Shaking Up Shakespeare: Effective Techniques for Teaching the Bard

In the realm of English literature, few figures loom as large as Shakespeare. His plays, rich in language and depth, continue to challenge and captivate students worldwide. But how can teachers effectively navigate the complexities of his plays, ensuring students not only understand and engage with, but also enjoy studying his work?

Understanding the challenges

Teaching Shakespeare presents a unique set of challenges. From archaic language and complex wordplay to unfamiliar historical, cultural and comical references, students (and teachers!) often find themselves grappling with a text that can seem inaccessible.

Even when teachers have good subject knowledge, it’s tricky to know how to manage a whole play, which scenes to focus on, whether to watch the whole play in performance first, during or at the end of the unit. It can be challenging to teach drama within the discipline of English.

Embracing comprehension as a gateway

Ofsted’s English research review states that ‘explicitly teaching background knowledge is foundational to increasing pupils’ reading competency’, and this is an approach that has long informed the way we support teachers and students at English Mastery.

Before students can delve into analysis and interpretation, they must first grasp the plot, characters, and themes. This foundational understanding not only aids in navigating the language but also unlocks deeper layers of meaning within the text.

Spotlight on the ‘Whoosh!’ technique

One technique used in English Mastery to aid comprehension is ‘Whoosh!’. It covers the plot clearly and succinctly, focusing on story and characters, and introducing students to the performative element of Shakespeare. The teacher narrates the story and selects students to perform actions and read key lines, and once the scene gets too busy, it’s reset with a ‘Whoosh!’.

Take, for instance, the iconic feud scene from Romeo and Juliet. In a classroom setting, students get in a circle. As the teacher narrates the escalating tension and eventual intervention of the Prince of Verona, they nominate students for roles as Capulets or Montagues and students enact the conflict, bringing Shakespeare's words to life through movement and dialogue. This approach not only reinforces comprehension, but also shows the drama taking place – the rivalry, the stakes, the consequences – that makes the play so captivating.

Watch this video of our English Mastery School Development Lead Caroline Redgate talking about her experiences of using the ‘Whoosh!’ technique when teaching Shakespeare.

Other ways to support comprehension

Here are some effective methods teachers can follow to secure comprehension. These strategies are incorporated into English Mastery curriculum materials.

1. Use a high-quality production of the play in performance, e.g., from the Glove or RSC to show the whole play or key scenes on stage. The plays were written to be performed and meaning can often be more easily grasped in performance.
2. Summarise plot and action, e.g., state what’s about to happen in the scene you are going to look at before reading it.
3. Focus on the words students do already know to show how much they already understand, while providing a glossary for tricky words or phrases.
4. Use a modern ‘translation’ alongside the text.
5. Re-read a key passage two or three times, perhaps first time for a ‘feel’, another time to secure what’s taken place, and another time to explore some of the imagery and drama.
6. Frame comprehension in questioning (e.g. when trying to decipher the meaning of an exchange between Romeo and Juliet, ask students to ‘Identify all the times Juliet talks about praying’. This gives them the answer in the question!)
7. Don’t underestimate how difficult comprehension can be – sometimes, the ‘modest’ goal of comprehending a passage of a play is a perfectly challenging objective.
8. Equally, becoming bogged down in analysing every scene line by line will detract from the enjoyment and comprehension of the scene, act or play as a whole, in performance, as it was intended to be seen.

Bringing the play to life

It almost goes without saying that Shakespeare wrote plays: there were – are – meant to be performed on the stage, not just read from an inches-thick anthology. Performance is a critical part of enjoying and studying Shakespeare, but it can be hard to know how and when to make use of dramatic teaching techniques in a cluttered classroom or busy term.

We find that scenes where especially important facets of the play’s genre are at work – comedy, tragedy – tend to make for the most appropriate lessons to use more dramatic teaching techniques.

For instance, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the comedic confusion induced by a love potion provides an ideal backdrop for interactive activities like ‘Insult Bogey Tennis’ that you’ll find in English Mastery. This irreverent game invites students to exchange Hermia and Helena’s bitter insults in character, embodying the playful spirit of Shakespearean comedy while enhancing their understanding of speech, gesture, tone, and expression.

It can also be instructive – and enjoyable – to get the play on its feet when there are particularly relevant stage directions. While acknowledging that Shakespeare wrote few, if any, explicit stage directions himself, these elements remain crucial for understanding performance and engagement. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, the stage directions during the deadly feud between the Montagues and Capulets highlight the intensity and pivotal moments of the fight. Enacting and interpreting these directions clarifies action and enriches students' grasp of theatrical vision.

A Shakespeare curriculum

English Mastery's approach to Shakespeare is a key part of the KS3 curriculum, building knowledge of dramatic genre, form and structure from year to year, while revisiting key themes and concepts such as power, love, marriage and the supernatural. This curriculum design lays a secure foundation of literary analysis and appreciation for KS4 and future study, and the basis for students to both understand and enjoy Shakespeare beyond the classroom.

Explore the curriculum map and samples of English Mastery resources in our free programme preview.