This list of activities presents engaging ways to introduce a Shakespeare play. From Romeo and Juliet to Macbeth to Hamlet to Julius Caesar, these activities are sure to engage your students in the world and language of Shakespeare. These activities are appropriate for middle school and high schoo

You'll be "in stitches" when you discover how many common phrases and sayings from our everyday language now come originally from Shakespeare! Here's a fun poster to display in the classroom.

Sometimes you need an especially wicked comeback. Check out a list of 39 famous and funny Shakespeare insults that are perfect for those meaner-than-mean moments.

Here's what your high school English teacher didn't teach you.

There’s only one place in the world where you can be an all-powerful, all-knowing, god-like human being, and that place is the internet. Under the guise of anonymity, we can do a lot of things that we’d most likely—or in the very least, most hopefully—not do in the real world. Such as pretending to know math.

Fighting Words Active verbs to use in a fight scene or an otherwise violent encounter, color-coded by severity (with red as most intense and purple as most mild), and categorized by type of fight.

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Ah, yes! The dreaded essay. Students hate hearing that five letter word. Why? Not because essays are hard, but because they do not understand how to write an essay and the importance of a thesis statement. Honestly, the only reason why some students despise essay writing is because they just can't get the format down. Once they have the format figured out, it's smooth sailing! Start off small, and improve from there. My goal is for new essay writers to write a solid two pages. Their word choice and vocabulary might not be very diverse, but if they are able to get all of the parts of an essay down, that's all I am looking for at that time! By the time they write their second and third essay, they have made huge strides! One of my most prized teaching possessions is the Essay Writing Scavenger Hunt that I created. If you are struggling to get your students to understand HOW to write an essay, then I suggest you give this a try. After some initial review, they often only need to complete the activity once to understand the format (the activity can also be used as an example for when they write their own essay). For students who need a little extra support, I have them complete the scavenger hunt twice. This helps them to remember the different parts of the essay in preparation for when they write their own. You don't even need to waste class time on that second activity - it's perfect as a homework activity too. Every good essay starts with a great thesis statement. Here are some strategies you can use to help your students remember how to write a thesis statement. These examples are applicable for students new to essay writing, for those who are still struggling, or for those students who just need a review. TIP: If students are new to essay writing, start out with a persuasive essay. The thesis statement is often easier to write and students are able to come up with their three points a lot easier. Once students are comfortable in writing a thesis statement, they can start to explore other ways of writing their thesis (still using the ABC format). The format is just rearranged to help students create more diverse, effective sounding statements. Happy essay writing! P.S. Black border with apple clip art created by Jax and Jake!

Here's a lovely old advisory from William Matthews Bookseller, explaining how to open a book for the first time, which was a major operation in the age of hand-sewn hardcover…

Shakespeare everyone can understand--now in this new EXPANDED edition of MACBETH Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter. The expanded sections include: Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play. What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent? Plot Analysis: What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave as they do? Study Questions: Questions that guide students as they study for a test or write a paper. Quotes by Theme: Quotes organized by Shakespeare's main themes, such as love, death, tyranny, honor, and fate. Quotes by Character: Quotes organized by the play's main characters, along with interpretations of their meaning. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9781411479678 Media Type: Paperback Publisher: Sparknotes Publication Date: 06-23-2020 Pages: 320 Product Dimensions: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d Age Range: 13 - 17 Years Series: Sparknotes No Fear Shakespeare

I’ve said it, countless times now: I’ve seen NO correlation between gender of writer and how “well” s/he writes female characters. In my experience, a male writer is just as likely as a female writer to write a GREAT, complex, flawed character who just so happens to be a woman. ‘Cos that’s what we’re aiming for,… Read More »Writing Women: 5 Lessons From Shakespeare

While the long-standing mantra in fiction writing is show, don’t tell, are there ever times when telling is just as good as (or even better than) showing? I would argue that, yes, there are. …

After I finished reading A Christmas Carol with my Middle School students, I had them analyze how Dickens used AND altered history with this Escape!

From "dead cat bounce," which originated in the 1980s, to "cold fish," which was coined by Shakespeare, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms explores the origins of more than 10,000 nonliteral sayings.