How to Support Students With Reading Shakespeare's Plays

When I taught high school, I always ended the year with one of Shakespeare's plays, Romeo & Juliet for ninth grade and Julius Caesar for tenth.⁠ Students loved getting into character and acting out scenes from the plays. But it can be a challenge to make modern day connections with a text written over 400 years ago.⁠ Here's how I supported students with reading one of Shakespeare's plays.⁠

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How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Wrapping Up The Play

After students finish reading Act V of Julius Caesar, they will continue to apply their knowledge and understanding in the form of various assessments. We watch a film version or two, review for and then take a final exam, and have one last discussion in a Socratic Seminar.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Act IV and V

After reading Act III of Julius Caesar, students understand that not all characters view omens and superstitions the same. We notice how Shakespeare builds towards the chaos surrounding Caesar’s murder and what he does to create the tension. Act III is important because it is packed with drama. We watched how characters’ plans succeeded and failed, taking us in a different direction than expected. With Julius Caesar– our title character– now dead, we will read to see how Shakespeare wraps up the play and whether “justice” will prevail.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Act III

After reading Act II of Julius Caesar, students understand the pros and cons of Caesar’s ambitious nature and his decision-making skills. We see the notable differences between Cassius and Brutus and understand that Caesar’s death is likely imminent. In fact, teachers should make note of the fact that Caesar is killed in the beginning of Act III, which begs the question why would Shakespeare kill off the title character in the middle of the play, and what does that leave in store for the rest of the play?

How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Act II

After reading Act I of Julius Caesar, students understand the conspirators’ plan to defeat Caesar– who we only see a little of in Act I but hear a great deal about from other characters– and understand how certain characters are using language to manipulate others into joining the conspiracy. Readers become more acquainted with Caesar in Act II as well as the only two women in the play: Calphurnia (Caesar’s wife) and Portia (Brutus’ wife).

How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Act I

When teaching one of William Shakespeare’s dramas to secondary students, it is all about digging in and having fun. I begin building engagement during the week I spend introducing the play Julius Caesar. Here's my approach to Act I.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Introducing the Play

Rarely are students excited for reading a drama, let alone one written almost 500 years ago. It is much more likely that you’ll hear groans and complaints when you announce that your upcoming unit is Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your students, as mine did, can learn to understand and even to enjoy the old bard’s messages about relationships, ambition, and betrayal.

In this series of blog posts, I'll describe how I teach each part of Julius Caesar, starting with how I introduce the tragedy to students. As with any new piece of literature, especially one you know will be challenging for students, hooking them from the get go is crucial.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Making Real World Connections

After students finish reading Act V of Romeo and Juliet, I don't want them to write off the play as just a far fetched love story from the past.

I use three nonfiction articles to show students that love, and the hate that can tear that love apart, are very much still a part of today's world.

Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia
Our first read is an opinion piece from the New York Times titled "In America; Romeo And Juliet In Bosnia." The piece was written in response to a PBS documentary focused on Bosko Brkic, an Eastern Orthodox Serb, and Admira Ismic, a Muslim, who met and fell in love, but died together trying to escape Sarajevo and the Bosnia-Serbian conflict taking place there.

In our discussion following the reading, we compare and contrast Bosko and Admira's conflict with the one Romeo and Juliet faced. We also compare and contrast the feelings of Bosko and Admira's family members to feelings of the Montagues and the Capulets. Finally, we compare and contrast the death of Admira and Bosko with the death of Romeo and Juliet.

Besides comparing and contrasting the characters of Shakespeare's tragedy and this real life couple, we also focus on the hate that complicated Bosko and Admira's relationship, and whether that kind of hate still exists. The Bosnia-Serbian conflict lasted from 1992-1995, and while that was only twenty some years ago, it can feel very far away for students. Showing the documentary or clips from it, can make the events seem even even further in the past for students because the quality of the video is so different from what they see today.

Romeo and Juliet in Afghanistan
Our second read is a series of articles from the New York Times focused on two young Afghans in love. "2 Star-Crossed Afghans Cling to Love, Even at Risk of Death" is followed by other articles and several video interviews. Zakia is 18 and Mohammad Ali is 21, both the children of farmers in this remote mountain province. Mohammad Ali is a Hazara, who are mostly Shia Muslims. Zakia is a Tajik, a Sunni ethnic group. Despite threats of death from her family, the young lovers elope and become fugitives. The articles, the first of which was published in the spring of 2014, follow their attempts to flee the country until they are able to seek asylum in the United States in the spring of 2016.

