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.
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 (Wordsworth Children's Classics)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/03/2009)
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: $19.99 (as of 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $14.73
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $9.34
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.
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Shakespeare Animated Tales Video Showcase
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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. - 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
- 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.
- 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
- This 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.
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
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: $29.95 (as of 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $17.99
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $29.35
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: $12.71 (as of 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $6.95
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
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $3.96
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $4.42
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $3.86
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 07/03/2009)
Used Price: $3.00
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!
OhMe wrote...
This is great. My son was interested in Shakespeare at a very early age.
Posted June 12, 2009
Mac33 wrote...
Lots of good info and resources here. Shakespeare didn't really click for me until college where I had an English Lit professor who was awesome at helping us discover the meanings behind the words in class.
Have you seen MacHomer? It's a live version of MacBeth performed by characters from The Simpsons. Cool way for kids and adults to appreciate Shakespeare from a different angle.
Posted June 11, 2009
purplelady wrote...
What a great lens and great idea. Shakespeare for children should be in every parent's library to introduce their children to such classics. You have done a vintage job with your lens; it deserves 5 Bards and a Favourite!
Thanks again for visiting and blessing my Frugal Fred and Freeda lens.
Posted May 12, 2009
Ana_Aguilar wrote...
Wonderful ideas! I wish I had this lens when my children were younger!
Posted May 10, 2009
Tuula_Olin wrote...
Hi Jimmie,
Thanks for visiting my Masks lens! This Shakespeare lens is great, it is so on the table so to speak in my family at the moment, because my two sons are doing an assignment on MacBeth for high school.They also watched the movie version or two of the story and they have to compare the stories in the two mediums. Tricky!
Tuula
http://www.squidoo.com/Things_from_Finland
Posted May 09, 2009
JaguarJulie wrote...
Jimmie -- I think Shakespeare for children is a wonderful idea and should be taught to all children.
Posted May 04, 2009
hlkljgk wrote...
great lens. there is a theater out this way that redoes (or did...) shakespeare for kids. and they are really great. http://www.nsmt.org/
Posted May 02, 2009
katie wrote
jimmie, I am always thrilled to come across one of your pages throughout the web! You always have put together such wonderful, comprehensive information and it always looks so pleasant to the eye as I get so many great ideas from you. Thank you!
katie
Katie's Homeschool Cottage
http://charlottemasonhomeschooling.wordpress.com
Posted April 24, 2009
dmf32835 wrote...
I enjoyed your lens a lot. I wish I had more time to read even more.
Posted April 19, 2009
rms wrote...
Hey Giant! I'm one of the Giant Squid Community Organizers and we'd like to hear your Giant Squid Suggestions. What would be a great new Giant perk? What can Squidoo do to help you create better and more successful lenses? Please stop by http://www.squidoo.com/Giant-Squid_Community-Organizer and leave us your thoughts in the suggestion box.
Posted April 16, 2009
Tina Lehane wrote
I'm looking for a play for kids from 8 years to 10 of Much Ado About Nothing. Any suggestions?
Thank you. crlehane@tmhs.org
Posted April 15, 2009
papawu wrote...
This material is fantastic. They didn't have learning tools like this for Shakespeare when I was growing up. I had to learn to read Shakeseare the hard way in High School English Lit. I was a big time Thespian in school though and really learned to appreciate ole Will when I competed against young actors from all over Southern California in a Shakespeare Drama Festival. I did a two person dramatic scene which took 3rd place out of over 50 schools represented. I cut a scene from Richard III which was a perfect character for me because I was still fighting my fight with cancer and chemotherapy at the time, so my appearance and look along with my leg dragging and hunch back deformity performance was perfect for the character. I was told by judges that it was reminiscent of Sir Lawrence Olivier himself. Now, that was high praise indeed. Wonderful info rmation on this lens.
Posted April 12, 2009
Beaman wrote...
Extremely good set of links and information about the great bard. I shall be coming back to browse through them in more detail. 5*
Posted March 17, 2009
Katie wrote
This websight is great.I will always use it.Thanks for making it.
Posted March 03, 2009
by Jimmie
Hello! I am a homeschooling mom who loves to teach and learn. I love the flexibility of Squidoo lenses for showing off our homeschool projects. Bloggi...
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