Protected: Sandbox: Discovery Zone
Discovery Zone is a collection of free resources designed to support individual and classroom explorations of Shakespeare’s texts. Suitable for students of a broad range of ages, experience levels, and learning styles, Discovery Zone invites individuals to bring their own unique identities and perspectives to their understanding of Shakespeare.
Coming soon: a link to screen-reader friendly plain text resources.
Coming soon: a link to how each resource connects with BC Curricular Competencies and Curricular Content.
Coming soon: assessment rubrics.
Creative Commons License
The Discovery Zone library and associated articles are provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. You may copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, on condition that you credit Mary Hartman and Bard on the Beach Theatre Society, your use is non-commercial, and that you do not distribute any derivative works. Further information about this license can be found here.
To leave feedback on accessibility, resource content, usability, or anything else, please submit it at the form linked at the bottom of this page.
Introductory Materials for Making Shakespeare Your Own
These nine resources provide entry points to explorations of Shakespeare’s plays that are inquiry-based and student-centred. These activities focus on the language and the myriad ways it can resonate, and each corresponds to a section of A Shakesperience, Bard’s free video introduction to Shakespeare’s plays.
What do you mean by that saying? Unpacking famous quotes
For a fun flashcard version with an expanded list of quotes, click here.
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Creative writing | Text analysis
The Shakespeare Shuffle: Playing with Syntax
Text analysis | Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking
Insults & Exalts: Big, playful, expressive words
There’s also a shorter list of simpler words.
Language/Vocabulary | Drama-based activity
We shall remain in friendship: Short scenes to bring to life
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Drama-based activity | Text analysis
Know you the character? A mini-character explorer
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Drama-based activity | Critical thinking | Creative writing | Text analysis
Speak what we feel: The emotions behind the lines
For the flashcard version with an expanded list of quotes, click here.
Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Drama-based activity | Text analysis
Speak freely what you think: Being silenced and speaking out
Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Drama-based activity | Text analysis
Not an easy matter: Contrasting attitudes towards warfare
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Creative writing | Text analysis | Drama-based activity
To truths translated: Shakespeare in other languages
Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Creative writing | Text analysis
A Bard Among Many: Learning about other great storytellers
Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Creative writing
Shakespeare’s Weird Words
This collection focuses on the language in Shakespeare’s plays that might be unfamiliar or unexpected. Four handouts break it all down, or for a fun, flash-card approach to the Weird Words collection, click here.
Language/Vocabulary | Text analysis | Critical thinking | Creative writing
Weird Words #1: Pronouns and Verb Forms
Weird Words #2: Yes, No, Contractions and Shortened Forms
Weird Words #3: Time, Space, and Logic
Weird Words #4: Strong Language, Swearing, and Fun
Exploring Shakespeare’s Imagery
This collection invites students to explore image-rich lines of text and discover how these lines resonate with them. Start with the Introduction to the Imagery Explorer Collection, and then choose your preferred Imagery Explorer and continue from there.
Imagery | Language/Vocabulary | Drama-based activity | Creative writing | Text analysis
Imagery Explorer #1: Short, Simple Images
Imagery Explorer #2: Short, Image-Rich Passages
Imagery Explorer #3: Passages with more complex images
Exploring Shakespeare’s Characters
This collection invites students to explore specific characters and create their own ideas about who these characters might be. Start with the Introduction to the Character Explorer Collection, and then choose your preferred Character Explorer and continue from there.
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Drama-based activity | Critical thinking | Creative writing | Text analysis
Intro to the Character Explorer Collection
Character Explorer: Puck
Character Explorer: The Weird Sisters/Witches
Character Explorer: Hamlet
A Closer Look At...
These resources take a deep dive into selected speeches from a variety of plays. They break down the thoughts, illuminate the images, inspire text analysis, and invite personal connections.
A Closer Look at “All the World’s a Stage…” from As You Like It
Language/Vocabulary | Critical thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks…” from Romeo & Juliet
Language/Vocabulary | Character | Critical thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” from Julius Caesar
Language/Vocabulary | Character | Critical thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds…” from Romeo & Juliet
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “How happy some o’er other some can be…” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “If it were done when ‘tis done…” from Macbeth
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “I have, of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth…” from Hamlet
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Mature Topics | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “O, for a muse of fire…” from Henry the Fifth
Imagery | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “O, hateful hands to tear such loving words…” from The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “…Our revels now are ended…” from The Tempest
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…” (Sonnet 18)
Imagery | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis | Creative Writing
A Closer Look at “The clock struck nine when I did send the Nurse…” from Romeo & Juliet
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “These are the forgeries of jealousy…” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Imagery | Character | Language/Vocabulary | Drama-Based Activity | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
A Closer Look at “…This above all, to thine own self be true…” from Hamlet
Character | Language/Vocabulary | Critical Thinking | Text analysis
Basic Background: Who's Who and What Happens
This collection provides brief descriptions of the characters and plots in a range of plays. You may notice the absence of gendered language in these summaries: we’d like to broaden our understanding of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays so that anyone can identify with them and see themselves reflected, if they so choose.
Character | Story/Plot
Who’s Who in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
What Happens in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Who’s Who in Hamlet
What Happens in Hamlet
Who’s Who in Macbeth
What Happens in Macbeth
Who’s Who in Romeo & Juliet
What Happens in Romeo & Juliet
Acknowledgements
The resources in Discovery Zone were created by Mary Hartman, with the support of the wonderful Bard Education Administrative Team: Katie Johnstone, Santana Berryman, and Samantha Levy. Special acknowledgement goes to former team member Melanie Hiepler, for fantastic graphic design, insightful feedback, and masterful wrangling of the myriad elements of this complex project. We’re grateful for the input of schoolteachers from across BC, especially Cheryl Angst, Robert Manery, Sharlene Prasad, and Katrina Thomson. The project was supported by the extraordinary professionals from Project Management Volunteers, Tolu Oloruntoba, Bernadette Andrade, Harla Sidhu, and David Nimmo. We are grateful for the community spirit and collaborative efforts with which Discovery Zone is built.
Discovery Zone was primarily created in Metro Vancouver on the ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and other Coast Salish First Nations. We acknowledge, too, that many of our collaborators made their contributions from the ancestral lands of other First Nations.
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