When should students first be exposed to the world famous works of William Shakespeare? Should it be during high school or college years? Isn't it true that Shakespeare is inaccessible for most modern readers and certainly for all children?
No, not at all. The nuances of language may be out of the reach of elementary students, but the stories of Shakespeare's plays are well within their grasp.
Although your ultimate goal is for your children to read and enjoy Shakespeare's original works, don't wait until they can before offering them a taste of these classic works. Child-appropriate chunks of the Bard's works will lay a foundation for reading his original works later. At that time, they can focus their attention on the beautiful turns of phrase and poetic descriptions rather than the complicated plot lines which they already understand.
Free Shakespeare Texts
Since Shakespeare's works are available so widely, there is no excuse not to have some plays and poetry in your home library. Used book stores, garage sales, and thrift stores always have paperback dramas. You can also find complete texts online for free!
- Shakespeare Online
- Here you can find original texts of Shakespeare's plays --histories, tragedies, and comedies.
- Shakespeare's Works
- This is an extensive site that offers links to particular formats of Shakespeare's works. For example, say you want a scanned image of an original Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare. Or maybe you want a PDF of King Lear. More than likely, you can find it here!
- Shakespeare in Modern English
- These eight plays are placed alongside a modern translation: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice,and The Tempest. This site is especially helpful for a parent preparing to teach Shakespeare to a child.
- No Fear Shakespeare
- Like the above link, at No Fear Shakespeare the original plays are set alongside a modern translation. But there are eighteen plays (and a selection of sonnets) offered in this format: As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors,Henry IV,Henry V, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night.
Shakespeare Retold For Children
When it comes to retellings of Shakespeare's plays, there are two classic choices --
Beautiful Stores from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit,
and Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb.
Either is an excellent choice for introducing young students to Shakespeare's plays.
Shakespeare Retold for Children
by Charles and Mary Lamb
This volume is in the public domain and can be found online for free.
Visit Tales from Shakespeare at Main Lesson.
Or for a free PDF download (or many other ebook formats), go to Manybooks.net.
In addition, free audio recordings of the stories can be found at Librivox.org.
Tales from Shakespeare (Wordsworth Children's Classics) (Wordsworth Children's Classics)
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
Twenty retellings of Shakespeare's plays illustrated by pen and ink drawings.
Shakespeare Retold for Children
by Edith Nesbit
These stories are in the public domain.
Find Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare at Main Lesson.
Or for a free PDF download (or many other ebook formats), go to Manybooks.net.
In addition, audio recordings of the stories can be found at Librivox.org.
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press)
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $15.67
Edith Nesbit's retellings are wonderfully engaging! These are the ones I have used to introduce my daughter to Shakespeare.
What About You?
Free Shakespeare Audio
- Tales From Shakespeare
- The text of Tales from Shakespeare, written by the Lambs, is recorded here in audio format, available for free download.
- LibriVox.org
- Many of Shakespeare's plays have been recorded by volunteers at LibriVox.org. These are all available for free download!
- Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
- Edith Nesbit's Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare can be downloaded in MP3 format from this website.
- Speak the Speech
- Another site with free audio files of some of Shakespeare's plays.
Shakespeare Audio to Buy
Shakespeare for Children
I love Jim Weiss storytelling CDs. This one includes The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The stories are retold in a very winsome style that remains true to the original.
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $7.00
Articles about Teaching Shakespeare
My assumption is that if you're landing on this page, you already believe that Shakespeare is worthy of being studied. But if you'd like some well thought reasoning as to exactly why or some ideas about exactly how to do it, read some of the articles below.- Quick Tips for Teaching Shakespeare
- This is a fantastic list of tips for teachers and parents who want to teach Shakespeare to elementary students. More helps from this same source can be found at PBS's In Search of Shakespeare Elementary page.
- Why Shakespeare For Christian Students?
- A Christian defense of the study of Shakespeare's works.
- What's So Great About Shakespeare?
- A great explanation of WHY and HOW to study Shakespeare's works, written by a homeschool mother.
- Ambleside Online's Shakespeare Schedule
- Ambleside is a well respected, free CM curriculum plan. Here is the Shakespeare Rotation page.
- Mental Multivitamin: Bardolatry
- Bardolatry, the worship of Shakespeare. Lots of ideas here.
Shakespeare Printables
Except for the first five links, these other printables are my own creation. If you find them at all helpful, I'd love to hear from you. You may comment below or use the contact me feature above.- William Shakespeare Coloring Page
- A simple coloring page with brief facts at the bottom. This would make a great cover page for a Shakespeare notebook.
- Shakespeare & Globe Theater Notebooking Page
- Peakmore Academy offers this lovely, landscape notebooking page.
- Midisegni Coloring Pages
- Three coloring pages -- one is a bust of Shakespeare and the other two are simple scenes from Romeo and Juliet.
- Shakespeare Notebooking Pages
- I made this set of 4 notebooking pages and one cover sheet (pictured at right) from the public domain images cited on this page. This link is for a letter size PDF. For an A4 size, try this link.
- Grandma's Graphics
- These are black and white images scanned from old books. With a little work on your part, you could print these full page and create lovely coloring pages. Scenes are from The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and King Lear. (I like this site so much that I've linked to this page again below under Shakespeare Images.)
