Free Resources for Studying Shakespeare & His Works

Published:
August 10, 2020

Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa

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Literature is one of my favorite subjects, but it wasn’t always. If you are tackling literature in your homeschool, then explore these FREE resources for studying Shakespeare & his works will be a great place to start.

FREE Resources for Studying Shakespeare & His Works

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I admittedly wasn’t always a fan of literature; I never read a full book in high school. When it came time to read books, I really couldn’t care less. More than not caring, I really didn’t understand what I was supposed to be reading. When we got into Shakespeare, I really was lost. I wasn’t exposed to enough regular literature, let alone reading things with Old English.

I just gave up. Thankfully, I made up for it in college, but I started at ground zero, and doing it as an unconventional student (mom) didn’t help.

Of course, now I am an advocate of exposing young students to as much literature as possible. Learning to read classic works of art and books, in general, gave me confidence. We can do that for our kids now.

If your student can tackle Shakespeare that is a milestone and a great feat during your homeschool journey. These resources can help give your kids a good start.

Learning and teaching Shakespeare can be difficult, however, there are some methods to teach it that provide information without making it too complicated.

Here are just a few simple ways to incorporate Shakespeare in your homeschool to make it doable and less intimidating:

1. Firstly, teach all about literary devices and dramatic elements in literature.

Dramatic elements teach kids to understand a text as a whole like a plot, theme, genre, characters, and more. Literary elements are things like figurative language (i.e. simile, metaphor, alliteration, imagery, etc.)

Tips to Teach Your Kids About Dramatic Elements in Literature

Dramatic Elements in Literature text with illustrated image of two kids reading books

FREE Figures of Speech and Poetic Devices Free Printable Mini-posters | Jimmie’s Collage

2. Introduce new vocabulary

Use words from the text to explore vocabulary. Maybe only five at a time to make it less complicated. What you can do is task kids to predict word meanings, to make associations with the words, and to use them in your learning activities.

Common Shakespeare Words Explained | StageMilk

ShakespeareWords.com

3. Use hands-on activities

Using hands-on and engaging activities, yes even with acting out scenes helps kids to fully understand the text. They can also show how much they understand, but basically they associate the text with having fun and relate learning to doable challenges as they grow older.

If you ever heard of scaffolding, activities help you to do this. Scaffolding is a teaching approach that moves students progressively towards a deeper understanding and independence in their learning experience.

Explore these activities to add to your Shakespeare studies at home:

Shakespeare Activities FREE Download | Tracee Orman

FREE Intro to Shakespeare Comic with Activities | David Rickert

Learn Shakespeare with Projects and Activities | HubPages

4. Use audios and visuals; watch it and act it.

Shakespeare was meant to be performed in front of a crowd of people. Searching some performances online truly helps kids to see the texts the way they were meant to be seen. Discuss what happens throughout the play and ask questions.

It is also wise to take a skit and have your students act it out. Create parodies if you have to, so kids can feel engaged and get the most out of what they learned.

Shakespeare For Kids | The Touring Teacher

Play on! 12 of the best Shakespeare productions to stream | Royal Shakespeare Company

Stream Shakespeare from Global Theatre | Insider

Grab these FREE resources for studying Shakespeare in your homeschool.

FREE Resources to Learn About Shakespeare

Free Resources to Learn About Shakespeare text with black and white photo of shakespeare.

The Ultimate FREE Shakespeare Resource | PlayShakespeare.com

Tips for Teaching Shakespeare + FREE Download | Secondary English Coffeeshop

30 Shakespeare Activities & Printables for the Classroom | We Are Teachers

FREE Shakespeare Unit Study Starters | Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Shakespeare Unit Study Starters

4 Shakespeare FREE Activities for High School Students to Use at Home | Sadlier School

8 Common Phrases We Owe to Shakespeare | Treehugger

FREE Shakespeare Biography QR Codes |Presto Plans

Studying a Shakespeare Sonnet | In All You Do

Studying a Shakespearean Sonnet With a Printable Study text with black and white image of a Shakespeare book

Learning About Shakespeare with a Shakespearean Unit Study | In All You Do

Learning More About Shakespeare Through a Shakespearean Unit Study text with image of a statue of a man

The Ultimate Guide to Shakespeare for Your Morning Basket (Printables) | Your Morning Basket

FREE Iambic Pentameter Shakespeare Lesson and Activity | Love and Let Lit

9 Unique Shakespeare Writing Activities | Now Spark Creativity

William Shakespeare FREE Unit Study | Peanut Butter Fish Lessons

Shakespeare Free Unit Study text with background image examples of pages

Teens & Tweens FREE Shakespeare Resources | Captivating Compass

image of painting of Shakespeare with text overlya 21 free Shakespeare Resources for Teens & Tweens

FREE William Shakespeare Lapbook | Homeschool Helper Online

Shakespeare’s Language Word Wall FREE | Mixed-Up Files

FREE William Shakespeare Crossword | TES.com

FREE Printable Shakespeare Mini-Pack | Embark on the Journey

Let\'s Learn About Shakespeare text with page examples

Teaching Shakespeare to Kids (FREE Memory Cards) | Teach Beside Me

The Homeschooler’s Ultimate Resource for Introducing Kids To Shakespeare | As We Walk Along

Shakespeare for Little Kids Unit Study | KidsMinds

FREE Worksheet Shakespeare Biography | Education.com

Macbeth FREEBIE: Three Levels of Questioning with 145 Questions for Inquiry | Bespoke ELA

How to Introduce Shakespeare to Little Kids | Raising DV

Explore these FREE resources for studying Shakespeare’s body of work.

21 FREE Shakespeare Coloring Pages & Audiobooks for All Ages

High School Journal Writing Prompts from the World of Shakespeare | WriteShop.com

High School Journal Prompts from the World of Shakespeare

FREE Midsummer Night’s Dream Lesson Plan | Pixton

FREE Macbeth Shakespeare Printable Worksheet | Education.com

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Understanding the Prologue FREE Worksheet | K12Reader

 

Romeo & Juliet ~ Literature FREE Notebooking Page | Homeschool Helper Online

Julius Caesar FREE Study Guide | Absolute Shakespeare

FREE Lesson Plans for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar | Simply Convivial

Romeo and Juliet FREE Worksheet | Education.com

Hamlet FREE Study Guide | Absolute Shakespeare

Merchant of Venice Study Guide | Absolute Shakespeare
The Tempest Study Guide | Absolute Shakespeare

Puppets and coloring pages based on the work of William Shakespeare’s

A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Phee McFaddell

Shakespeare’s Hamlet for Kids: 3 melodramatic plays (FREE on Kindle) | Brendan P. Kelso

Another fun thing to add to your lessons on Shakespeare is to teach your kids about some infamous quotes. Most we hear today, but don’t know they came from Shakespeare.

I will leave you with a few of them below:

Top Shakespeare Quotes by Play Printables | The Natural Homeschool

50 Of Shakespeare’s Most Famous Quotes | No Sweat Shakespeare

‘To be, or not to be: that is the question’ (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1)

‘All the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.’ (As You Like it Act 2, Scene 7)

‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!’ (King Lear Act 1, Scene 4)

‘If music be the food of love play on.‘ (Twelfth Night Act 1, Scene 1)

‘What light through yonder window breaks.’ (Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2)

FREE Resources for Studying Shakespeare & His Works

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