Teaching Twelfth Night and Othello: Shakespeare Set Free

This is the best Shakespeare teaching material I have ever found. It does not "dumb" it down, rather takes the plays and makes them fun and accessible for all ages. It has six week unit outlines for each play, and a multitude of activities and resources. FANTASTIC!!!!

I'm an English Education major and as I'm just starting to develop lesson plans and units, this book has come in handy. There are a ton of great ideas and worksheets ready to be copied and used in the classroom. This book also believes in the idea that students learn through doing; therefore many of the lessons focus on performaning the plays to understand them. I almost wish I was in high school again just to participate. The section on teaching sword fighting was particularly interesting. I highly recommend checking this book out.

I teach an English 12 class for regular high school students. They complained about the Othello unit, until I used this book. We begin the unit with the swordfighting exercise at the beginning of the book. It's a scary leap of faith, but the kids love it. Buy extra dowel rods.I only used the Othello part of the book, but it was great. The kids were worried about not understanding anything in Othello at first, and I didn't translate a word. They created meaning themselves and did very well.The final activity--a performance and promptbook--was a huge success. That's the activity that students felt was most worthwhile from the entire unit. They not only enjoyed it, but also they learned something. Much more fun than correcting essays, too!

This was a great approach to teaching Twelfth Night (have not use the Othello part). Pre-reading, reading activites, daily assessment, actitivites to grade, everything--even daily lessons plans (for block or regular scheduling). I bypassed the lessons on sword fighting because I didn't have time, but they looked interesting. One complaint: to do everything planned, it takes over a month. The author does include shorter lesson structures if you are in a time crunch. I used the guide for a class of seniors and juniors in April and May -- it kept them interested and coming to class. It was invaluable and saved me many hours of planning. Reproducable pages are included. I just ordered the Hamlet version and can't wait to use it.

This is one of the best teaching aids I have ever purchased - not just for language arts and drama - but any subject.It sets out a beautiful program to actively engage students with Shakespeare. Students are drawn into Shakespeare and having a wonderful time with it from the very first lesson. By having kids get the play "up on its feet" before they have time to fuss about the language they develop comfort and understanding easily. The activities are engaging, and the assessments are straightforward. And the authors are inspiring - they make you want to teach Shakespeare.My Grade 7 students loved Twelfth Night. From sword fighting to dropping secret letters to wearing yellow stockings they couldn't wait to come to class.The program is adaptable to the amount of time you have to spend on it.