As part of our high school English we are delving into a Shakespeare Unit. While I found Shakespeare to be tedious in high school, with new resources, I hope to make it more understandable and more fun for my kids.

This is part of the High School Shakespeare series that I am putting together for our homeschool. I am loving all the wonderful resources that are out there to make Shakespeare more accessible to all ages and levels!

Even as an adult the many cartoon videos and children’s book break downs have been very helpful to making Shakespeare more understandable.

Romeo and Juliet is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most well known tragedies. There is so much to be learned from the characters, theme’s and plots in this Shakespearean play.

Teaching Romeo and Juliet

I highly recommend watching a simple video interpretation of Romeo and Juliet to introduce the story. This, along with an outline map of the plot/events will help kids to grasp the story line.

Once the basic story line and character relationships are understood it is easier to tackle the original language, in depth plots, character analysis, etc.

Romeo and Juliet Via Video

Romeo and Juliet via Book

• Romeo and Juliet – original text
• No Fear Shakespeare
• Graphic Novel – Original Text, Plain Text, No Fear Version
• Shakespeare for Kids – An extensive list of resources to help kids experience Shakespeare from the youngest of ages!

Romeo and Juliet Resources

• Printable Study Guide – contains an awesome timeline, background information, interesting graphics, fun quizzes and activities
• Storyboard Teacher’s Guide – Awesome hands on, interactive activities for understanding and interpreting Romeo and Juliet.
• Projects, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions and more! – Also here are the answers for the Study Guide Questions.
• In-depth Study Guide – I LOVE the list of Elizabethan words explained (pg. 17). This has EVERYTHING broken down and explained from characters, to plot, location, theme, and more!
• Shmoop Romeo & Juliet – This site offers an online middle school course (easily used for high school too), as well as printable charts to help explain plot and character, quizzes, quotes, analysis and more!

5 Days of High School Shakespeare

In this High School Shakespeare series I will be covering each one of these topics and linking to them below.

Day One: Introduction and Overview

Day Two: Why Teach Shakespeare?

Day Three: Teaching Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Day Four: Romeo & Juliet (this post)

Day Five: Studying Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Bonus: A Mid Summer Night’s Dream