Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Say hello to a platform dedicated to industrious, yet overtasked teachers like you. Say goodbye to countless hours spent developing relevant and engaging ELA lessons. Whether you are teaching the fundamentals of grammar, creative writing skills, classic literature, or contemporary fiction, you will find thousands of activities and assessments to help you achieve a healthier work-life balance without sacrificing academic rigor.
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: anon, baleful, beshrew, chide, discourse, doff, enmity, gyves, hap, haste, henceforth, hie, hoarse, light, loathsome, pains, perverse, pox, procure, prorogued, rash, reign, repose, and wherefore.
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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 5 of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: aloof, ambiguity, apothecary, churl, descent, discern, disperse, ducat, haply, haughty, inauspicious, inexorable, liege, meager, muffle, obsequy, penury, pine, presage, privy, scourge, strew, tush, and wander.
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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 3 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abide, affliction, avaunt, avouch, barren, beldam, bent, bestow, buffet, commend, dispatch, fitful, glare, liege, marrowless, muse, parricide, pious, rebuke, rue, saucy, sirrah, sleight, and treachery.
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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 4 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abjure, appease, avaricious, blaspheme, boast, bodement, concord, deftly, desolate, doff, firstling, foison, fry, homely, impress, mortal, naught, perchance, pernicious, reign, relish, stanchless, toil, and verity.
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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: benison, brainsickly, consort, entreat, gild, gout, groom, husbandry, incarnadine, infirm, largess, malice, multitudinous, obscure, palpable, posset, repose, stealthy, stern, suborn, summon, thither, thriftless, timely, and woeful.
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
Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Act 1 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A vocabulary application worksheet, a crossword puzzle, a word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: anon, broil, chastise, cherubin, clamor, compunctious, dun, ere, fantastical, haste, hie, hurlyburly, implore, metaphysical, mettle, pain, pine, prithee, quarrel, quoth, rapt, scarcely, spongy, and swift.
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
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 4, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. 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
Determine the function of a given excerpt
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Argue how Rosaline’s dialogue and actions defy standard conventions of femininity
Apply knowledge of literary devices including epiphora, metaphor, verbal irony, and more
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 reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 1, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. 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
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including metaphor, oxymoron, situational irony
Conduct brief research on the topic of Humorism
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 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 comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. 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
Determine the function of a given passage
Describe tone in context
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including alliteration, simile, and hyperbole
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 reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 3, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. 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
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including metaphor
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 reading comprehension and support the development of critical thinking and dramatic craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering Act 1, scene 1, of William Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. 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 functions of given excerpts
Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop
Apply knowledge of literary devices including anaphora and simile
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
Conclude a unit on Shakespeare’s Othello with this summative test and answer key. By completing this assessment, students will demonstrate general knowledge of character actions, dialogue, and motivations. In addition, they will explore the significance of selected passages and apply knowledge of literary devices such as situational irony and dramatic irony. Finally, students will write with clarity, accuracy, and precision in response to a prompt requiring them to analyze Iago and support the claim that he is a weak villain. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable Word Documents and PDFs.
With this printable test covering the entirety of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, English teachers will be able to evaluate students’ comprehension of key characters, plot developments, and literary craft. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. A breakdown of content follows.
Part 1. Knowledge of Plot. Students will demonstrate comprehension of the following:
Christopher Sly’s disruptive behavior
An activity in which Christopher Sly participates
Baptista’s terms for his daughters’ marriages
Lucentio’s persona, “Cambio”
The quality in women about which Petruchio cares most
Hortensio’s persona, “Litio”
Petruchio’s intentions for Katharina
Baptista’s preferences to be his son-in-law
Petruchio’s tardiness to the wedding
Petruchio’s appearance on his wedding day
Bianca’s assessment of her sister’s relationship
An accident involving a horse
Petruchio’s strictness
Hortensio’s feelings toward Petruchio
Petruchio’s eccentric behavior
Hortensio’s marriage
A test of the wives’ loyalty
Katharina’s closing speech
Part 2. True/False. Students will identify whether a statement is true or false. Questions focus on:
“Cambio’s” area of expertise
The nature of the relationship between Bianca and Katharina
The first character to reveal his true identity to Bianca
Hortensio’s dwindling affection toward Bianca
Katharina’s reaction to her husband’s strange behavior
Baptista’s negotiating the terms of his daughters’ marriages
Baptista and Vincentio’s forgiveness of their children
The false Vincentio’s reaction to meeting the real Vincentio
Part 3. Quotations in Context. Students will match an excerpt with its appropriate context.
