asks students to find out more and then argue their case in presentation form as to why the character they represent was really Shakespeare.

Shakespeare missing years

While Shakespeare was a young man he disappeared for a time - it's thought to the north of the country.  What did he do while he was missing?  Was he, like fellow playwright, Christopher Marlow a spy; was he on the run for some crime or other...it's given writers and historians lots to think about over the years.

Provide students with some basic information and ask them to come up with their own ideas - if they can link it to the play that they will study so much the better.  Write it up as a story.

Remember stories have an exposition where the scene is set and characters introduced; a complication which does exactly what it says; the climax where things are at their most difficult, dangerous or threatening and a resolution which need not be a happy one.

Shakespeare obituary

Bring in obituaries from the papers.  Ask students to read an obituary and explain what job an obituary does and what the tone is.

Write Shakespeare's obituary.  The style will depend on the paper that it is being written for.

Shakespeare interview

Shakespeare is being interviewed on a tv magazine programme about his forthcoming new play - the one the students are studying.

Decide what kind of questions the interviewers ask.  A clip from The One Show or something similar may be useful here.  Generate the list of questions that the interviewers would ask.

Students then decide how they would answer the questions.

This can be extended to be a role play with interviewers, guests and Shakespeare or it could be an opportunity to learn more about script writing.

Humans and nature

Shakespeare believed that everything had its natural place in society.  When characters disobey their natural place then nature reacts and is unsettled.  This is particularly noticeable in King Lear.

Ask students to collect nature imagery and categorise it.  Use the quotes to deduct what Shakespeare is using nature to say in your play.

You could provide quote sort cards or get students to create their own quote cards.

Ask them to create a hypothesis rather like the opening three sentences of this entry and then to prove their hypothesis by using their quotes.

audio

Ask students to prepare a short scene and then to record the audio.

Here work is required on tone and pace.  Draw on work on iambic pentameter, punctuation and the meaning of the passage for tone.

Once they have recorded it they should write about how they can express meaning through tone, pace and intonation and pauses.  They should also discuss how they create character just through voice.

Listen back to the audio and discuss what they would change about it and how different the play is when listened to rather than read.

Flower imagery 2: their play

Ask students to find flower images in the play they are studying and to find out their significance.

Discuss the other images that occur in the play and the way that Shakespeare's audiences would have known what the references meant.

Now ask students to form groups and decide what topics and themes Shakespeare might have used in his imagery today.  This could be presented as a poster or a mind map. For younger learners and a discussion.  For older learners this opening activity could lead on to the following question.

How do shared cultural references help us to relate to drama and the themes and issues explored?  Discuss.

More able learners may want to tackle whether having a shared cultural understanding is even necessary to understanding the play.

Flower imagery 1: finding out more

Shakespeare was a countryman.  Herbal lore was an important part of a Tudor medicine chest.  As well as remedies for various aliments flowers could also ward off various supernatural evils.  In Hamlet, Ophelia talks about rosemary, pansies, fennel, columbines, daisies and violets.

Ask students to guess what the significance of these plants might have been.  It could be a matching exercise or supposition based on a brief presentation (you may have to do your own research here or there again I may get to grips with a blog entry at a later date).

Then ask them to go and research what these flowers signified.

Younger students may enjoy a session on the language of flowers.  This then has potential as a topic for a short story or a poem.

An obvious way to teach Shakespeare.

Go and see the play that your students are studying or invite a group of actors into the class room.  Shakespeare is meant to be watched - not read.

Animal imagery 4

Warm up activity for animal imagery.

"If I was an animal I'd be a ... because..."

e.g. If I was an animal I'd be a lion because they're brave and the king of the beasts.

All the students take it in turns.  Discuss the way we perceive different animals in different ways and the characteristics that we associate with them.

You may also wish to look at cliches and stereotypes e.g. as mad as a March hare.  This could be done as a list generation activity.  Students could then research where the saying comes from.  A surprising number of sayings do originate with Shakespeare.

Animal imagery 3

Dog imagery is often used to describe the fact that people are all different-

Provide students with copies of Macbeth's speech Act III, i beginning "Aye, in the catalogue ye go for men;" and  also Edgar's speech from King Lear III,vi beginning "Avaunt, you curs."  The second seems to be literal but in the light of reading Macbeth's speech how does it alter the meaning of Edgar's speech?

Ask students to explain what the two characters are saying and to discuss how using the animal imagery helps to add colour to their words.

Animal imagery 2

Find a quote relating a character to an animal.  Ask students to identify what they learn about the character and what assumptions they make from this portrayal.  Depending on the play that your students are studying there may be several quotes to choose from.  If this is the case provide several examples, ask students to find others and use a plot line to see whether the theme is developed and how it affects the way that we view the characters in question.

Animal imagery 1

Shakespeare makes more than 4,000 allusions to animals in his plays.  Aesop's Fables would have been familiar to Elizabethan audiences and there was a rich folk lore relating to mythical animals.  Some animals such as the snake were associated with villainy, others such as bees with industry and good government.

Create a list of animals and ask students to select one animal - this can be done randomly.

Ask students to identify the qualities that they associate with that animal.

Share responses.

Now ask students to create a character, describing the character in terms of the animal that they have previously described.  Remind them about metaphors and similes.

Mind maps

You can use mind maps to help students to assemble all the information they know about a character, theme or topic.  Once they have created their mind map they should use it for another purpose - perhaps to plan the content of an essay or to create a presentation.

Pictures.

Find pictures of famous actors playing a particular role or artistic interpretations - the Pre-Raphelites are a good source.  Ask students to identify the different characters.  Ask students to find quotes about the different characters to annotate the pictures.

Update.

If the play was updated for a film which period could the play be updated to and why?  Ask students to make suggestions, again backing up their suggestions with reasons.

cast list

Compose a cast list.  Ask students to identify actors who could take on the different roles in a film.  They must identify the qualities that the actors would bring to the characters.

True/false

A PNI table is a business tool.  The abbreviation stands for positives, negatives and implications.

Here is another quote from Dash (1981, 249). "Individuality seldom emerges when criticism concentrates on the male character and only tangentially on the female, perceiving her as subordinate."

This is another quote identifying a patriarchial society.

Have students work in pairs.  The first student finds the first appearance of the lead female character or the first time she is mentioned.  They should describe the scene to their partner.  The cue question is: Is it true that XXX (insert name of lead female) is subordinate to the male characters in the play.  The second of the pair must now decide whether it is true or false that the female character is subordinate to the male character and justify their answer.

