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
Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb
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.
Homeschool Mate has nicely matched the text of the stories (including the original illustrations) with MP3 files from Librivox so you can follow along as you listen. This site is very convenient if you want the text and the audio in one spot.
Tales from Shakespeare
Amazon Price: $13.46 (as of 12/05/2009)
In this volume, a selection of Charles and Mary Lamb's classic prose retellings of Shakespeare's plays are beautifully illustrated by acclaimed artist Joille Jolivet. (Note that not all 20 plays are included in this book.)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare 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: $19.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $12.01
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.
- A Child's Introduction to Shakespeare at Children's Records
- This old vinyl record, narrated by Mary Douglas Dirks, has been converted into mp3s which you can download for free. It includes a few famous scenes from selected Shakespearean 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 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $7.94
Animated Versions of Shakespeare's Plays
Watch the BBC animated plays for free at YouTube. I've gathered the videos at this lens. Check it out.
-
Shakespeare Animated Tales Video Showcase
-
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales is a BBC television program of 12 episodes, each episode showing an animated half-hour adaptation of one of Shakespeare's plays. These shows are a great way for children to experience Shakespeare's stories and become...
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.
- A Charlotte Mason Minute: Shakespeare
- This is a wonderfully practical blog entry where Laura Lee shares how her daughter's love affair with Shakespeare has progressed since age 6. She started with Nesbit, graduated to the Lambs, and is now studying the original works with the help on audio recordings.
Anyone seriously wanting to incorporate Shakespeare into a Charlotte Mason styled homeschool should take a peek at this post. - To Shakespeare or Not to Shakespeare
- Another must read article for those wishing to incorporate Shakespeare into the homeschool curriculum.
- 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
Some of these printables are my own creation; others are links I've discovered online.
- 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.
- The Tie That Binds Us Shakespeare Unit
- This is a "must-click." Not only will you see a wonderful Shakespeare study, but you can get a free printable Shakespearean quotes poster to hang in your home.
- 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 (PDF)
- I made this set of 4 notebooking pages and one cover sheet (pictured at right) from the public domain images cited on this page.
- 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
- A free printable Shakespeare (the man) paper craft. This is sort of like a 3D paper doll.
- Shakespeare Shutterfold (PDF)
- 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 (DOC)
- 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 accordion 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 (PDF)
- Another template I designed. Color in the cover drawing of the Globe and write facts inside this (letter size) minibook.
- Shakespeare Presents Drawing Page (PDF)
This is 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.- 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.
- Shakespeare Mask
- This is too fun! Print out this Shakespeare face onto cardstock, cut out the eye holes, attach a stick on the side, and you've got a nifty disguise that Shakespeare could envy!
- Mini Posters of Shakespeare Quotes
- Look for the lesson called "Shakespeare posters - a quotation for every location." The PDF has 65 one page posters with quotes from Shakespeare's plays. There's even a table of contents with suggested places to hang the posters. For example, hang this quote from Macbeth in your kitchen, "Round about the cauldron go; In the poisoned entrails throw." What a fun way to expose your family to more Shakespeare.
Also on this same page you'll find lists of Shakespearean insults. A wacky way to learn Elizabethan language, but may be just the way to draw in reluctant learners. - Activity Village Shakespeare Printables
- A notebooking page, a booklet, and a couple of coloring pages.
Kid Friendly Facts about William Shakespeare
For a quiz about Shakespeare, see this link.
- 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
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.
Shakespeare's Globe: An Interactive Pop-up Theatre
A Papercraft Model for Narrating or Playing
This delightful resource is on my Amazon wishlist; I can't wait to get my hands on it. What an incredible tool for narrating back what you've just read.
To see more pictures of it in action, visit To Shakespeare or Not to Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's Globe: An Interactive Pop-up Theatre
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 12/05/2009)
This interactive book features a fold-out model of the Globe Theatre in its heyday, complete with stage, galleries, thatched roof, and spectators ready for a performance. Selected punch-out characters from 12 of Shakespeare's plays are included!
Teaching with Shakespeare
Here are some reference books for the teacher --how-tos and whys for teaching Shakespeare.
Shakespeare: To Teach or Not to Teach : Teaching Shakespeare Made Fun : From Elementary to High School
Amazon Price: $26.95 (as of 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $17.45
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 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $3.99
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 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $4.19
Your Favorite Plays
Shakespeare -- Master of Coining New Words and Inventing Phrases
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
Picture Books & Paper Dolls
For a highly visual learner, these picture books written and illustrated by Marcia Williams would be very helpful! They cover a wide sampling of Shakespeare's plays using a combination of comic book style retellings and actual quotes.
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: (as of 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $13.59
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 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $7.38
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 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $2.67
William Shakespeare & the Globe (Trophy Picture Books)
This oversized picture book is full of adorable illustrations, quotations, and facts about both Shakespeare and his Globe Theater. The story brings The Globe into the modern day with current reconstruction efforts.
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/05/2009)
Used Price: $2.43
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.
Shakespeare for Children 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!
-
Reply
- sreekumar kariyad sreekumar kariyad Nov 2, 2009 @ 2:49 am
- SHAKES-SPHERE !
-
Reply
- dagsmith dagsmith Oct 17, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
- An excellent site. Great set of resources!
-
Reply
- Brenda @ http://www.thetiethatbindsus.blogspot.com Brenda @ http://www.thetiethatbindsus.blogspot.com Oct 13, 2009 @ 11:21 am
- We're loving your Shakespeare links! Thanks so much for this great resource. I wanted to let you know that the mini poster with Shakespeare quotes link is not working. I'm creating one of my own because I liked this idea so much!
-
Reply
- Jim-the-lad Jim-the-lad Oct 9, 2009 @ 1:53 am
- These really are a great set of resources - it must have taken an age to put them together! If you're looking to introduce drama students to Shakespeare then you could also give this Macbeth Scheme of Work a try: http://www.drama-lesson-plans.co.uk/macbeth.html
-
Reply
- More Shakespeare for Children More Shakespeare for Children Aug 18, 2009 @ 11:43 pm
- Lots of good resources here for sure. Another site that I've used in my classroom is Kids Love Shakespeare which has a couple of adapted shakespeare scripts for sale that are meant to be performed --- what's better about them than most online play scripts is that there are so many characters, which is important if you are try to produce a play with a classroom. There are also some good curriculum ideas for introducing shakespeare. Thanks!
- Load More
by Jimmie
Hello! I am a homeschooling, stay at home mom who loves to teach and learn. I enjoy cooking from scratch, blogging, photography, and traveling, but I...
(more)Explore related pages
Mini Offices- A mini office is a particular application of lapbooks. Each child can make his o...
Grammar for Homeschool- Although teaching grammar has become slightly old fashioned, most home educators...
Shakespeare's Oxymorons- Shakespeare used the oxymoron quite often to express mixed emotions both in his...
Mother Goose Rhymes- Not only are Mother Goose rhymes a part of our western cultural heritage, but Mo...
Poetry in Homeschool
- April is National Poetry Month. Does your homeschool language arts curriculum in...
Shakespeare Animated Tales Video Showcase- Shakespeare: The Animated Tales is a BBC television program of 12 episodes, each...
