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.
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
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Othello. With a focus on Act 2, scene 2, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Analyze what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Make logical inferences in context
Apply knowledge of literary devices to the text including alliteration and situational irony
Discern the meaning of complex words and phrases in context
Identify textual evidence in support of a claim
Write with clarity and precision
Extend reading comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school with this set of rigorous questions about Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Focusing on Act 1, scene 2, this resource is delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. An answer key is included. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact
Determine the function of a particular excerpt
Conduct brief research on classical mythology — more specifically the tale of Arion and the dolphin — and draw parallels between the mythological figure and Sebastian
Consider the text’s allusion to Elysium to infer greater meaning
Discern the tone of a character’s dialogue
Come to class/depart class better prepared to discuss literary material
Write ideas with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Extend reading comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school with this set of rigorous questions about Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Focusing on Act 1, scene 3, this resource is delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. An answer key is included. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact
Discern tone in context
Identify the greater significance of a given detail
Apply knowledge of literary devices including hyperbole and simile
Explore cause-and-effect relationships
Identify a function of the scene
Extend reading comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school with this set of rigorous questions about Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Focusing on Act 1, scene 4, this resource is delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. An answer key is included. By engaging with this close reading activity, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact
Apply knowledge of figurative language
Discern the significance of a given detail
Explore cause-and-effect relationships
Identify excerpts in support of claims
Isolate a factual detail about plot from falsehoods
Come to class/leave class better prepared to discuss literary material
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet. With a focus on Act 4, scene 5, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
More specifically, students will do the following:
Discern what the text states both explicitly and implicitly
Determine the function of a given passage
Analyze character statements and behaviors to draw logical inferences about character development and motivations
Discern the tone of a given passage
Apply knowledge of literary devices to the text
Analyze complex vocabulary and phrasing in context to determine meaning and intended effect
Locate textual evidence in support of claims
Compare and contrast Hamlet and Ophelia
Compare and contrast Hamlet and Laertes
Articulate ideas with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet. With a focus on Act 4, scene 6, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
More specifically, students will do the following:
Discern what the text states both explicitly and implicitly
Analyze character statements and behaviors to draw logical inferences about character development and motivations
Analyze how characters interact
Determine the primary purpose of Hamlet’s letter to Horatio
Apply knowledge of literary devices to the text
Analyze complex vocabulary and phrasing in context to determine meaning and intended effect
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
Promote homework accountability and evaluate general reading comprehension with this bundle of quizzes covering each Act of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.
Conclude a unit on William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice with this fifty-question test delivered in Word Document and PDF formats. An answer key is included. This assessment is divided into four sections and breaks down as follows.
Part 1. Multiple choice. Students will demonstrate knowledge of character and plot details.
Part 2. True/False and Either Or. Students will identify whether a statement is true or false, or they will identify the correct option between two choices.
Part 3. Matching. Students will match an excerpt with its appropriate context.
Part 4. Multiple choice. Students will be given a detail or excerpt and must determine which literary device is best reflected.
Promote homework accountability, measure general reading comprehension, and reduce teacher workload with this printable quiz on Act 4 of As You Like It by William Shakespeare. This assessment and its answer key are delivered in both Word Document and PDF formats. By taking this assessment, students will demonstrate knowledge of the following:
The interaction between Jaques and Rosalind
Jaques’ assertions about his mental state
Jaques’ character motivations
Orlando’s tardiness
Rosalind’s artificial anger
Rosalind and Orlando’s role playing lesson
“Men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for love.”