In some cases the answer maybe both true and false.  For example when we first hear of Desdemona she is described as belonging to her father which makes her a subordinate character but she has made her own decision about who she loves and has eloped with Othello.  Alternatively, you may wish to provide students with the scenes that you wish them to discuss.

You may wish to look at the plot or to discuss whether the plot would have taken a different turn if the female character under discussion had been stronger.

Shakespeare's Women + planning tools

"The actions of Shakespeare's women characters spring from a realistic confrontation with life as they learn the meaning of self sovereignty for a woman in a patriarchal society." Discuss.

This quote comes from the introduction of Irene Dash's text entitled Wooing, Wedding and Power

First ensure that students know what the key words in the quotation mean.

Half the class look for evidence to argue that women in the play they are studying are self ruling and the other half look for evidence against. 

For every point made there must be supporting evidence.

Draw on the board a table with two columns- true and false.   During feedback write up student responses and the location of the evidence. 

Add a third column- this one is labelled major/minor.  Ask students to vote on whether they think each point made is a major or minor one.  There should be a discussion before the vote.

Conclude with a vote counting students who believe that the female characters in the play they are studying are self ruling.

Wordsearch

Create a wordsearch - a grid of letters- some of the letters spell words, horizontally, vertically, backwards and forwards depending on the skill level of the students.

You can provide students with a word bank or just give them the theme- again depending on their level.

Once students have found all the words they should write two or three paragraphs on the topic identified in the title using the words in the word search as cues.

Remind them of PQD (point, quote, development) or PEA (point, evidence, assessment)

Outburst

Divide the class into two teams.  Have a prepared pack of topic cards- you will need to write the topic and then ten things associated with that topic for each card.  This is good for themes, language and character.

Have a nominated umpire to turn the card and call the topic. The first team can accept or pass on the topic.  If the first team passes on the topic card then that topic will be played by the second team after the first team have played the next topic card.  Now they have no choice.  They must play the topic on the card turned up from the pack. 

The team now have one minute for a nominated player to call out things that they think may be associated with that topic.  Other players may make suggestions but they may not call out as this would become unruly.  One point is scored for each correct answer.

Missing Letters

The object of this game is to guess incomplete words with the help of clues.  The words should all be related to the play that is being studied.  They could be technical terms or words from important speeches.

Have a list of words prepared.  Each clue should have the word with some letters missing and a clue.  It can be played as a team game - so the clue would be on individual slips of paper or given to all students in the form of a handout.  If the game is played in handout form then stick to a theme that can be explored in more detail after the activity.

e.g.  *t**c*os*ed (fate has its mark on Romeo and Juliet)

The follow up requires discussion as to how fate or the word impacts on Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare's Character

This is a version of the Minister's Cat game as in "The minister's cat is an (adjective beginnning with a) eg amazing cat.

In this version choose a character from the play you are studying.  Ask students to try to think of an adjective that describes the character acurately as there are two parts to this particular version of the game. e.g. Macbeth is an ambitious character.
The next person has to think of an adjective beginning with b etc.

Write each adjective on the board.

Stage two of the activity requires students to find a quote in the text or an event that supports each of the different adjectives.  There should be more than one quote for example that shows that Macbeth is ambitious- If no quote or event can be found to support an adjective it must be struck from the list.

Remind students that the best essays show PQD (point, quote, development)  or PEA (point, evidence, assessment).

Shakespeare Just a Minute

You will need- an umpire and a time keeper as well as slips of paper with the topics for conversation.
You may wish to set it up as a panel game with three people on each team.  Players can be substituted for their class mates at five minute intervals or it can be an ongoing activity used as a plenary to sessions.

Set the topics for conversation beforehand on slips of paper.  Begin with a volunteer who must speak for a minute on something Shakespeare related e.g. a character.  The speaker must speak without hesitation, deviation or repetition for a minute.  Challenges can be made by the rest of the class.  If the umpire (that could be you or another class member) upholds the challenge then the person who challenged takes over, if not the original speaker continues.  At the end of the minute the person speaking gets a point.

Word history

Some of the words that Shakespeare uses have disappeared from use.  Other words have changed their meaning. Give the example of the word web - which has moved from a spider's web to the world wide web.  Discuss with students why they think this might be.

Give each student a word from the play that has changed its meaning over time.  Ask them to find out how the word has changed its meaning.  They should then feed back to the rest of the class.  This is an opportunity for research on the Internet and use of an etymological dictionary.  Ask them to provide a word that Shakespeare might have used in its place if he was writing today.

Lucky draw

Write key words on individual bits of card e.g. metaphor.  A student should draw a card from the pack and then the whole class find an example of that particular type of language or theme or character.  The student who identifies it must explain its relevence.

Metaphor

A metaphor is a comparison between two things but there is no like or as to identify it.  The metaphor joins the two things in one e.g. All the world's a stage.  The two things become one.

Shakespeare uses lots of metaphors.  Sonnet 73 uses the seasons as a metaphor for age. 

On a straight forward level there is spring for youth etc.  Divide the sonnet up.  Ask the students to put it in the right order and ask them to tell you what the metaphor is - don't tell them that its the seasons - they should tell you.

Ask them to pick one of the elements of the metaphor and explain why its effective.

Ask students to create their own metaphors for youth.

Similes

A simile is a comparison between two things prefaced by the word 'like' or 'as'.

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night 
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; 

Romeo describes Juliet as a bright jewel in the night.  The comparison is made between two things that share similar qualities. 

Have a simile hunt through the text- it may be useful to divide the class so that they look at different scenes or acts.  Have them write the similes on post-it notes or pieces of paper which can then be pinned up around the class room.  

Have students moving around the room looking at the similes and writing their comments beneath the similes e.g. what works about it, what they don't understand, how it changes their perception, why they think Shakespeare used it? Then ask students to choose their favourite and explain why they like it.

Similes 2

This involves students writing their own similes.

Provide small groups with a tray of items or a worksheet of pictures.  The actual items are better because they should be using all their senses rather than just sight.

Ask students within each group to work on their own creating similes comparing two of the objects on the tray.  They should work with one another helping to edit and polish their simile.

Part two of the activity is where students present their similes to the rest of the group.  In order to make it more interesting they must only share the part of the simile after 'like' or 'as' - the class must then guess what the other object is.  Depending on the size of the group it may be better to do this by bringing two of the smaller groups together rather than individual students sharing with the whole class.