Act 1, scene 1: Hark, Tranio! thou may’st hear Minerva speak.
Act 1, scene 1: No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en: / In brief, sir, study what you most affect.
Act 2, scene 1: Her silence flouts me, and I’ll be revenged.
Act 2, scene 1: O slow-wing’d turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?
Act 3, scene 2: Go, girl; I cannot blame thee now to weep; / For such an injury would vex a very saint, / Much more a shrew of thy impatient humour.
Act 3, scene 2: That, being mad herself, she’s madly mated.
Act 4, scene 2: …here I firmly vow / Never to woo her no more, but do forswear her, / As one unworthy all the former favours / That I have fondly flatter’d her withal.
Act 5, scene 1: Fear not, Baptista; we will content you, go to: but / I will in, to be revenged for this villany
Act 5, scene 2: A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, / Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty…
Part 4. Application of Literary Devices. Students will be given a detail or excerpt from the drama and must determine which literary device is best reflected. Literary devices addressed include:
Sibilance
Allusion
Hyperbole
Anaphora
Oxymoron
Aposiopesis
Idiom
Metaphor
Consonance
Simile
Onomatopoeia
Measure high school reading comprehension and support analysis of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet (Act 5) with this bundle that features a plot-based quiz and a rigorous close reading activity. By engaging with these resources, students will identify what the text says explicitly and implicitly, apply knowledge of literary devices, interpret figurative expressions, make engagement with text visible, and more. Answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
By engaging with these resources, students will:
Articulate what the text says explicitly and implicitly
Consider author’s intent and articulate why Shakespeare may have chosen to begin this scene in a graveyard
Analyze characterization to discern the gravedigger’s primary function(s)
Discern the tone of a given excerpt
Consider how aristocratic class privileges influence plot development
Describe Hamlet’s reaction to the gravedigger’s singing, as well as the reason for his reaction
Apply knowledge of literary devices including metaphor, simile, hyperbole, allusion, alliteration, dramatic irony, situational irony, and more
Characterize Hamlet’s relationship with Yorick
Articulate how Hamlet’s lack of emotional or psychological control is manifested physically
Make logical inferences from the point of view of Hamlet
Demonstrate knowledge of Claudius’s mindset
Write with clarity and precision
Measure high school reading comprehension and support analysis of Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night (Act 5) with this bundle featuring a plot-based quiz and a rigorous close reading activity. By engaging with these resources, students will identify what the text says explicitly and implicitly, apply knowledge of literary devices, interpret figurative expressions, make engagement with text visible, and more. Answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
By engaging with these materials, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Analyze what character dialogue reveals about the character’s mindset
Analyze the author’s word choice in order to determine the most suitable synonym
Apply knowledge of personification, hyperbole, situational irony, personification, metaphor, allusion, and oxymoron
Analyze the greater implied meaning of a given statement
Analyze how complex characters behave and interact
Analyze the author’s application of figurative language for greater meaning
Isolate a falsehood from factual statements about plot
Write ideas with clarity and precision
Evaluate general reading comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills while teaching Act 2 of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew with this bundle of formative assessments. Included are the following: a multiple choice quiz on characters and plot, a close reading worksheet addressing the author’s craft, and answer keys. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By engaging in these exercises, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Define complex words and phrases as they are used in the text
Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact
Apply knowledge of literary devices such as metaphor and anaphora
Discern the tone of a given excerpt
Conduct brief research on the Roman goddess Diana and articulate the similarities between her and Katharina
Evaluate Baptista’s attitude toward arranged marriage and articulate how it is both morally sound and unsound
Write about Shakespearean drama with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Conclude your unit on Shakespeare’s Hamlet with this summative assessment, which is delivered as a Word Document and PDF. An answer key is included. This fifty-question assessment is divided into four sections and breaks down as follows. Students will demonstrate comprehension of the following:
