Elementary/ English/Lang Arts/ High School/ History/Geography/ Middle School/ Shakespeare

Shakespeare for Kids

Heidi shakespeare 4 Comments March 19, 2015

Shakespeare for kids! Who am I kidding? This is not just Shakespeare for kids, but for adults too!

If you were anything like I was in school, Shakespeare was a tough nut to crack. With the ancient Shakespearean language it was difficult to follow and understand.

As I teach my own children, I hope to be able to expose them earlier, and with better resources which help them to understand these epic plays.

Here are the resources I have found to make Shakespeare more understandable for myself, and my children. Using easier children’s version to start with, resources to help them break it down as they get older, and finally the original content which hopefully will make more sense after experiencing it in other ways first.

Shakespeare Animated Tales

I have loved watching these with my children. They are a great way to introduce Shakespeare plays to kids. Besides finding some of them here and there on the Internet you can also purchase the entire set on DVD – Shakespeare: The Animated Tales.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

https://vimeo.com/68294795

Hamlet

Shakespeare Can Be Fun!

A great way for young kids to be introduced to Shakespeare is through the Shakespeare Can Be Fun! Series. One of the things I love about this series are the fun illustrations that we done by kids themselves!

Shakespeare Can Be Fun! includes:

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children

Along with watching animated classics, when my children are younger, I read to them from Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children. (You could also use Shakespeare’s Stories for Young Readers).

Printable Shakespeare Resources

After reading the play and discussing it we use Shakespeare Notebooking pages to retell the story. Each one writing in their own words to express the sequencing of events using a handful of sentences. I really like these Shakespeare Notebook pages for kids who need more direction with what to write.

For kids who really like lapbooking here are some great FREE Shakespeare Lapbook Printables.

Shakespeare in High School

The Shakespeare Book

I was so thrilled to come across this new DK Book (March 2015) called The Shakespeare Book from the Big Ideas Simply Explained series which covers 40 of Shakespeare’s plays, plus poems and other writings. {Many thanks to DK Publishing for providing the book to us for review. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for more details.}

Each work is represented with images, character guides, detailed plot and sub-plot summaries to aid the reader in understanding the context behind these writings.

For all of his plays, DK has included chronological timelines as a reference to help readers follow along when the Shakespearean language gets tricky!

Lightning Literature & Composition

We have been using Hewitt Homeschooling’s Lightning Literature & Composition Curriculum for many years. Two of the offerings they have for high school literature are Shakespeare Comedies & Sonnets and Shakespeare Tragedies and Sonnets

Each lesson examines various aspects of the play or sonnets as well as addresses comprehension and understanding of the deeper meanings and themes of these works.

“The Student Guide includes comprehension questions, writing exercises, ideas for additional projects, reviews of movies and video-taped theater productions of the plays, reading lists, schedules for using as a semester course or for a full-year course, and bibliography. Historical context and modern schools of Shakespeare interpretation are also discussed.” – Hewitt Homeschooling