Similes 1

A simile is a comparison between two things prefaced by the word 'like' or 'as'.  The two items are placed together so that the audience or reader can see the similarities between the two things.  Some similes have been used so much that they have turned into cliches (a cliche is a worn out phrase) e.g. as flat as a pancake.

Ask students to think of some similes that exist in every day speech.

Discuss why they are so effective.

You will now need two objects to compare e.g. a rose and a book- ask students what the two items share in common - petals unfurl and pages turn, as the bud opens the scent is released, as the book opens so the knowledge is released.  Work as a class to create a simile.

Ask students to write a list of rules for the creation of a simile.

Use the rose with another item or the book for students to work on a simile of their own which they should then share with one another.

Discuss how similes help readers or listeners to understand the thing being described in a new or different way.

Emotion, emotion and more emotion.

Provide students with a soliloquy or important speech made by a principle character.  Ask students to identify the different thoughts in the speech and then to identify the emotions.

This can be done in a different way.  Break the speech up into individual thoughts and ideas.  These should be numbered unless you want students to order the speech correctly in the first instance as a revision exercise.

Also provide a set of face cards.  These face cards should show a face expressing a specific emotion- to avoid confusion write the emotion beneath the face.  Ask students to match the different ideas contained in the speech to the different emotions.  There should be one for each.

Now provide students with a flow chart- build the flow chart to show the way in which the character's emotions change during the course of his or her speech. 

Ask students to mind map for each different emotion how the actor could show that emotion through the way that they speak - so how the emotion can be heard through the words.  Then add to the mind map with physical actions and facial expression.

Punctuation pause

Shakespeare Monologues for Men edited by Luke Dixon makes the point that Shakespeare did not prepare his plays for publication.  The punctuation has changed to meet the needs of actors delivering the speeches and editors preparing the texts for publication, although there is the First Folio.

Snowball activity: What is the purpose of punctuation? 1 minute on own, 2 minutes in pairs and 4 minutes in fours.

Feedback.

Provide students with a speech and the following list breathe, rest, pause, change of gear, change of thought (Dixon, 12).  Ask them to decide the role of the different punctuation marks and to be prepared to explain why they have reached their conclusions.  You may also wish to provide 'wild cards' for things such as emphasis.

Rhyming couplets

When the end of two consecutive lines rhyme eg cat and mat. Then there is a rhyming couplet.

Provide students with ten examples.  Half of them should be couplets, half not.  Ask students to sort them into two piles, those that rhyme and those that don't.  This is simply to check understanding.  For less able students you might want to use an onset and rime activity to enable them to recognise the sound pattern similarities.

Divide students into five different groups.  Allocate each group an act.  Groups should scan through their portion of the text to identify rhyming couplets. Again, for less able groups you may wish to identify a specific speech for the whole group to work on rather than addressing the whole text.  Each group should then apply 'language detective skills' to decide why Shakespeare uses couplets the way that he does- emphasis, pace and often at the end of a speech or a scene to show finality- so rather like a sign post.  You can provide prompt questions to help them to work out why Shakespeare uses rhyme.

Iambic pentameter 3 warm up.

Some students struggle with the concept of iambic pentameter. 

It can be explained as making a di-dum, di-dum, di-dum, di-dum, di-dum sound.

Provide students with a couple of lines that fit exactly into iambic pentameter. Its important to remember that Shakespeare didn't stick to it all the time, espcially where he was using sound patterns to create different meanings.

Use the lines you have given students to model the warm up activity.  You might say di-dum, di-dum, di for example and students must identify the syllable or word that you have stopped on.

Do this a couple more times.  Then divide the group up into pairs.  Give person A one set of lines and person B another set of lines.  The pairs should complete the same activity that you have modelled and which they have completed as a group but testing one another.

  In effect you are using this activity as a reminder of the way in which iambic pentameter works and checking student understanding.  Briefly feed back with a discussion about what is easy and difficult about iambic pentameter.  Also ask closed questions about the structure of imabic pentameter and its effect on the dialogue.

Rapping it up.

Identify a soliloquy- provide a copy of the soliloquy with plenty of white space around it.

Ask students to identify who is speaking, where that person is speaking within the play and also in terms of setting, who else is there, what is happening?  What is the main emotion?

Now ask them to read through identifying patterns of sound (iambic pentameter) to show where the emphasis might be.  Explain that sometimes Shakespeare varies tone and pace so it is also important to identify the key message of the speech and the crescendo of passion doubt etc.

If you can find a clip of the soliloquy on the Internet or on DVD play it to the students so that they can compare how they would have said it with how the actor plays it.

Now ask students to work in pairs to turn the soliloquy into a rap.  Explain that there is a tradition of turning Shakespeare into music ie: West Side Story.   Ask them to think about how they change the pace and the emphasis of the words but so that they keep the meaning and the emotion.


Depending on the ability of the group they should now be able to write an essay on the way Shakespeare uses language to convey meaning, mood and atmosphere.

more on metrical feet

Rhythm is an important part of popular music.  Ask students to choose a song that they like and identify how the musician or group creates rhythm.  Things like the base line are important.   Provide groups of students with popular lyrics and ask them to identify the rising and falling pattern of stresses.

For more able students provide a handout that explains iambus, trochee, anapaest and dactyl.

Ask them to see if there is a pattern created by the stressed and unstressed syllables and also whether the pattern fits any of the traditional forms.  Explain that it is a problem solving exercise and the aim is to think about the way in which words rise and fall to give meaning to the words, to provide emphasis, atmosphere and pace.

Create a two column table.

In the first column identify the ways in which modern songs create rhythm and pace.  Discuss also what the effect of this might be on the song and on the listener.

In the second column identify the way in which Shakespeare uses language to create rhythm and pace. 

Identify similarities and differences.

introducing metrical feet

Meter is about the number of stresses in a line.  Feet refers to the pattern of the stresses.

Look at some two syllable words.  Decide which syllable is stressed and which syllable is unstressed. Take the word enjoy. The emphasis is on the last syllable.

Put a / symbol over the stressed syllable and a u (it should be more a a smile than a u) over the unstressed syllables.

The patterns that the rising and falling sound, or rhythm, that the syllables make are given different names.

An iambic foot has a pattern like enjoy.  The is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Pentameter 2

The lines from Macbeth are unusual in that they are deliberately crafted at a different pace from much of the rest of the play.