In our discussion following the reading, we compare and contrast Mohammad Ali and Zakia's conflict with the one Romeo and Juliet faced. We also compare and contrast the feelings of Mohammad Ali and Zakia's family members to feelings of the Montagues and the Capulets. While their love story does not end in death, we discuss the challenges that still remain for the couple.

Dear Juliet
Our final reading is more about love than hate. "Dear Juliet: Let Me Tell You About My Problem" explains the letter writing phenomenon more recently featured in the film Letters to Juliet. The Club of Juliet is a private organization that receives, translates and answers Juliet's mail; she now receives 50,000 letters a year.

In our discussion following the reading, we examine the reasons why people write to Juliet. Some of the letters described in the article mirror the plights of Bosko and Admira and Mohammad Ali and Zakia. I also have students write their own letters to Juliet. The letters can be a response to the play, filled with unanswered questions, or of a more personal nature. The last time I mailed them off, it did take a year, but my students did get a response from Juliet!

Assessment
After reading all about all three topics as a class, students have a choice of which one to follow up on with further reading, research, and completion of a project. For Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia, students compose an interview script with a member of Bosko or Admira’s family 20 years after their deaths. For Romeo and Juliet in Afghanistan, students create an informational pamphlet about seeking asylum in the United States. And for Dear Juliet, students write a movie review of Letters to Juliet, including analysis of the accuracy of the representation of Juliet’s Club.

You can find all of my resources for teaching Romeo and Juliet, including the materials described above that I use to make connections with the play, here.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Act V

After reading Act IV of Romeo and Juliet, students are well aware of all the things that could possibly go wrong and they can't wait to see how it all ends. Here's my approach to teaching the final part of the play.

Planning Out The Reading

I don't want to kill the play, so in each act, I generally choose to read the scene with the events most important to developing the plot. In Act V, that is the final scene. While I usually choose one other scene per act to read, Act V is short so we just read one.

I provide short summaries for any scenes we skip to fill students in on the less important events. I like to spend about a week on each act of the play, so the days we don't spend reading are spent on after reading activities, writing, and a short assessment.

Before jumping into this week's reading, we'll spend a few minutes reviewing the scenes from last week. I'll also review dramatic irony (introduced in Act IV) using examples from previous scenes and couplets, which I cover in a poetry unit earlier in the year.

Act V, Scene III
This scene is meant to be read independently because of the number of monologues. It includes summaries of Act V, Scene I; Act V, Scene II; and parts of Act V, Scene III. Then I provide the text of Act V, Scene II with the original text and the modern translations side by side. I edit the scene by cutting lines out. After reading, students translate words from the original to modern text, and vice versa. Then students answer short written response questions to demonstrate comprehension. We review this together at the end of class.

After Reading Activities

By the time the play ends, students have been on as much of an emotional roller coaster as the characters. They are often unsatisfied with the lack of specificity of the Prince's statement about pardons and punishments at the end of Act V, Scene III. I give students a chance to journal about who is to blame for the death of the two young lovers and what the punishment should be for those responsible. We also return to the idea of "what ifs" from Act IV. Students reflect on how both Romeo and Juliet and the adults in their lives could have acted differently to prevent such a tragic ending.

If I haven't already taught Shakespearean sonnets as a part of my poetry unit earlier in the year, I'll introduce them to the poetic form now. After reading one of Shakespeare's sonnets, I show my students the clip from 10 Things I Hate About You where Kat reads her “sonnet” to the class. I have my class decide if she is following the format of a Shakespearean sonnet (hint: she doesn't). You may have to play it several times for the students to make a decision.

Then we write some silly sonnets of our own. I start with a fill-in-the-blank template to help them get started with lines like "I love you like a kid loves birthday cake" and "I even love your stinky feet." We do some whole class brainstorming of words that rhyme with the provided lines and when finished, I let students share their favorite lines. Finally, I set students off to write a sonnet on their own. This one can be silly or serious. As students work on their own poems, I remind them of the rhyme scheme and if they are comfortable with that, I challenge them to also use iambic pentameter.