An encounter with a ghost
The reason for Hamlet’s anger toward his mother
Ophelia’s unsettling interactions with Hamlet
Ophelia’s rejection of Hamlet
Hamlet’s self-criticisms
Hamlet’s fear
Claudius’s guilty conscience
Hamlet’s confession to Ophelia
Ophelia’s emotional reaction to Hamlet’s fall from honor
The purpose of a play performance
The murder of Claudius
Gertrude’s awareness that she married a killer
Interactions among Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern
The effect Fortinbras has on Hamlet
The manner of Ophelia’s death
Ophelia’s burial
Laertes’s expression of extreme mourning
Hamlet’s declaration on who should be the next King of Denmark
The manner of Gertrude’s death
Hamlet’s relationship with Laertes
The similarities the gravediggers share with Hamlet
Ophelia’s behavior right before her death
Norway’s aggression toward Poland
Claudius’s psychological state
How Hamlet is affected by the actors
Polonius’s sending a spy to report back on Laertes
Laertes assessment of Hamlet’s love for Ophelia
Hamlet’s criticism of his mother’s marriage
Act 1, scene 2: It is not nor it cannot come to good, / But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.
Act 1, scene 3: Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain, / If with too credent ear you list his songs, / Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open / To his unmaster’d importunity.
Act 1, scene 7: If thou art privy to thy country’s fate, / O, speak!
Act 2, scene 2: Bloody, bawdy villain! / Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! / O vengeance!
Act 3, scene 3: The cease of majesty / Dies not alone; but, like a gulf, doth draw / What’s near it with it…
Act 4, scene 1: So dreaded slander – / Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, / As level as the cannon to his blank, / Transports the poisoned shot – may miss our name / And hit the woundless air.
Act 4, scene 2: But such officers do the / king best service in the end: he keeps them, like / an ape, in the corner of his jaw…
Act 4, scene 4: How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge!
Act 5, scene 1: Why, e’en so: and now my Lady Worm’s; chapless, and / knocked about the mazzard with a sexton’s spade: / here’s fine revolution, and we had the trick to / see’t. Did these bones cost no more the breeding, / but to play at loggats with ’em? Mine ache to think on’t.
Metaphor
Simile
Hyperbole
Allusion
Personification
Alliteration
Sibilance
Oxymoron
With this summative test covering the entirety of William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, English teachers will evaluate students’ essay writing skills and comprehension of characters, plot, and craft. A test prep study guide, answer key, and standards-based essay rubric are included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will:
Demonstrate knowledge of primary and secondary characters and the key aspects of their lives
Demonstrate knowledge of significant events that take place throughout the novel
Evaluate substantive excerpts for deeper meaning
Apply knowledge of literary devices including alliteration, allusion, assonance, euphemism, hyperbole, metaphor, oxymoron, personification, and simile
Generate an essay about the influence of love on three characters
Cite relevant textual evidence in support of claims made in an academic essay
This summative test covers William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It and includes an answer key, as well as a standards-based rubric for scoring essays. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will:
Demonstrate knowledge significant characters and the key aspects of their lives
Demonstrate knowledge of significant events throughout the play
Identify the context of meaningful quotations in the play
Apply knowledge of a variety of literary devices applied in the play including hyperbole, metaphor, oxymoron, allusion, personification, and more
Respond to an essay prompt requiring students to explore the theme of bravery and its effects on a character in the play
Cite relevant textual evidence in support of claims made in an academic essay
This summative test covers William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and includes an answer key, as well as a standards-based rubric for scoring essays. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will:
Demonstrate knowledge significant characters and the key aspects of their lives
Demonstrate knowledge of significant events throughout the play
Identify the context of meaningful quotations in the play
Apply knowledge of a variety of literary devices applied in the play including hyperbole, metaphor, malapropism, oxymoron, hyperbole, personification, invective, and pun
Respond to an essay prompt requiring students to explore the complexities of Benedick’s character
Cite relevant textual evidence in support of claims made in an academic essay