Starter quiz
- What is a playwright?
- costume designer
- music composer
- writer of plays ✓
- lighting technician
-
- What is a play as a literary form?
- a piece of writing focused on poetry and sonnets
- a narrative story with illustrations
- a collection of essays and reports
- a dramatic work written for performance on stage ✓
-
- What is an important aspect of acting on stage?
- script memorisation and character portrayal ✓
- solo performances without interaction
- improvisation and making words up
- reading a speech from a piece of paper
-
- Why was William Shakespeare popular during his era?
- for his expertise in space exploration
- for his innovations in industrial technology
- for his mastery of language and poetic expressions ✓
-
- True or false? William Shakespeare's works continue to be studied, performed and adapted across the globe.
- True ✓
- False
- Match the text types to example sentences that you might find in them.
- non-chronological report⇔William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. ✓
- Shakespearean play⇔To be or not to be: that is the question. ✓
- narrative⇔The sun peeked through the curtains, casting a warm glow. ✓
- diary entry⇔Today was the BEST day of my life! ✓
Exit quiz
- William Shakespeare is a famous what?
- painter and sculptor
- playwright and poet ✓
- classical pianist
- mathematician
-
- How many plays has William Shakespeare written?
- at least 39 ✓
- less than 20
- approximately 29
- between 10 and 20
-
- Put these significant events in order of chronology.
- 1⇔William Shakespeare was born 1564.
- 2⇔‘Macbeth’ was written in 1606.
- 3⇔William Shakespeare died 1616.
- 4⇔‘The Great Fire of London’ occurred in 1666.
- Which of the following is true about plays in Shakespeare's time?
- Men were allowed to portray women's roles in plays on stage. ✓
- Women were allowed to portray men’s roles in plays on stage.
- Women were sometimes allowed to portray boy's roles in plays on stage.
- Men were only allowed to portray men's roles in plays on stage.
-
- Which of the following is a play about a tragedy depicting the rise and fall of a Scottish general?
- Romeo and Juliet
- Macbeth ✓
- Twelfth Night
-
- Match the title of the play to their descriptions.
- Romeo and Juliet⇔a love story of two young lovers from feuding families ✓
- Macbeth⇔the rise and fall of a Scottish general ✓
- Twelfth Night⇔a comedy with mistaken identities, love triangles and humour ✓
Worksheet
Loading worksheet ...
Presentation
Loading presentation ...
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- William Shakespeare was a renowned English playwright, poet and actor.
- Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616.
- Shakespeare's plays were written at a time when the theatre was an important form of entertainment.
- Shakespeare wrote at least 39 plays that can broadly be grouped into tragedies, comedies and historical plays.
- Shakespeare's plays centre around complex themes and intricate plot structures.
Common misconception
Shakespeare's plays are too difficult to understand or inaccessible due to the language used.
Many of Shakespeare's themes, emotions and characters resonate universally across time.
Keywords
Playwright - a person who writes plays
Theatre - a form of art that involves live performances by actors on a stage in front of an audience
Play - a dramatic work originally intended for the stage
Monarch - a ruler who holds supreme and hereditary power over a state or territory, often referred to as a king or queen
+