With a decade of teaching experience, I specialize in developing student-centered ELA activities and unit plans that foster creativity and critical thinking. My resources have been tried and tested in more than 74,000 classrooms worldwide since 2013.
With a decade of teaching experience, I specialize in developing student-centered ELA activities and unit plans that foster creativity and critical thinking. My resources have been tried and tested in more than 74,000 classrooms worldwide since 2013.
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 3, scene 3, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including dramatic irony, verbal irony, situational irony, and metaphor
Support ideas and claims with relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 1, scene 3, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Discern the tone of a character’s remarks
Identify textual evidence in support of claims
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 2, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Describe tone in context
Determine the function of a given excerpt
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare two characters (Antonio and Sebastian)
Apply knowledge of literary devices including situational irony
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help high school students go beyond basic comprehension, explore literary devices, and improve critical thinking skills with this close reading inference worksheet covering the soliloquy in Act 2, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Consider using this resource as an in-class group activity; it may facilitate deeper conversations about characters, plot developments, and literary craft.
By engaging with this close reading analysis activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings as needed
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Discern tone in context
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 2, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word and phrase meanings
Discern the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Choose the best textual evidence in support of a claim
Apply knowledge of figurative language and dramatic irony
Support inferences or claims with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 5, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including internal conflict, allusion, epiphany, assonance, and double denotation
Support ideas and claims with relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Promote homework accountability and evaluate general reading comprehension with this quiz covering Act 4 of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Feste’s message from Olivia
Character motivations (why Toby intervenes in a fight)
Olivia’s sudden appearance
“If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!” (context)
Maria’s newest deceptive plot against Malvolio
Malvolio’s treatment and his attempts to improve his situation
Dynamic character (a change within Toby)
“Blame not this haste of mine…” (context)
Dynamic character (a change within Malvolio)
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 5, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including dynamic character and symbolism
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 5, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including dramatic irony, situational irony, and caesura
Support ideas and claims with relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning responsibilities with this bundle of quizzes covering the entirety of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By taking these assessments, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The sighting of the King of Denmark’s ghost
Horatio’s forceful interaction with the ghost
Character motivations
Hamlet’s mourning over the loss of his father
The reason for Hamlet’s anger toward his mother
Laertes’ perspective on the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia
Polonius’ condemnation of young men for their lack of decency
A ghost’s revelation to Hamlet
Horatio and Marcellus’ promise to Hamlet
Reynaldo’s spying on Laertes
The cause of Ophelia’s fright
Polonius’ recommendation to Ophelia
Ophelia’s rejection of Hamlet
The arrival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
The roles of Voltemand and Cornelius
Claudius’ effect on Fortinbras
Hamlet’s comparison of Denmark to a prison
The interaction among Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern
The effect of the actors on Hamlet
Hamlet’s self-criticism
Hamlet’s fear
Polonius’ gift to Ophelia
Claudius’ psychological state
Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts
Hamlet’s degrading criticisms and comments about Ophelia
Hamlet’s confession to Ophelia
A primary cause of Ophelia’s sorrow
The interaction between Hamlet and Horatio
The function of the play from Hamlet’s perspective
Gertrude and Claudius’ reaction to the play
Claudius’ decision with regard to the seemingly insane Hamlet
Claudius’ internal conflicts
Polonius’ sneakiness
The appearance of the ghost
Gertrude’s acknowledgement regarding her current husband
The information Gertrude gives Claudius about Hamlet
Hamlet’s refusal to identify the location of Polonius’ corpse
Hamlet’s interaction with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz
Hamlet’s reputation among the people of Denmark
Claudius’ assessment of Hamlet’s psychological state
Claudius’ plan to have Hamlet murdered
The actions of the Norwegian army
Fortinbras’ influence on Hamlet’s mindset
Ophelia’s peculiar behavior
The characterization of Laertes
Horatio’s letter from Hamlet
The tool Laertes will use to kill Hamlet
The manner of Ophelia’s death
The nature of the gravediggers’ conversation
Hamlet’s reaction to the gravediggers’ behaviors
Hamlet’s similarities to the gravediggers
The nature of Hamlet’s conversation with the gravediggers
A former jester named Yorick
The church’s perspective on people who commit suicide
Laertes’ emotional response to Ophelia’s burial
Hamlet’s discovery of the plot to have him killed
Hamlet’s feelings toward Laertes
Hamlet’s duel with Laertes
Hamlet’s assessment of his physical strength in comparison to Laertes
The nature of Gertrude’s death
Hamlet’s belief regarding who should be the new King of Denmark
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 4, scene 5, of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Compare aspects of this scene with aspects of a previous scene (Act 3.5)
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word and phrase meanings
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Discern the tone of the scene
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including simile, metaphor, personification, and situational irony