Most often Shakespeare writes in Pentameter.  This means that there are five stresses to the line.

Provide students with a model worked through with them so that they can see how it works.

Provide students with examples of monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter and octameter.  Ask them to identify the different stresses.  It could be a matching activity or a joining up style of activity.

Ask students to comment on the effect of the different kinds of meter.

Then ask them to look at different sections of the play that they are studying to see whether Shakespeare is using pentameter.  If he is, what is the effect on the language and the pace at which we speak the words.  If it isn't pentameter why not?  How does Shakespeare use language to signpost changes of atmosphere, to increase tension or even to show different social status between the characters in the play?

Pentameter

The metre of a poem or a line of Shakespeare's plays is about the number of stresses in an individual line.  The stresses give shape and pattern to what is being written.  We use stresses in our speech all the time, we lay stress on words for emphasis and use stress patterns to give our speech interest- we do not speak in a monotone with equal stress placed on all syllables.

Look at the witches spell in Macbeth. It uses four stresses on each line throughout the incantation.

Explain this to students and then ask them to identify which the stressed syllables and words are.  Mark these and practise saying the incantation giving the words the best stress.

Then ask them what the effect of a fast moving metre like this one is- Its regular and repetitive and it helps create atmosphere.  Remind students that many of Shakespeare's plays were performed with the minimum of stage sets so the language was important to help the audience suspend reality and get into the world where the play was happening.

Caricature

A caricature is a ludicrous exaggeration e.g Malvolio with his yellow crossed garters.  The exaggeration is over the top and there is often a clue in the character's name e.g. Sir Toby Belch is a drunk. 

As well as having a comic role the character can also be said to show a vice or a folly- so there's a moral in the character as well.

Discuss with students what a caracture is.  Provide them with a visual cue of modern examples of caricature.  Politicians are often caricatured so it should be possible to provide a caricature and a photograph.  Ask students what qualities a caricature has and what is the point of a modern caricature-there is usually an element of satire involved.

Ask them to identify the caricatured character in the play that they are studying.

Mind map or create a poster of the caricature.
Write a prose description of the character.
What is funny and why is it funny?
How does the caricature help us to understand the principle characters in the play and to the plot?
Is there a serious message behind the charicature?

Depending on the age of the students:
1) Draw and label the caricature with appropriate quotes - as though for a wanted poster.
2) Write an essay about the role of  XXX (the caricature) in the play.  Remind students to use PQD point, quote, development) or PEA (point, evidence, assessment).

Oxymoron- or opposites attract.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech where two opposites are drawn together in what looks like an impossible combination - e.g. heavy lightness or visible darkness.

Create a game of pelmanism containing opposites.  Players must match the opposite pairs. 

Having played the game ask students to use the pairs that they have won to create a sentence describing love or happiness.  Model and example first so that students understand how the imagery works.

Discuss why oxymorons work.

Either ask students to identify the oxymorons in the play that they are studying or provide them with the oxymorons and the references so that they can find them in the play.  Ask students on their own or in small groups to explain what the effect of the oxymoron is.

Dramatic Irony

Irony on its own is writing one thing but meaning another- sarcasm is irony that is intended to wound and it is usually exaggerated. 


Explain to students  what irony is.  Perhaps play the Alanis Morrisette song entitled 'Ironic.' 

Give students scenario cards and ask them to decide whether each scenario is ironic or not and to explain their answers.

Dramatic irony happens when the audience knows more than the characters and can there for see what is going to happen - this can be tragic or comic.  The future is concealed from the characters but not from the the audience.

Ask students to identify examples in pairs or small groups.  Answer the following questions:
1.  Why is it an example of dramatic irony?
2. How does the audience's knowledge add to enjoyment of the play?
3. How does the audience's knowledge add to its understanding of the characters?

Texting and communication.

Many of Shakespeare's plays rely upon miscommunication.  Ask students to create the texts that characters would have sent one another as events unfolded and ask them also to identify how the play they are studying would have had a different outcome if communication was better.

Students must identify key moments in the plot and select appropriate  and pithy quotes to use alongside their modern English.

Discuss during the feedback stage the importance of miscommunication as a plot device.

Invective and insults

Invective is a brief denunciation.  Shakespeare uses some wonderful language to insult his characters.

Ask students to identify some Shakespearean insults.  Then ask them to identify the features of the language or format that give the insults colour.  They may be similes, metaphors or a long list separated only by commas so that the speech races.

Shakespeare's Biography IV

Bring a range of non-fiction children's books into the classroom.  Ask students to make an analysis of the language, layout and imagery.  They can do this as a list, a poster or a mind map.

Now ask them to write Shakespeare's biography in a format appropriate for the 8-11 year old age group.

Shakespeare's Theatre

Ask students to research The Globe and also where else Shakespeare produced his plays. 

Depending on the age of your students:-
Ask them to design the set for the play that they are studying bearing in mind what The Globe was like.
and/or
Ask them to write a leaflet aimed at visitors coming to The Globe for the first time and who might be used to modern theatrical productions where there are many set changes.  The leaflet will have to explain a bit about the history and the culture in which Shakespeare's plays were first performed.  It should also contain quotes that Shakespeare has included so that the audience can visualise the scene for themselves without the aid of a set.

Ann Hathaway's Journal

Research Shakespeare's home life and the woman he married.  Write Ann's journal.  She stayed in Stratford while William was in London.

The missing years

Provide an extract from one of Shakespeare's biography's covering the missing years.  Complete a comprehension exercise- that's the what.

Discuss with the class where you think he might have been and why.

Create possible hypothesis cards by explaining that writers often write about things with which they are familiar.  Choose possible scenarios  from different plays and put these on a hand out or sort card activity.

Students should then generate hypotheses about what Shakespeare might have been doing and why and then vote on which is the best.

Discuss why people are interested in accounting for the missing years.

Shakespeare Biography III- postcard facts

Having created a timeline identify key topics with your students - health, politics, religion, social structure, love etc.

Provide students with a postcard sized piece of paper and ask them to fill it with the things that they find most important about Shakespeare's life and which they think are interesting.

Students, in pairs, are then to explain their post cards to one another.

The life of Shakespeare II

Shakespeare wrote about the topics that his audience were interested in.  His plays are part of his society and culture.