Writing & Assessment
At the end of the week, I will give students a choice of two constructed response prompts, one connected to each of the scenes on which we focused. This is a chance for them to independently express their understanding of what we read, practice citing text evidence, and continue to build on their writing skills in general. 

I also assign a text based assessment, which covers Act V. The assessment includes a section of Act V, ten multiple-choice questions, and two choices for a written response. Questions ask students to to analyze characters words and actions, to paraphrase important lines, and to define and give examples of dramatic irony and couplets.

You can find all of my resources for teaching Romeo and Juliet, including the materials described above that I use to teach Act V, here.

Read on for my approach to making real world connections to Romeo and Juliet.

How to Teach Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Act IV

After reading Act III, students can't wait to see what will happen to Romeo and Juliet. Will their love prevail or will their relationship end as quickly as it began? In Act IV, Scenes I and III, it is clear that desperate times call for desperate measures. Here's my approach to teaching those scenes.

Planning Out The Reading
I don't want to kill the play, so in each act, I generally choose to read the scene with the events most important to developing the plot. In Act IV, that is the first scene.

I usually choose one other scene per act to read that highlights another important aspect of the play. Act IV, Scene III is full of amazing imagery and is further evidence of Juliet's commitment to her new husband Romeo.

I provide short summaries for any scenes we skip to fill students in on the less important events. I like to spend about a week on each act of the play, so the days we don't spend reading are spent on after reading activities, writing, and a short assessment.

Before jumping into this week's reading, we'll spend a few minutes reviewing the scenes from last week. I'll also introduce or review important terms. I'll introduce dramatic irony and use examples from previous scenes. I'll review cause and effect, which students can get mixed up even at the high school level. I'll also review aside and soliloquy, both introduced with Act II.

Act IV, Scene I
I present this scene to students entirely in Shakespeare’s language, but an edited down version. The scene ends up about one page front and back, creating a script that can easily be acted out by students.

Before assigning parts and having my students act, as a class we do one or two read throughs. In the first read through, we number the lines of the scene up to the number of students in the class and then repeat until each line of the scene is numbered. Then students count off and read “their” lines regardless of the character speaking. If I feel like a second read through is necessary, we number the parts rather than individual lines. Each time a different character speaks, so does a new student.

Once students are comfortable with the language, I ask them to play the part of the director and insert stage directions. Where do characters enter and exit? When does Juliet reveal her knife? When does the Friar reveal the potion?

Finally, I have students get up and act out the scene. I usually let students choose their parts, but if necessary I will assign them. Some students don't mind reading, but don't want to get up out of their seats, so I will sometimes have someone assigned as the reader for a part and someone else as the silent actor or actress for the part. I can get twice the number of students involved that way and draw on students’ strengths. Students who are uncomfortable getting up in front of the class can still participate and students who enjoy acting won't be hindered by having to hold a script.

Act IV, Scene III
This scene is a monologue, so students read it independently. I include summaries of Act 4, Scene 2; Act 4, Scene 4; and Act 4, Scene 5. Then I provide the text of Act 4, Scene 3 with the original text and modern translations side by side. I edit the scene by cutting lines out. After reading, students translate words from the original to modern text, and vice versa. Then students answer short written response questions to demonstrate comprehension and identify the possible series of cause and effect of Juliet’s actions. We review this together at the end of class.

After Reading Activities
While students know how the play will end, it is fun to think about the "what ifs." We use Juliet's monologue from Act IV, Scene III to begin listing all of the possible directions the storyline could go and the events to which those directions would lead. Students choose one possibility about which to write a creative end to the play. Students then share their writing with each other in a collaborative Jamboard. I love seeing how they incorporate unexpected characters and create twists in the plot.

Writing & Assessment

At the end of the week, I will give students a text dependent analysis prompts connected to one of the scenes on which we focused. This is a chance for them to independently express their understanding of what we read, practice citing text evidence, and continue to build on their writing skills in general. 

I also assign a text based assessment, which covers Act IV. The assessment includes a section of Act IV, ten multiple-choice questions, and two choices for a written response. Questions ask students to analyze characters words and actions and paraphrase important lines.

You can find all of my resources for teaching Romeo and Juliet, including the materials described above that I use to teach Act IV, here.

Read on for my approach to teaching Act V of Romeo and Juliet.