Shakespeare For Kids

Here is one last site from the Folger Shakespeare Library. It's full of activities for kids. Check out Shakespearean insults, word jumbles, fun facts, coloring, puzzles, and more. I have several favorites on this site. I absolutely love the Who am I? game in which a short descriptive paragraph is given and you guess the character. Here is an example from the site. Can you guess who it is?

Two men are chasing me in the forest. They declare they love me, but yesterday they both loved my friend. I don't understand why they mock me so!

Or, take the Shakespeare challenge.
Only one of Shakespeare's comedies is set in England. Name the play.

I have one last favorite. The site provides the recipe for wassail, a beverage drank during holiday celebrations like the one in The Twelfth Night. It looks yummy!

At my practicum, I was grading some Romeo and Juliet tests the eighth graders had completed. The essay question required them to reflect on their level of understanding for reading Shakespeare. One student remarked that he/she had heard so many times that Shakespeare was difficult that he/she did not even want to try. However, after he/she had started reading, he/she discovered the reading was challenging but not impossible. Sites like this one, that put a fun spin on Shakespeare, put students at ease and encourages students to try. These engaging, interactive, and educational websites are a wonderful asset to teaching Shakespeare, especially in the younger grades.