Create a time line for Shakespeare's life.  Ask students to fill in information about Shakespeare's society- pictures, facts etc.  They should use the Internet and the library.

Introducing Shakespeare

Provide students with information about Shakespeare.  Then complete an alphabox  exercise.  Essentially this is where there are 26 boxes on the board- one for each letter of the alphabet.  Students having completed their reading must then identify key words beginning with appropriate letters of the alphabet covering the life of Shakespeare.  This ensures that students summarise and use their own words rather than relying on cut and paste.

Tragic hero- the trial

Assign roles with prompt cards to help students to develop their role.  Each student plays a part.  It could be the characters or it could be the lawyers. You draw up the charge sheet. They all form the jury.

Hold the tragic hero's trial.  Students should draw on quotes from the text.
They should then decide whether the tragic hero is guilty as charged or whether there are mitigating factors.

Holding out for a hero- even a tragic one.

Collect a range of texts and text types which contain information or images of a hero.  Ask students to look at the assorted cues and prompts and to draw on their own understanding of what makes a hero.

Ask them to create a mind map of what makes a hero.

Now ask them to find examples of how the main character of  the play that they are studying fits the criteria that they have identified.  They should provide quotes.

If the play is a tragedy the next phase is to lead them to seeing that a tragic hero has one fatal flaw that leads to his eventual downfall- in the case of Macbeth it's ambition and in the case of Othello, jealousy. 

Low Comedy- in it for the laughs

Shakespeare uses low comedy to make the audience laugh and to contrast with dramatic scenes thereby heightening the drama.  The only problem is that the low comedy in Shakespeare's plays appealed to Shakespeare's audiences.

Ask students to rewrite a scene of low comedy that a modern audience would find funny- discuss first the various kinds of comedy and what make things funny or not.

Hyperbole overload

Hyperbole is a word that means emphasis on something by exaggeration e.g. I've got six trillion assignments to mark.  It can be used for serious or comic effect. 

Give students examples from everyday  language and ask them to think of some of their own.

Are there any examples of hyperbole in the play that your students are studying.  Give them six examples and ask them to vote on whether  the examples that you've given them use hypbole or not.  Voters must be prepared to say why the example is or isn't.

Shakespeare's Language- positives, negatives and implications

Shakespeare's language can be difficult for learners.  Carry out some research about Shakespeare's English e.g. there are many commonly used expressions in English that are first seen written down in one of Shakespeare's plays.  Write each fact down on an individual card.  Ask students to study an individual card on their own or in pairs.  They should now research, using the Internet and library to find out more about the fact that they have been given.

Once the research has been carried out create a PNI table.  One column contains the fact, students have to provide a positive assessment of the fact, a negative one and a view on the implication for their understanding of the language.  You should model an example before they start and ensure that you have allowed time to support learners to develop their PNI.  Allocation of fact cards also allows for differentiation.

Once students have fed back then the issue of Shakespeare's language can be opened up for wider discussion.

Stock characters

Many characters are not developed as fully as the principle characters.  These minor characters often exhibit particular traits with which we, the audience, are familiar e.g. the handsome prince, the jealous husband etc. 

Ask students to identify stock character types in general then ask them to identify stock characters in the play that they are studying.  Explain why they are stock characters.  Allocate 'stock character types' to small groups- ask them to create a mind map, poster or list of the kind of things that we expect of these stock types.  Talk about where else we see such characters (e.g. pantomime)  What is their role in the play?

Now ask students to break the conventions that we associate with these stock characters.  Choose one stock character from the play and write their story but it must have a twist so that they are no longer stock.  This is an opportunity to work on characterisation.

Four Humours

Medieval medicine identified four main humours in the human body- phlegm, choler, blood and bile.  If these were not in balance or one was more dominant than another then the individual's personality was affected- phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine or melancholic.  Shakespeare often uses imagery related to these four humours to describe his characters.  A Shakespearean audience would have known exactly what this meant.

You can either give students a presentation where they have to take notes, or a presentation followed by a cloze exercise.  Then they must research their new found knowledge using the Internet.  You can divide the class into four so that each group has to research one of the humours.  They should then produce a poster summing up all the information for their 'humour'.  Share information.

Now diagnose the main characters in the play.  Model one through a whole class activity.  Then ask students to select a character to diagnose.

Discuss the way our understanding of medicine and mood has changed and discuss also what kinds of imagery Shakespeare would use if he was writing today so that learners can begin to see how Shakespeare's imagery is not something that was designed to be academic but which was designed to be immediately understood by his audience.

Exposition - writing a prequel

An exposition is when the scene is set at the beginning of a play.  There weren't opportunities for expensive sets so the scene had to be set in the audience's mind at the start of the play.  Another reason for exposition is to provide some back plot so that the audience can understand the relationship between the characters that has led to the point where they are viewing events.

Ask students to create mind maps or posters in small groups identifying exposition.  Encourage them to quote from the play as well as to explain.  Help them to identify themes and images that recur.

When they have produced their mind map/poster and fed back they should write the prequel.  It can either be prose or dialogue.

Dialogue to direct speech.

Create a cartoon of a short dialogue between two characters.  Students should have this as a handout.

Now create a 'clothes line' activity  for a short dialogue where the words are available as printed strips.  You will also need all the punctuation marks.  Model to students how the speech bubbles in cartoons are reduced to punctuation marks in direct speech.

The next step is to provide students with a page of direct speech.  Ask them to identify some of the rules for the use of direct speech. Give them cues and prompts.  Generate a list of rules.  Check the rules against the page of direct speech to make sure that the rule holds true.

Now ask students to find the cartoon dialogue in their texts and to continue the dialogue as direct speech.  Remind them that they should include adjectives to describe the way that the characters are speaking and to show how they feel.

Manga dialogue- direct speech stage 1

Teach students to use direct speech correctly by showing them why speech marks are important.  Begin with a cartoon.  Ask them to identify how different kinds of speech bubble represent different kinds of speech e.g. thought etc.

Now discuss the way in which dialogue adds to the images but that the speech contained is only key to adding meaning to the visuals.

Divide the play up into scenes.  Allocate scenes or selected scenes to individuals, pairs or small groups.  They must choose the key dialogue from their scene and then create a cartoon to show the events of that scene.

When all the cartoons are finished they can be displayed as a frieze around the room.

Ask students to discuss how the combination of pictures and words is different to just dialogue.  Discuss also the fact that Shakespeare's plays were not meant to be read from a book but to be watched.

