Title:

Shakespeare Biograph
Type: New American Lecture
Subject: English Honors TAG
Grade Range: 10
Description: Students will learn about the life and times of William Shakespeare from
family heritage until after his death and the lasting impact he’s made.
Duration: One 60 minute period + 15 minute synthesis task the following day

Instructional Unit Content: Macbeth

Standard(s)/Element(s) Content Area Standard

ELA
 ELAGSE9-10SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with
diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues building on other’s ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively
 ELACC9-10SL2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or
formats evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
 ELACC9-10SL5: Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to enhance understanding
of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

TAG STANDARDS:
Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills
1. The student asks probing, insightful, and relevant questions.
3. The student conducts comparisons using criteria.
11. The student draws conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant
information.
14. The student identifies and illustrates basic principles and the foundational concepts that are
central to understanding the essence of a field of study.

Advanced Communication Skills (ACS)

1. The student uses written, spoken, and technological media to convey new learning or challenge
existing ideas.
2. The student produces written and/or oral work that is complex, purposeful, and organized,
includes relevant supporting examples and manipulation of language.
7. The student responds to contributions of others, considering all available information.
Summary/Overview:

Students will develop a new understanding about the life of William Shakespeare and how key
details from his history influenced his plays and ultimately determined the future of literature.
Information will be presented in a PowerPoint and students will take notes on a graphic organizer,
pausing when instructed to help with the retention of information.

Enduring Understanding(s)

By the end of this lesson, the student will know the key events in the history of Shakespeare that
have a significant impact on the study of his works today.

Essential Question:

Why study the lives of historical writers?

Procedure(s)

Part 1: Hook

Ask students the following self-expressive question: “Imagine you are William Shakespeare and you’re fast
approaching your 52nd birthday. What would you ask for OR what do you think he got?” Students will list
possible gifts (encourage humorous suggestions) and teacher will write their suggestions on the board before
revealing the following.

Bridge: “Those are good answers. Would you like to know what he got in real life? Actually,
Shakespeare received nothing! He died on his 52nd birthday. Today, we are going to learn about
some of the key events in William Shakespeare’s life and you’ll fill in the notes on the graphic organizer as
well as engage in a few higher order thinking activities.”

Part 2: Instructional Sequence and Activities

Teacher will pass out the notes graphic organizer to students where they will fill in April 23 rd in the first date
and April 23rd final date to begin the note taking process. The graphic organizer for the NAL follows the
PowerPoint for Shakespeare’s biography. The information from the PowerPoint notes are presented with
incomplete bullet points. Students are encouraged to write down dates (present on each slide) and to listen
to the lecture to identify key information to include on the graphic organizer (i.e., Shakespeare education,
family information, plays, etc.,). Every five to seven minutes, the teacher will stop and ask questions such as:
1. What were three reasons why scholars believe Shakespeare had some level of education?
2. Imagine if the actor from Lord Chamberlain’s Men hadn’t gotten sick and Shakespeare hadn’t
filled in for him leading to his life in theater. How might our history be different?
3. Knowing that Shakespeare likely wrote from a place of pain after his son’s death, what themes
would you include in your own play if you faced a similar loss?
4. Create a metaphor that compares Shakespeare’s early life with his later life.
5. Pretend you’re Shakespeare, write a letter in Haiku form to your wife explaining why you haven’t
been home in 15 years. What have you been doing?
 6. Now that you’ve seen Shakespeare’s epithet at his burial site, write your own. What rhyme will
you leave the world to read for generations to come?

Part 3: Synthesis Task

(To occur the following day) In table groups, students will get copies of “Shakespeare’s Game of Life”
to play, one paper per table. Students will use an online dice app and take turns moving through the
game. Students will be instructed to write down details and key information from the previous day’s
lecture on their game board. These will be collected for as a formative assessment.

Differentiation for Gifted Learners:

After taking notes, students may research the history of Shakespeare conspiracy theory and identify further
reasoning why some believe he never truly wrote his play. These findings may be presented in a written essay,
a PowerPoint, through an artistic expression, or other form.

Students may create their own PowerPoints or other visual presentations filling in the gaps to questions they
still have about Shakespeare’s life.

Students may create a collage of Shakespeare’s lasting effects on today’s culture.