Lesson 1 - The Man

Main Aims

For students to share what they already know about Shakespeare.

For students to discover more about Shakespeare's life and the context in
which he was writing about his plays.

Procedure

1. Put the following questions on the board for students to discuss in pairs/small
group.

Do you enjoy going to the theatre?

What are the differences between going to the theatre and the cinema? Which
do you think is better?
Have you ever read or seen one of Shakespeare's plays?
o Which one?
o What did you think about it?
Why do you think the plays of a man who was writing 400 years ago are still
so popular today?

Conduct some class feedback.

2. Give each group a large sheet of paper (A3 or bigger)

Students divide it into the following 3 sections :

Know Would like to know Learnt

Give groups 10 minutes to complete the first two columns as a group with
information they already know about Shakespeare and what they would like to learn.
Leave the learnt column blank at this stage.

Put the sheets up around the room - the students then walk round the room to read
what the other groups wrote.

Students return to their original group and add any new information they found out to
the learnt column on their sheet.

Keep the sheets up around the room so students can add to them as they go
through the lesson/course.

3. Put the following words/numbers on the board.

Anne Hathaway April 23 400 1564

1996 1616 37 Stratford

The Globe 3 glovemaker 11

Explain that they are all somehow connected to Shakespeare

Ask students to predict what they think is the significance.

Get feedback from the class, but do not tell them if the answers are right or wrong.

Students the use i-pads/phones to research the significance of the words/numbers

and make short notes.

Check the answers as a whole class - encourage students to use full sentences.

4. Complete running dictation worksheets on the globe theatre.

5. Give students minutes to reflect on what they have learnt today and add it to the
learnt column of their tables.

Homework (optional) - students write a short summary of Shakespeare's life based

on what they leant in today's lesson.
 The Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre was built in 1599, out of timber taken from other
disused London theatres.

The Globe was the primary home of Shakespeare's acting company,

The Chamberlains Men and acting began there in late 1599.

On June 29, 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, a cannon ball set
the Globe's thatched roof on fire and the whole theatre was burnt down.
The Globe was rebuilt and re-opened to the public within a year, with the
addition of a tiled roof. The new Globe theatre lasted until 1644, when it
was destroyed.

The Globe was a hexagonal structure with an inner court about 55 feet
across and black and white in colour, the timbers were black and the
walls were white and made of sticks and clay, called wattle and daub. It
was three-stories high and had no roof. The open courtyard and three
semi-circular galleries could together hold more than 1,500 people.

The stage had two primary parts: 1) The outer stage, which was a
rectangular platform projecting into the courtyard. 2) The inner stage
was a covered space between two projecting wings at the very back of
the outer stage. This second stage was used by actors who were in a
scene but not involved in the immediate action of the play, and it was
also used when a scene took place in an inner room.

Underneath the floors of the outer and inner stages was a large cellar
called "hell", allowing for the dramatic appearance of ghosts and
witches!
 Running Dictation

Students have to reorder the following into questions and then in pairs, a runner and a scribe, answer
the questions by reading the text above.

1. built When Globe theatre was built the?

2. built Was the Globe theatre in stone?

________________________________________________

3. the timber Where was for the Globe found?

________________________________________________

4. Was Globe the main home the Chamberlains men of the?

________________________________________________

5. was When Globe the theatre down burnt?

________________________________________________

6. was When rebuilt the Globe?

________________________________________________

7. Did Globe the tiled a roof have?

________________________________________________

8. shape What the Globe theatre was?

________________________________________________

9. people Could watch play a how many in theatre the?

________________________________________________

10. under the floors What was there?

Lesson Two - The Plays

Main Aims

For students to learn more about the conventions of Shakespeare's comedies,

tragedies and history plays.
For students to write their own plot for a Shakespearean tragedy.
For students to study and rewrite the prologue for Romeo and Juliet.

1. Give students 5 minutes in groups to discuss what information they can remember
from last lesson.

Ask each group to share 3 things with the rest of the class.

2. Give 2 minutes for groups to write down as many film genres as they can think of
(elicit one or two examples as a whole class first).

3. Get feedback from the class and pick one genre they have thought of to use as an
example.

For this example elicit from the class what conventions usually appear in this type of
film/book.

4. Give each group a different genre. They list all the different conventions they can
think of for this genre.

They then read the list to the rest of the class who guess what genre they are
describing.

5. Explain that Shakespeare's plays can be grouped into 3 areas (although some,
which are hard to classify are called the problem plays): Comedy, Tragedy, History.

Students discuss what conventions they would expect in these different genres.

Get feedback and explain we are going to focus on the tragedies.

Write the following on the board and check understanding

Hubris
Noble birth
Fatal character flaw
Anguish
Reversal of fortune
Self-awareness

Explain all of these are important in a Shakespearean tragedy.

6. Give out grid of prompts - students come up with a basic plot outline for a
Shakespearean tragedy and share with the rest of the class. Trying to include all of
the above elements.

7. Explain one of the most famous tragedies is Romeo and Juliet. Give students 2
minutes to discuss anything they know about the play.

8. Show students 2 different versions of the Prologue from Act I Scene I. Students
discuss:

Differences
Similarities
Which they would prefer to watch and why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UubjlL4AH4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xawp9co17Z4

9. Give up cut up version of prologue (ignore missing words at the moment) and ask
students to try and reorder from memory.

Play the 1996 film prologue again (the one without subtitles) to check.

10. Students listen again and try to complete missing words.

11. Try and re-write in modern English - identify key words and use online
dictionaries to help.

The lines could be split up and shared around the class to save time

12. Discuss

Why would Shakespeare tell us the ending of the play at the start?
How much information do you like to have before you read a book or see a
film?
Do you think the prologue at the start of Romeo and Juliet is a good or bad
idea?
 a prison a castle a forest a ship a battlefield

a young prince a king a queen a princess a duke

pride ambition greed love indecisiveness

a storm a letter a knife a sword rope

a battle a horse a death a soldier a servant

a prison a castle a forest a ship a battlefield

a young prince a king a queen a princess a duke

pride ambition greed love indecisiveness

a storm a letter a knife a sword rope

a battle a horse a death a soldier a servant

Two __________, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our __________,

From_________ grudge break to new mutiny,

Where _______ blood makes _______hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two _______

A ________ of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their ________ bury their parents' strife.

The fearful __________ of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' ________,

Which, but their _________ end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours' ___________ of our stage;

The which if you with __________ ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to ___________.

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Lesson 3 - The Language

Main Aims

For students to become aware of how much of Shakespeare's language we

still use today.
For students to become familiar with the meaning and use of some of
Shakespeare's idioms that we still use today.
For students to write their own dialogue in the style of Shakespeare.

1. Give out worksheet Things we say today which we owe to Shakespeare

Ask students if they have ever heard/used any of these expressions.

2. Individually students identify phrases they

understand and could use

? think they may be able to use

x don't understand at all

3. Students work in pairs then small groups to help each other understand as many
phrases as possible.

Teacher then explains any that are not still understood.

4. Students complete worksheet looking at use of specific idioms.

5. Students work in groups to create a shot dialogue using as many of the

expressions from the lesson as they can.

First they should decide on where/when/who/what is happening.

6. They then perform dialogue for others in the class - they must try and identify the
situation/explain what is happening.