Twists, turns and deus ex machina

Deus ex machina literally means 'god out of a machine'.  In Greek drama a god was sometimes lowered onto the stage to change the way the plot was developing.  The term is used today to describe an unlikely twist in the plot or an improbable coincidence.

Ask students to work in pairs to identify any examples of deus ex machina.  Discuss the effect of these events on the plot and on the way that the students interact with the play and its characters.

Now ask students to create a deus ex machina of their own that will change the ending of the play that they are studying.  These should be developed and typed up.  Once this has been done the deus ex machina are redistributed at random around the students or they could be drawn from a bag.  Students must then write the ending that they have drawn trying so far as possible to keep true to the characters as they understand them.

Atmosphere Forecast.

Atmosphere means the mood of the play.  Atmosphere is built up during the play.

For example the prevailing atmosphere in Macbeth is of evil and violence.

Ask students to pick the three quotes that they think best creates atmosphere in the play that they are studying.  Ask them to write these quotes down on post it notes or on sheets of paper than can then be displayed at the front in the order in which they appear in the play- so a time line is useful.

Now ask them to think of synonyms to describe the atmosphere- they might find a thesarus useful.  Then ask them to match one of their synonyms to one of the quotes on the board.

Give students an 'atmosphere forecast sheet' showing the timeline of the play.  Explain that a weather forecast predicts the coming week through graphics- you could model what the graphics on a weather forecast mean with illustrations- and through words.  Ask students to show the changing atmosphere of the play through graphics, images and words.  If you have access to ICT then they could download images. 

The case for the defence...

Hold a trial for the main character of the play if he is a tragic hero or the antagonist.  In the case of Romeo and Juliet an inquest could be held.

Students take on the parts of the judge, lawyers for the defence and prosecution  (a coroner is required for Romeo and Juliet) and also the parts of the surviving characters.  Each one prepares their role.  Teachers may wish to create a set of cue cards and prompts to help students prepare.  When they have done this they can then hold the trial to explore the guilt of the characters involved and the way each character has their own part to play in the outcome.

Encourage learners to use quotes from the play.

Antagonist Cleudo

In drama an antagonist is the chief opponent of the hero. 

Just like the game Cleudo identify the antagonist in the play that is being studied by saying who the antagonist is, where they appear in the play and how they work against the main character. 

Students should also list the reasons why they think the antagonist behaves against the main character of the play.  They could rank these in order of priority.

Character questions

Divide learners into small groups or pairs.  Each group is to answer the four questions below about a specific character in the play that they are studying.  This information should be recorded as a poster.

1. What function does the character have in the plot?
2. What beliefs and values do you associate with this character?
3.  How do you, the audience, respond to this character and why?
4.  How does Shakespeare create the character?  You should prompt learners by running through the questions before starting them off on the task to give them a chance to understand the importance of inter-relationships (what other characters say), what the character says, what the character does, themes and imagery etc.

Feed back. 

Then each student should write a paragraph about their character beginning I sympathise with....because or I do not sympathise with.... because....

Remind students to use PEA or PQD to structure their paragraph - PEA - point, evidence, assessment.
                                                                                                   - PQD -point, quote, development

Parallel plots

Often the principle characters have a parallel in one or more of the minor characters. 

Create a chart identifying any parallels of plot or situation between the major and minor characters in the play that your students are studying- having first checked that there are parallels to be explored.  Identify key relationships, events and interactions.  This could be done as a flow diagram or as a series of story boards.

Once learners have done this ask them to consider how it helps them to understand the principle characters better?  Why do they think that Shakespeare has these parallels?

Unauthorised biography

Write an unauthorised biography of the principle character of the play being studied.  As a preliminary discuss the sorts of things that sell newspapers and unauthorised biographies.  Talk also about the sort of information that appears on the web about celebrities.  Then ask students to think about the things they could write about the principle character and the slant that it could be given.  This could be done as a mind map exercise or a snowball exercise (1 minute working solo, 2 minutes in pairs to compare and five minutes in small groups to check responses, build and feedback to one another).  Ask them to consider language, include quotes to make it more persuasive etc.


It should take at least a session because the biography will need to be drafted, edited and polished.

Then ask them to write a letter from the principle character responding to the unauthorised autobiography- this should present their viewpoint and also demonstrate an understanding of their character.

Ana what? A look at anagnorisis

Anagnorisis is a Greek word meaning recognition.  It refers to a moment in a play when truth is discovered by the characters.  Anagnorisis means that characters are forced to look at events in new and uncomfortable ways.  The audience, of course, has known the truth all along so they can sit and watch the reactions of the character.  Anagnorisis occurs towards the end of act 5.

Explain what anagnorisis is.  Ask students if the play they have been studying has such a moment?  What is the impact on the characters and on the audience reaction to them.  For example there is a moment in Othello when Othello realises that he has been spurred by jealousy and killed Desdemona- who is innocent and the love of his life.  Despite the fact that he has killed her the audience still feels some sympathy.  The same moment of truth can occur in comedy.  For example when Viola, in Twelfth Night, removes her disguise Orsino has a rather unexpected new understanding of events.

In pairs ask them to think of an event that they are happy to discuss in their own lives where a new piece of information or turn of events has revealed a truth.  How did they feel about discovering this truth?  How did their perceptions change and the way they related to the people involved.  Briefly feedback the emotions of shock etc- then ask how Shakespeare shows this in the play they are studying.

Now ask students to write two or three paragraphs about the character(s) to whom the truth has been revealed.  The first paragraphs should be a summary of the character's thoughts and emotions to the moment of anagnorisis and the final paragraph should be about the moment of revelation and how the character's view of events and themselves changes and also about the way that the audience then feels about the character (s).

Remind them to use PEA- point, evidence and assessment or if you prefer PQD point, quote, development.

Allusion

An allusion is a passing reference in a work of literature to other works of literature, myth, legend- even history.  This introduces comparisons, contrasts, parallels and widens the frame of reference- readers or viewers can make links so that the thing that they are reading or watching becomes more easily placed or readily understood.

Shakespeare makes use of history, the Bible, classical legends and gods etc.  This will need to be explained to the learners.  Take them through a scene that makes use of allusion.  Discuss in detail or do a jigsaw exercise providing an explanation for the allusion and how it fits to the plot, the character and the themes.