A fake wedding ceremony
Silvius’ continued affection for Phebe
The content of a letter Phebe sends Ganymede
Rosalind’s comments on how Phebe can prove her love
Oliver’s unexpected appearance and character transformation
Orlando’s heroism
Support the development of close reading skills with this comprehensive bundle of worksheets composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic drama Othello. With an activity for each individual scene, this bundle saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. All materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
Each resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students, ultimately, will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
Make reading more purposeful with these close reading activities to support students in their efforts to demonstrate the following:
An ability to define complex vocabulary in context
An ability to analyze context clues and draw logical inferences about character motivations
An ability to analyze context clues and draw logical inferences about character relationships
An ability to analyze the text for literary devices such as foreshadowing, situational irony, dramatic irony, theme, symbolism, dynamic character, and more
An ability to find and articulate relevant textual details in support of a claim
An ability to analyze context clues to discern and articulate the significance of a given detail
An ability to articulate what the text indicates both explicitly and implicitly
An ability to write with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet. With a focus on Act 4, scene 7, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
More specifically, students will do the following:
Discern what the text states both explicitly and implicitly
Analyze character statements and behaviors to draw logical inferences about character development and motivations
Determine the tone of a given passage
Determine the functions of a given passage
Isolate a true statement about plot from falsehoods
Apply knowledge of a variety of literary devices including hubris, personification, metaphor, and irony
Provide textual evidence in support of a claim about Claudius
Articulate ideas with clarity and precision
Help high school students extend reading comprehension and analyze plot developments in Act 1 of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with this bundle of assessments. Answer keys are included. Covering every scene in Act 1, this bundle offers a plot-based quiz and five close reading analysis worksheets designed to facilitate students’ abilities to do the following:
Identify what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Define complex vocabulary in the context of a passage
Examine nuances in words with similar denotations
Explore how complex characters think, behave, develop, and interact
Compare and contrast two characters (Orsino and Olivia)
Discern the tone of a given excerpt
Determine the functions of particular excerpts
Explore nuances in words with similar meanings
Apply knowledge of literary devices with emphasis on metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and sibilance
Conduct brief research on classical mythology — more specifically the tale of Arion and the dolphin — and draw parallels between the mythological figure and Sebastian
Consider the text’s allusion to Elysium to infer greater meaning
Defend claims with reasoned thinking and relevant textual evidence
Write ideas with clarity, accuracy, and precision
Come to class/leave class better prepared to discuss literary materials
Extend reading comprehension and support the development of close reading analysis skills for high school with this set of rigorous questions about Shakespeare’s Othello. Focusing on Act 3, scene 2, this resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions in which students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will improve their ability to present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly and convincingly. An answer key is included. Materials are delivered in Word Document and PDF formats.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Articulate and analyze what the text states explicitly and implicitly
Make logical inferences in context
Analyze the nature of character relationships
Determine the meaning of complex words and phrases in context
Discern the function of the scene
Articulate how dramatic irony applies to the scene
Write with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. With a focus on Act 4, scene 1, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly
Interpret figurative language
Analyze how complex characters interact
Explore character motivations
Define complex words and phrases as they are used in the text
Analyze nuances in word meanings
Apply knowledge of literary devices including double entendre, hyperbole, allusion, personification, and simile
Discern the tone of a given excerpt
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. With a focus on Act 4, scene 2, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly
Interpret figurative language
Analyze how complex characters interact
Explore character motivations
Analyze nuances in word meanings
Discern the function of the scene
Articulate the similarities between a hunter and Rosalind
Write ideas with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. With a focus on Act 4, scene 3, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly
Interpret figurative language
Analyze how complex characters interact
Analyze nuances in word meanings
Discern the tone of a character’s remarks
Determine the function of a character’s dialogue
Apply knowledge of literary devices including personification, metaphor, and dramatic irony
Articulate a theme that is reinforced by Ganymede’s fainting episode
Identify the best example of a dynamic character in the context of the scene
Support claims with relevant evidence and sound reasoning
Write ideas with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. With a focus on Act 5, scene 1, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
By completing this exercise, students will:
Identify what the text states explicitly
Interpret figurative language
Analyze how complex characters interact
Compare and contrast characters
Discern the tone of a character’s remarks
Analyze nuances in word meanings
Apply knowledge of literary devices including hyperbole
Determine the functions of the scene
Locate evidence in support of a claim
Identify a statement that lacks sufficient evidence in the context of the scene
Articulate the irony associated with William’s response to Touchstone’s comments toward him
Write ideas with clarity and precision
Support the development of close reading skills with this worksheet composed of challenging questions designed to help high school students analyze Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet. With a focus on Act 4, scene 2, this resource saves teachers valuable time without sacrificing academic rigor. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered as printable PDFs and Word Documents.
This resource may serve as the basis for small-group discussions. Through these discussions, students decode language and pose/respond to questions relating to plot, broad topics, and character development, demonstrating an ability to analyze how complex characters transform and advance the plot and themes by applying logic and citing compelling, meaningful textual evidence. They will also evaluate their peers’ reasoning and use of rhetoric to advance claims, clarifying or challenging unclear ideas. Using this resource for structured guidance, students will present information, conclusions, and supporting textual evidence clearly, concisely, and appropriately, thereby helping their peers comprehend their thinking.
More specifically, students will be able to:
Discern the tone of a given passage
Identify the meaning of a particular line
Identify an example of metaphor and explain its intended meaning
Analyze Hamlet’s dialogue to discern and articulate how he portrays Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as less than human
Cite textual evidence in support of the claim that Hamlet shows disrespect toward the king
Analyze the author’s craft to discern what effect is created by presenting several consecutive brief scenes
Isolate a factual statement about plot development from falsehoods