Teach & Learn

Shakespeare has something to say to everyone, and everyone has something to say back to Shakespeare.

Four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare lives on in classrooms everywhere, where students are asking big questions and making important discoveries about his language.

More than two million teachers and students each year benefit from in-person workshops, lesson plans, online classes and field trips, and the best-selling Folger Editions of Shakespeare’s plays. For four decades, our programs and resources have supported teachers in all kinds of schools and students of all abilities, both locally and nationally.

The Folger Method

The Folger Method unleashes the potential of every reader to understand complex texts without teacher explanation and to make real insights into literature. Through this highly effective set of principles and strategies for helping all students grapple with complex texts, the Folger is revolutionizing how not just Shakespeare but literature is taught. The Folger Method is an engine for educational equity that enables all students to own—and enjoy—the process of reading closely, interrogating texts, collaborating with peers, and creating meaning. Over and over again, teachers call this way of teaching and learning “transformative.”

Teacher Membership and Folger Teaching

Become a Teacher Member of the Folger Shakespeare Library and receive unparalleled support for the important work you do. Be a part of this institution and our far-reaching teacher community. Have the very best of the Folger at your fingertips, all the time. Teacher Members enjoy a long list of benefits, including exclusive access to Folger Teaching, a growing library of Folger-created lesson plans, professional development webinars, videos, primary source images, and more.

Classroom resources

FREE RESOURCES

Read our lesson plan on the events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Read, search, and download the Folger Shakespeare editions of Shakespeare's works. Explore a selection of 32 freely available teaching modules. Listen to a podcast on the play you are teaching or studying. 

RESOURCES EXCLUSIVELY FOR TEACHER MEMBERS

Folger Teaching is the online home of Teacher Members of the Folger. Here, Teacher Members have exclusive access to additional resources, including lesson plans on a wide variety of texts and professional development webinars on demand. 

Professional development

Our programs for teachers range from hour-long Teacher Member webinars to our multi-week Teaching Shakespeare Institute. All programs integrate scholarship, performance, and classroom practice, for a rigorous approach to Shakespeare that inspires students to understand and own the language of complex texts.

Student programs

We traditionally offer programs for a wide range of local students from elementary through high school. However, the Folger's building renovation and the coronavirus have forced us to put all of these programs on hiatus during the 2020-2021 school year. When our building renovation is complete, we'll dazzle you with a revised array of great experiences for students.