How to Teach Shakespeare

So you're going to have to teach Shakespeare to kids. Intimidating, right? The kids are scared of Shakespeare before they ever read a play. How can you teach Shakespeare to these kids?

It's not easy to teach Shakespeare, but it can be done. Here's some advice:

Have them think about the play before they read it

One way to teach Shakespeare when you first start is to have the kids perform elements of the play before the even read it. In other words, let's say you're teaching "Othello." Have some kids come up and perform as a man with a girlfriend and his friend. Have the friend try to convince the man that his girlfriend is unfaithful. Now you can start asking questions: Why might the first character trust his friend as opposed to his girlfriend? What fears can the friend prey on? How can the girlfriend prove her innocence? All of these are questions that occur in Shakespeare's "Othello," so the kids will be thinking about such issues before they even encounter the difficult language.

Don't hype Shakespeare up

One mistake many teachers make when they teach Shakespeare is talking about how brilliant and influential Shakespeare is. They think this will excite the students, but it actually just intimidates them. Young kids feel scared if they have to take on such a towering figure. Imagine if you were asked to read and understand a Nobel Prize winning study of biology, and you know nothing of biology. That's how kids feel when you teach Shakespeare and say he was "the most brilliant writer of all time."

Emphasize performing Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a literary genius, but he was a theatrical genius primarily. Don't teach Shakespeare as a dead text. Instead of just having the students read, have them do productions of individual scenes. Have them do multiple interpretations of a single scene, so they can see the different ways a director and actor can look at Shakespeare.

Teach Shakespeare films

On a similar note, showing Shakespeare films makes the text come alive for students. You can show multiple productions of a particular scene you're teaching. You can have students act out a particular scene, then show on screen how the pros do that scene. Ask the students what the different choices by actors and directors imply about the characters and the play.

Teach Shakespeare history

Some teachers, when they teach Shakespeare, are afraid to overwhelm students by giving them extra things to think about. But to teach Shakespeare, it helps to teach history. For example, if you're teaching "Othello," have students research the role of Moors in Elizabethan society, the military advantage of Cyprus, etc. Ask them what their new knowledge tells them about the play. No student likes extra homework, but context helps when you teach Shakespeare.

These bits of advice won't make it easy to teach Shakespeare, but they should help.