Shakespeare for young learners - A webquest and some resources

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the Tudor England at the time of Queen Elisabeth I. He is one of the world's greatest writers. He wrote plays for the theatre but he composed sonnets, too.

At the beginning of his career he went to London  to be an actor, but he suddenly became famous for writing plays.

Nowadays Shakespeare plays are performed all over the world. 

Shakespeare died 400 years ago, on April 23rd 1616.

Surf the following mindmap I made with Cacoo  and Thinglink. Then answer the questions.

Click here to open and enlarge.

1. In 2016 England, and all the world, will commemorate 400 years since the death of the Bard. Can you list any of the events and activities planned on this occasion?
2. What is the "Complete Walk"?
3. Where and when was Shakespeare born? 
4. Who were Shakespeare' s parents? 
5. When did he get married? 
6. When did he move to London to begin his theatrical career?
7. Where did he die and  where was he buried?
8. Where does the name "Globe" come from?
9. Was the Church happy with theatre performances? What did the Church call the theatre?
10. What was the name of Shakespeare' s acting company?
11.  Describe briefly the structure of the Globe.
12. Where there any actresses in the Elisabethan theatre?

Some resources

Shakespeare invented a lot of words and expressions that are still used today all around the world! Here you can find some of the most famous Shakespeare' s quotes:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/quotes/quotes.htm http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/shakespeare

Would you like to perform any Shakespeare' s play in your school? Below you can find some free scripts, adapted and revised, for students. Enjoy!
http://www.shakespearefreelibrary.com/scripts.html

A theatre performance at our school

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages.

William Shakespeare, As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139–143

 

As an English teacher, I have to say that theatre activities really capture the attention of the students. Students can listen to English mother-tongue actors speaking in a quasi-real language situation.

Every year at my school our students have the chance to attend theatre performances played by native English speakers. After the show, the actors organize a workshop with some games and give the students the opportunity to interact with them.

These shows are very important because they allow interaction in the target language, the assimilation of a whole range of pronunciation in a contextualized and interactive way and the contextualized acquisition of new vocabulary and structure.

And, most of all, the students have a lot of fun! 

Watch our VIDEO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzhI7Dra30&feature=youtu.be

A BIG...

TO ALL THE ACTORS AND ALL OUR STUDENTS!