Ask them to discuss the kind of books, papers, stories, films that everyone knows about these days.  Mind map the results.  Ask students to consider how topical and cultural references that they understand make books, films etc easier to understand.  Then ask them to change the Shakespearean scene so that it contains modern allusions with which a modern audience would immediately engage.

Shakespeare abridged

During the Victorian period Shakespeare plays were abridged by Thomas Bowdler ( he gave the English language the verb to bowdlerise meaning to abridge. This verb is often not used in a very positive way) so that the content would be suitable for children and respectable women.  Which bits of the Shakespeare play you are studying do you think Bowdler edited out?  And why? 

What do you think the consequences of this abridgement would be on the play?


Create a version of the story suitable for children.  It is up to the student to decide on the best way to present the story- in prose, as a graphic novel, cartoon or even animated film.  Talk about language change and what the important themes might be. 

Shakespearian superinjunctions

Identify the characters who have secrets in the play your students are studying?  What would their injunction forbid the world from finding out?

Who would out them and why?

Create a news broadcast for the radio revealing the above facts with discussion as to the consequences.

Discuss why its important for the audience of a Shakespeare play to have an overview and insight into why characters behave the way that they do.

Minor character viewpoint

Tell the story from the point of view of a minor character.

First to find...

Draw up a list of language based questions- these could be themes, similes, metaphors, alliteration etc.  Divide the class into teams and then provide them with one question at a time.  The team who finds an example first and is able to explain how their example demonstrates the use of language you have requested gets the point.  First team to ten points wins.

Magazine article.

Identify a theme that runs through the Shakespeare play that your students are studying.  Ask them to write a magazine article on that particular theme that would be of use to one of the characters in the play if they were to read the article e.g. an article entitled 'Guilt, how to spot and manage it' would probably be a useful article for Lady Macbeth to read or 'What role does fate play in your life' would probably be an interesting article for Juliet.

More able students will be able to discuss the theme and include appropriate quotes from the text as well as writing in the style of a magazine article. 

Persuasive writing from magazines to speeches

Use an assortment of materials including one of Shakespeare's persuasive speeches (e.g. Mark Antony's speech beginning 'Friends, Romans...'), an article in a magazine that seems to entertain but which has a secondary persuasive purpose, Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream speech' and adverts for example.

Explain that we often communicate to persuade people.  Some persuasive writing is very obvious e.g. the advertisement but sometimes persuasive writing can be more subtle.  The primary purpose may be to entertain and the secondary purpose is to persuade. 

Ask students to make a mind map or list the ways in which writers persuade their readers or listeners that their viewpoint is the right one.  The information can be presented as a table if you wish so that students can then see that although the forms may be different that the techniques remain the same e.g. lists of three, rhetorical questions, involving the audience, quotations from authority figures, statistics, repetition, alliteration etc.

Agony Aunt

Select the appropriate pages from assorted magazines.  Discuss the way that people write about their problems and the kind of responses given by the agony aunt or uncle.  This could be done as a traditional comprehension followed by a discussion.

Look also at the format of letters and their layout.

Ask students to write a letter to an agony aunt from a character of their choice.

Once they have completed their letters, redistribute them around the class room.  Students must now take on the role of the agony aunt or uncle and write a response giving their opinions and advice.

Headline events

Explore the language of headlines in tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Discuss also the way in which electronic media is changing the way that we get news (e.g. tweets and newsfeeds.)

Provide students with an assortment of headlines. Ask students to identify the way headlines are composed to draw attention to stories, consider also font and layout. What do the different forms have in common, how are they different.  This can be done as a table.  Time may need to be spent looking at the tabloid use of plays on words and puns.

Now divide the students into groups.  Give each group a key incident from the play that they are studying.  Each group must now produce a head line for that particular story in each of the different formats they have investigated.

Soap rewrite

Rewrite a key scene as though it was a scene for a soap opera.  Students must make sure that they understand the meaning of the words in the scene beforehand.

Twitter Debate

Identify a topic where there are two sides of an argument eg. Is Macbeth a tragic hero?  (This will be the first 'twitter' so must be 140 characters or fewer.)

Divide the class into two groups.  Half the class to find and present arguments for and half to find and present arguments against.  Allow 15 mins to prepare arguments, research and question teacher.

The twist is that students must present their arguments in 140 characters or fewer and there must be an ongoing exchange. Although students can prepare in advance, they must decide on the best response and may need to amend their preparations so that it follows on from the other side's 'twitter'.  Usual texting language is acceptable- so abbreviations etc.

Best done on an interactive whiteboard or with two white boards- the students do the writing.

Feedback - review the debate and a class vote as to whether they find in favour or against the argument that has been proposed.  Also dicuss the way in which it is acceptable to use abbreviations etc in electronic literacy practices but that 140 characters is limiting where the argument is complicated or where PEA( point evidence and assessment) is required.

Context Jigsaw

Shakespeare's plays are written in the context of his cultural and social beliefs.  The way that his characters react and the words that they use reflect this.

One theme that regularly occurs, for example, is the idea of Natural Order. In this theory everyone has their place in the world as ordained by God. Imagine a step ladder.  All of creation is allotted its correct place on this ladder.  God is at the top of the ladder, then the angels and then kings.  Then come men, followed by women and then animals. 

Briefly present some different cultural and social values that are demonstrated in the play that your students are studying.  Provide an example of each.  You may wish to have prepared a set of prompt cards to help students conduct their research.

Now divide the class into groups.  Each group researches their allocated topic in more detail and produces a poster on their topic which they must present to the rest of the class.

Swap topics between the groups and now ask each group to find quotes in the play that they are studying that support these social and cultural views.

Discuss how these social and cultural values have changed today and which are still relevant.

Figurative language an introduction.

Choose similes and metaphors from within the play that your students are studying.  List the phrases on a worksheet.  Ask the students to identify the two elements in the phrase that are being compared.

Now ask them to identify the characteristics that the elements in each phrase share.  They could do this as a snowball exercise or in small groups.  Model the first set of elements with a groups discussion and feedback- many of the linking characteristics will be adjectives.

Ask students to choose one example of figurative language which they like and write a paragraph explaining how the simile or metaphor adds to their understanding of the character or situation being described.

Shakespeare's English today

Ask students to list or create a mind map expressing their opinions and what they know about Shakespeare's use of English.

During feedback reveal that Shakespeare has provided many everyday words and expressions that we take for granted.

