The Art of teaching Shakespeare: Start with the basics

Mention Shakespeare in a classroom and get ready for students to groan or tell you how much they hate the Bard and how he is completely irrelevant. It is difficult for teachers to engage students in something that is not only daunting for students but can be daunting for the teacher as well. Today's blog post is less a blog and more of a collaborative sharing of resources. I pride myself on the fact that I can get any child to love Shakespeare through passion and my extensive knowledge. I have attached to this blog a lesson I used with a high ability year 8 class. It is a very basic introduction to Shakespeare but one that the kids thoroughly enjoyed. Let me know what you think. Thanks to the RSC, Elliot Shrimplton and Patsy Rotenburg for aiding in my quest to get young people to appreciate the Bard.

Actors understand Iambic Pentameter as the heart beat of a character. Each line should signify 10 heart beats. But sometimes this is not the case, like in this monologue. The second line has 11 beats. That is because there is an added beat in the word Juliet. What actors know is that in that line Romeo's heart has skipped a beat at the mention of Juliet. It tells us how he feels for Juliet and it tells the actor how fast his own heart beat must be going to match Romeo's.