- Toy-A-Day: Shakespeare
- My latest Shakespeare find! A free printable Shakespeare (the man) paper craft. This is sort of like a 3D paper doll.
- Shakespeare Shutterfold
- This is a minibook template I made. It has five shutterfold flaps -- one on top (Shakespeare's name, image, and years of his life) and two on each side (poetry, histories, comedies, tragedies). Fill it in with lists or descriptions.
- Shakespeare Timeline
- I selected eight events related to Shakespeare for this mini-book timeline of events. Print the Word file, fill in the dates, make it into an accordian book. Events include the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James, Shakespeare's birth and death, the writing of two famous plays, and the building and burning of the Globe Theater. (For best results with the tiny images, print on high quality setting.)
- Globe Theatre Minibook
- Another template I designed. Color in the cover drawing of the Globe and write facts inside this (letter size) minibook. For the same file in A4 format, click here.
- Shakespeare Presents Notebooking Page
This is actually a drawing page that looks like the stage at the Globe Theater. Draw the characters from whatever play you just read onto the stage, and write the name of the play in the banner on top. A4 size is also available.- Shakespeare Presents Minibook
- The same graphic in a simple single fold minibook for the older student who can draw smaller images. Use the inside for notetaking. An A4 size is here.
Kid Friendly Facts about William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare was the oldest child in his family. He had seven siblings!
- He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, in the country of England on April 23, 1564.
- He married a woman named Anne Hathaway, and together they had three children -- Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith.
- Shakespeare wrote his first play when he was about 25 years old.
- Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets during his career.
- Shakespeare actually performed in some of his plays as an actor!
- Shakespeare wrote his own epitaph -- the words on his tombstone. In it, he cursed anyone who would dare to move his bones. And it worked! Although it was commonplace to move previously buried bones to make room for new bodies, Shakespeare's bones were never moved!
The Globe Theater
In 1599, once Shakespeare had become an established playwright, he and some others bought the Globe Theater.For a fantastic, kid-friendly interactive and virtual tour of the Globe, visit The Virtual Globe. Far more than just images, this site will teach your children all about the theater during Elizabethan England.
For a free, printable paper craft model of The Globe, visit Paper Toys.
Teaching with Shakespeare
Shakespeare: To Teach or Not to Teach : Teaching Shakespeare Made Fun : From Elementary to High School
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $14.99
Irresistible Shakespeare (Grades 5 and Up)
A classroom teacher wrote this book, sharing her lesson ideas for introducing and teaching Shakespeare. The ideas have been successfully used by homeschooling families as well.
Amazon Price: (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $3.50
Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities (For Kids series)
Plan some hands on activities to enliven your study of Shakespeare and his plays. This book offers an abundance of ideas.
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $4.22
Your Favorite Plays
Shakespeare -- Master of Coining New Words and Inventing Phrases
Shakespeare was a master of the English language. He coined or made up hundreds of new words that are still used today! For more information and examples, visit this link.
For more of his phrases, visit this link.
Here is a sampling of words and phrases which Shakespeare introduced to our language:
- bump
- luggage
- zany
- watchdog
- dwindle
- hobnob
- lapse
- swagger
- yelping
- as dead as a doornail
- at one fell swoop
- in a pickle
- there's method in my madness
Biographical and Historical Background
Amazon Error: Could not open remote connection
Sorry, there are no results available from Amazon.Picture Books & Paper Dolls
Or cut out the paper dolls for re-enacting the storylines!
Tales from Shakespeare
Includes versions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Winter's Tale, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest, The stories are portrayed on a stage, with cartoon panels carrying the actions and direct quotations from the play. The author's narration appears below the panels.
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $2.13
More Tales from Shakespeare
Includes versions of As You Like It, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice and Richard III.
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $3.19
Great Characters from Shakespeare Paper Dolls
Dress 2 dolls in charmingly detailed period costumes for Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Ophelia, Othello and Desdemona, Anthony and Cleopatra. Also includes apparel from The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Henry V, Richard III, and 6 other celebrated plays.
Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 10/06/2008)
Used Price: $3.70
Shakespeare Images
If you're looking for free Shakespeare images in the public domain, try these links.
- NEW! Grandma's Graphics
- These are beautiful black and white line drawings that could double as coloring pages as well! Scenes are from The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and King Lear.
- Shakespeare Images
- Several styles in different formats.
- Karen's Whimsey
- This is a great collection of old images. Look for Literary Images in the menu on the left side. You will find not only images of Shakespeare but images from his plays. The color image from The Taming of the Shrew is from her collection.
- Shakespeare at ETC
- Search for Shakespeare images here at this HUGE collection of black and white graphics.
Guestbook
Please feel free to express your thoughts here. If you found my free printables helpful at all, please let me know. It really makes my day!
ilove the play julius caesar as it is a trajedy
Posted October 05, 2008
thanks for all the work you did in putting this together. its awesome!
Posted September 25, 2008
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lemonsqueezy
Love Shakespeare. Love reading to my children. Love this lens. 5* Posted September 18, 2008 |
Love all
Posted September 13, 2008
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aj2008
Hi Jimmie - I am not a homeschooler, but with the amount of homework my children get, I sometimes think I am! I will definitely be coming back to this lens for help when my children do Shakespeare in literacy at school! Posted August 27, 2008 |