Students should now use the library/the Internet to find some of the words and phrases that Shakespeare has given the English language (or at the very least were first recorded by him).  This can be done as a limited number e.g. ten or else if set as a homework offer a small reward for the person who finds the most.

Share the best of these- as chosen by the students- on a display or on flip chart paper.

Discuss why Shakespeare's language has found its way into everyday English and how some of the meanings may have changed over time.

Soliloquy tone

Create a series of mood cards- e.g. happy, sad, thoughtful, angry.

Discuss how we express emotions in the way that we speak.

Now give each student a mood card and a soliloquy.  Ask them to speak the words in an appropriate tone to their mood card.  They will need time to rehearse this.  You may wish to allow them to do the activity in small groups depending on the size of the class.

When the individuals/groups have had enough time to practise ask them to do their readings for the rest of the class who must guess the mood that they have been given.

The next stage is to identify what frame of mind the character really is in during their soliloquy and how the students known this- dialogue, plot development, lexis, pace provided by punctuation etc.  How do they think it should really be spoken.  Make notes of the kind that a director/actor might make before a production of the play.  Ask them also to consider the kinds of gestures and facial expressions that the actors might make and use so that their non verbal communication add to the words.

Show students a video clip containing the soliloquy. 

Students ipsatively assess how similar or different their 'take' on the soliloquy was from the performed version.

Bingo quotations

Create bingo cards. You could use characters names or if you are working on language elements terms such as simile, metaphor, alliteration etc.  Provide each student with a bingo card.

Give students quotes.  They can then cross off the character or the literary terminology.  The student who gets four in a row or on a diagonal wins.

Language choice

Choose a soliloquy.

Explain to the cast that a soliloquy is where the character is on his or her own on stage thinking out loud.

On own: underline words that they don't understand.
In pairs: try to work out meanings- you could do a dictionary matching exercise either on paper or as a sort activity if you preferred and depending upon the level of your students.
Feedback. Discuss language change and the way that we all shift the way we use language depending on audience, context and purpose.

In pairs or small groups, look at the soliloquy - and then up-date it into modern English.  This can be adapted if you come from a region with a strong dialect so that it's written for a particular region or even situated literacy such as the language of teenagers for example.

Diaries

Write diary entries for two of the key characters to present different views of events.

If you have completed the key quote activity ask students to include between ten and twenty key quotes in their diary entries.  If not you could provide students with a list of key quotes.  Students can then choose the ones that they feel best display character motivation and attitude.

Key quotes

Provide students with post-it notes and place flip chart 'character sheets' around the classroom.  Ask each student to identify three key quotes per character.  Students place their post-it notes on the character sheets.  Where there are duplicate quotes, these should be placed on top of one another.

The plenary of the activity should include an investigation of what the students have identified as being of significance.  This could be recorded on a tally chart. 

Pass the question.

Rather than the teacher asking questions about plot and character use a bean bag or soft ball for the following.
Ask students to write down ten questions that they could ask about plot, character or language in the play that they are studying.  They should also provide the answers.

Explain that only the person holding the ball or bean bag may answer a question and that once that person has answered their question, they can then choose a question from their list, passing the ball or bean bag to another person before they ask it.

Your role is to facilitate this process by discussing the kinds of questions that they could ask, by modelling the way in which the game works and by ensuring that everyone gets a turn.  Remind students about health and safety issues.

Guess who I am? Character recognition in Shakespeare.

Provide everyone in the class with 'About My Character' sheets.  You may want students to work in pairs or small groups depending on the size of the class.

The questions on the sheets should be:
I first appear in Act ___, scene ____.
I am a major/minor character.
I add to the plot by __________________.
I add to the audience's understanding of the major characters by  _____________________.
My best quote is _____________________________.
Another character describes me as ___________________________________.
One more important piece of information about me is __________________________________.

Everyone fills in a sheet for the character they have been allocated.

Students should then write five clues to help the rest of the class guess which character they are representing.
The students must then present their clues to the rest of the class who must deduce which character is being talked about.

You should provide an example as a model so that students are clear about what they need to do.

Plot Spikes and Pulses

Explain to students that an exposition sets the scene; complication is where the life or lives of the principle characters are complicated in some way; climax is where things are at their most difficult, dangerous or threatening.  The resolution is the way that the story ends.  This can be shown on a diagram as an inverted V- The exposition is in the bottom left hand corner of the page and builds to the apex of the inverted V with the climax.  Ask students to identify these key features of plot.  They should identify the acts and scenes in which these events occur and be prepared to say why they are key to the plot.

Develop the thread with a plot pulse.  Discuss the ways in which soap operas keep their audiences by ensuring that there are cliffhangers leaving the audience wanting more- the points where the pulse races.  Model this with a diagram of your own to illustrate the point. You can also use films such as Harry Potter and Twilight where there is a gap between films- what makes the audience come back for more? Discuss also the way in which Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed in front of the kind of audeinces who threw things if they got bored.

Either ask the students to draw and label their own pulse line for the play they are studying showing the key events in the plot- or provide them with a pre-printed pulse line and ask them to identify the key events indicated by the different rates of pulse.  Again, it is useful if they identify event, act and scene.  You may wish students to supply an appropriate quote from the text. 

An alternative is to provide a group of students with a pre-printed pulse line and a set of post-it notes.  Each note contains an event from the play.  Students have to sort them into the right order and then decide where they fit onto the plot pulse.  More able students should be supplied with red herrings and choices to encourage discussion.

The plenary should include a discussion about the way in which Shakespeare heightens tension by placing a relatively mundane event next to something of high drama to increase the tension or significance of the event because of what came before- the audience is either shocked by events or makes comparisons.  More able students may well spot that Shakespeare sometimes uses anticlimax to add to suspense rather than destroy it.  For example after the murder of Duncan there is the interchange with the porter- all the time this exchance is occuring the audience knows that Duncan has been murdered and that his death will soon be discovered.  Shakespeare uses anticlimax for comic purposes elsewhere.  Again, these are techniques used by film makers and the directors of soap operas.  You could ask students to give examples from films and television programmes that they have watched- so that they can begin to see the entertainment value of Shakespeare rather than simply regardng it as a text to be studied for an exam.

If you don't like the idea of a plot pulse line then change it to a 'plot rollercoaster' and use flip chart paper  or the whiteboard so that the whole class is involved in placing key events.  Ask the class to agree and make any changes to the placing of events or 'angle' of the rollercoaster.  Again, students should justify their decisions.