Support claims or inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss dramatic works
Help high school students navigate William Shakespeare’s language with these vocabulary games and activities to facilitate comprehension of Romeo and Juliet. Alternatively, stash these materials in an emergency sub folder to keep students meaningfully engaged in the book during unexpected teacher absences. Included are 5 vocabulary application activities, 5 crossword puzzles, 5 word search games, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
A total of 120 words are addressed: absolve, affray, alack, aloof, ambiguity, amerce, anon, apothecary, assail, athwart, baggage, baleful, bedeck, beguiled, behoveful, beseech, beshrew, boisterous, chapless, charnel, chide, churl, conceit, corse, counsel, decree, descend, descent, detestable, discern, discourse, disperse, doff, doleful, ducat, enmity, entreat, fain, fair, fond, forbear, garish, gleek, gyves, hap, haply, haste, haughty, heavy, henceforth, hie, hoarse, idle, immoderately, inauspicious, inexorable, inundation, lamentation, languish, lenity, liege, light, loathsome, lusty, meager, mouse-hunt, moved, muffle, naught, needful, obscure, obsequy, orison, pains, parlous, pennyworth, pensive, penury, pernicious, perverse, pine, plead, portentous, pox, presage, princox, privy, procure, prorogued, provision, quarrel, rash, reeky, reign, repent, repose, runagate, scourge, sirrah, slander, slug-a-bed, smatter, soft, solace, strew, sullen, sup, tedious, tetchy, treacherous, tush, vain, vexed, wail, wander, wanny, weraday, wherefore, woo, and wot.
By engaging with these activities, students will:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words
Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings
Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning duties with this plot-based quiz covering Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing. The assessment may double as a guided reading handout to facilitate active engagement with the text. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Why Leonato teases Beatrice
Beatrice’s dance partner
Beatrice’s treatment of her dance partner
Borachio and Don John’s deception
Benedick’s self-reflection
Don Pedro’s promise to find Beatrice a husband
Hero’s chambermaid
The nature of Borachio’s interaction with Margaret
A plan to misrepresent Hero
Benedick’s assumptions about his future
Balthasar’s actions
The deception of Benedick
Benedick’s promise to love Beatrice
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning duties with this plot-based quiz covering Act 3 of William Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing. The assessment may double as a guided reading handout to facilitate active engagement with the text. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
Hero and Margaret’s trickery
The effect of Hero and Margaret’s trickery
Hero and Margaret’s criticism of Beatrice
Benedick’s character transformation
Benedick’s request to speak to Leonato privately
Don Pedro and Claudio’s agreement should Hero be proven unfaithful
Claudio’s comparison of Benedick and Beatrice to two bears
The identity of the magistrate
The characterization of the magistrate
Borachio’s drunken bragging
The identities of two arrested characters
Evaluate general reading comprehension and eliminate assessment planning duties with this plot-based quiz covering Act 1 of William Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing. The assessment may double as a guided reading handout to facilitate active engagement with the text. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The news Leonato receives
Beatrice’s relation to Leonato
Claudio’s romantic interest
Don Pedro’s offer to Claudio
Hero’s relation to Leonato
Don John’s relation to Don Pedro
Conrade’s interactions with Don John
The quality Don John values most
Borachio’s discovery and the method by which he made it
The cause of Don John’s bitterness toward Don Pedro
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 2, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Discern tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Identify textual evidence in support of claims
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering a meaningful excerpt from Act 4, scene 3, of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states both explicitly and implicitly
Define complex words and phrases in context
Discern the greater significance of a given detail
Determine the function of a particular excerpt
Discern tone in context
Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including allusion
Help learners go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 4, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s Othello. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly
Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings
Infer the intended effects of Shakespeare’s word choices and dramatic techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Support ideas and claims with relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class better prepared to discuss works of Shakespeare
Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 4, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states both explicitly and implicitly
Explain the intended effect of figurative language in context
Define complex words and phrases in context
Determine the function of the scene
Examine how characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Compare and contrast the murders of Lady Macduff and her son to previous homicides
Compare and contrast the characters of Lady Macduff and Lady Macbeth
Apply knowledge of literary devices such as simile, paradox, invective, and hyperbole
Support inferences and claims with sound reasoning and relevant evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Help high school students go beyond basic comprehension, explore literary devices, and improve critical thinking skills with this close reading inference worksheet covering Act 1, scene 5, of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Consider using this resource as an in-class group activity; it may facilitate deeper conversations about characters, plot developments, and literary craft. By engaging with this close reading analysis activity, students will:
Read for literal comprehension
Consult reference materials to learn and verify word meanings as needed
Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including euphemism, simile, personification, and hyperbole
Conduct brief research to answer a question connecting the drama to aspects of Greek mythology
Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant textual evidence
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
