Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth & Midsumr Night'

That's what my students told me after I used this book's unit for teaching "A Midsummer Night's Dream" through performance. That was last spring, and I'm about to use it again. "Yes, we've heard all about that!" exclaimed my current Advanced English 11 students with grins and excited anticipation. Even the shy find their niche in this gently encouraging format for understanding and interpreting Shakespeare. I plan to use many of the book's ideas for our upcoming Macbeth unit as well. I am incredibly grateful for this wonderful book! If you are a teacher who wants to avoid the "Play the tape - read along" method of teaching Shakespeare, BUY THIS BOOK! Note added May 13, 2005: Having used this a second time with my Advanced English 11, I can say that it was MORE successful, they ADORED it, and MSND performance work gave them a very deep understanding of Shakespeare which enabled them to blaze through Macbeth in three weeks - and they loved it, too! This book has opened new doors for me and for my students.

Freshmen dread Romeo and Juliet. "It's gibberish," one of my students said. This book helps you take Will's words from the page and allows your students to make the characters breathe on stage.All of the activities are sound and provide for fun, hands-on lessons. The best thing is that I have little prep work before teaching the unit--it's all in the book.My only caution is that some of the line numbers don't align with the textbook I use. It's worth your time to double-check the lines that match this book.Also, exercises don't come with answer keys. You'll have to develop your own. I've also added rubrics to some of the activities in the text--like the tableaux vivants for 3.1.

I've been using this series for the last seven years and have found it works with almost any age group from Junior High to High School (The lessons could really be adapted for any age). Students are up on their feet, analyzing material, making decisions, having a blast. I read some of the lessons thinking, "No way will my kids go for this." When I challenged myself to try them, they were extremely successful. Shakespeare was never meant to be read sitting still. There are lessons that appear drama based, but these are plays people! (Take this from someone who is not comfortable acting - this is worth the risk.) In order to act out a scene or show subtext, students have to be able to analyze the text and understand it. These lessons guide them through every step! My students felt progressively confident in their ability to understand Shakespeare without my help. On my end-of-the-year survey, 95% of my kids said the Shakespeare Unit was their favorite! At the beginning of the year, it was the unit they feared the most. Try it out!

My seventh graders loved Midsummer after the activities we did with this book. The activities that dealt with Shakespeare's language were particularly helpful and engaging. I now have a class full of kids who like Shakespeare.

The Shakespeare Set Free Series offers wonderful activities to get students to see that Shakespeare is fun! The lessons are creative and encourage cooperative learning. The lessons I've used are the ones students have reacted most positively towards. Exclamations of "that was cool" are the proof!