Shakespeare Teaching Resources

A new resource for the 2023/24 academic year, this adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is in nine short video animations. Comprehensive teacher notes are available and each video comes with a transcript so that pupils can read along, a downloadable sheet offering a visual reminder of the characters (their names and family groupings), and a sequencing activity to help pupils recall the order of events in the play.

Shakespeare's play of love, magic and mayhem is adapted across eight short video episodes. Comprehensive teacher notes are available (including suggestions for home learning), and each video comes with an episode transcript, a 'meet the characters' gallery and a sequencing activity.

Shakespeare's play of murder and witchcraft is told in eight video clips. Comprehensive teacher notes are available, with literacy activity ideas for each episode, as well as a 'meet the characters' slideshow and a downloadable transcript.

The Tempest is told over the course of eight short animated video clips. These classroom animations are accompanied by a resource pack with guidance, activity suggestions and worksheets - many suitable for study at home as well as at school.

Short retellings of six of William Shakespeare's most well-known plays, set to modern music.

Short documentary films for primary schools in which Newsround's Ricky and Leah Boleto learn about Shakespeare's life, world, theatre and most famous plays.

To complement the above story adaptation, we've put together a music resource for KS2 pupils. Whatever your musical experience, these resources can help you and your pupils enjoy learning music - and then put on a stunning musical performance based on Shakespeare’s play!

Our musical for schools has been adapted from Shakespeare's play and makes an ideal musical performance lasting about one hour. The play has eight catchy songs to learn, a script which is full of fun and mischief, and opportunities to include performers from many year groups with parts that are both big...and small.

To complement the above story adaptation, we've put together a music resource for KS2 pupils. Whatever your musical experience, these resources can help you and your pupils enjoy learning music - and then put on a stunning musical performance based on Shakespeare’s play!

In 2022 we marked Shakespeare Week with this Live Lesson for 7-11 year-olds. CBBC's Rhys Stephenson looked back at Shakespeare’s life during Tudor times, the impact this had on his writing and the legacy he left behind. The full programme, along with activity sheets and teacher guide, is available for your classroom.

This Live Lesson for 9-11 year-olds from 2016, hosted by Katie Thistleton and Karim Zeroual, focused on Shakespeare's language and characters with iconic scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Henry V acted out by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The full programme, lesson guide and activity sheets are all available to access.

A series of ten stories written by well-known children’s authors including Pamela Butchart and Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Each story is inspired by or based on a play by William Shakespeare.

Key scenes from Macbeth are explored through performance (by actors and directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company), helping to unlock the meaning of the language and the development of character for students.

Key scenes from Julius Caesar are explored through performance (by actors and directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company), helping to unlock the meaning of the language and the development of character for students.

Key scenes from Romeo and Juliet are explored through performance (by actors and directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company), helping to unlock the meaning of the language and the development of character for students.

Key scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream are explored through performance (by actors and directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company), helping to unlock the meaning of the language and the development of character for students.

Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and Romeo and Juliet - three of Shakespeare's most famous plays - are brought to life in short classroom videos combining music with original quotations.

These short classroom videos explore some of the themes that span Shakespeare's plays (for example, love, power, and the supernatural), improving students' understanding of his most popular works and the society in which they were written.

This Live Lesson for 11-13 year-olds was streamed live for schools in 2016. Students are invited to delve into Shakespeare's texts and explore stage directions, relationships between characters, and his use of verse and prose. Worksheets and a lesson guide for teachers are still available, alongside the original programme.

A collection of interactive articles about the life, work and legacy of William Shakespeare.

This online archive provides schools, colleges and universities across the UK with access to hundreds of BBC television and radio broadcasts of Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets and documentaries about Shakespeare.