Activities

Shakespeare extension activities (Teens)

Topic
Various Shakespeare plays

Aims
To extend learners work with the Shakespeare plays featured on LearnEnglish Teens: Romeo and Juliet,
Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing

Age / Level
Teens (12+) / Level B1B2

Introduction
After introducing your teenage learners to one or more of the Shakespeare plays, using the
TeachingEnglish lesson plans, try one or more of the following extension activities. These can be used as
alternatives to the activities in the lesson plans or as further material to extend or review the lessons in a
follow-up class. The activities are:
Characters review
Sort the events
Write a mini-saga version of the play
Write a play script and act out the play
Design a theatre poster
Create a storyboard
Write a different ending
Write or record a diary entry
Write to a problem page
Focus on a minor character
Character conversations
Newspaper or TV news report
Discussion/Essay writing
Write a horoscope

Characters review
Time

15 minutes

Materials

paper, sticky tape or Post-its

Play(s)

one or more

1. Generate

Brainstorm some of the characters from the play(s) you have covered. Write their

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ideas

names on the board.

Now brainstorm some words or phrases that could describe the characters. For
example, Prospero magician, Romeo loves Juliet, Beatrice determined,
Macbeth ambitious for power.

2. Pair work
speaking

Ask each learner to choose a character (or assign characters, if you think lots of
learners will choose the same one) and ask them to write their characters name on
a piece of paper. Monitor and help learners if necessary.
Collect in the pieces of paper. Randomly mix them up and then stick one piece of
paper to the back of each learner.
Ask learners to work in pairs to find out who they are. Depending on your learners,
they can either describe their partners character, for example You live on an island
and you can do magic! or they can ask each other questions, for example Are you a
man or a woman? Do you love anybody? as in 20 questions.
As a follow-up, learners could write a short paragraph describing their character.

3. Mingle
alternative

Give each learner a piece of paper with a characters name. They should write two or
three words or phrases about their character.
Collect in the pieces of paper. Randomly mix them up and then give one character to
each learner. Tell them they need to keep it secret!
Learners should then mingle and find a partner. They then describe their character to
their partner, using the words and phrases on the paper, and their partner needs to
guess the character. When they have finished, they should swap papers, find a new
partner and repeat.
At the end, ask learners how many characters they guessed right. Which ones were
difficult?

Sort the events

Time

20 minutes

Materials

paper, scissors

Play(s)

any three

1. Group work
writing

Ask learners to work in groups. You should have three or six groups depending on
the number of learners you have. Choose three of the plays you have covered.
Ask each group to write around 510 sentences describing the events of one of the
plays on a piece of paper. All learners in the group should take turns to write, so
there is a mixture of handwriting!
They should now cut the paper into strips, so one strip of paper has one sentence.
Repeat with the other two plays.

2. Group reading Now ask each group to mix up all the strips of paper from all three plays! Each group
race
should pass their strips of paper to another group.
Each group needs to race to read all the sentences and sort them into the three
different plays, in order!

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3. Pair work
speaking

While the strips of paper are still arranged according to play, ask learners to quickly
write the name (or initials) of the play on the back of each strip. Now mix the strips
up again. Learners work in pairs and take turns to choose a strip and read it to their
partner. Their partner tries to say which play its from, and they check by looking at
the back of the strip.

Write a mini-saga version of the play

Time

30 minutes

Materials

transcripts on LearnEnglish Teens (optional)

Play(s)

Any of the plays

1. Generate
ideas

Tell students that they are going to rewrite the play in exactly 50 words this is
called a mini-saga. (Here you can explain that a saga is a story that happens over a
long period of time.)
Here you could show them an example of a mini-saga you can easily find lots of
them on the internet (or you could write your own!). Explain that often mini-sagas
only include the main events, but still use adjectives and descriptive language to get
across the themes. Alternatively, you could show them a sentence from a story and
ask them to reduce it to its main parts. An example: It was a very cold day and John
struggled against the wind on his way home. He decided to take the bus for the last
mile, and when he got on the bus his eyes caught sight of a short, brown-haired girl
with the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. His heart skipped a beat. This
could become: They fell in love in winter.
First, ask students to identify the main events of the story make a note of them on
the board. If students need help with remembering the main events, you could use
the transcripts of the play from the LearnEnglish Teens website.
Ask students which of these they think would be most important to communicate the
main themes of the play.

2. Write the
story/peer
correction

Ask learners to write up a short version of the story, including the main points. Dont
worry about the word count at this stage.
Learners should now count the words in their texts and decide how they can cut
them down to 50 words. Help and monitor here. You can decide how strict to be with
the word count, depending on your learners level. Ask students to swap their texts
with a partner they should try to help with the word count, and also to correct any
errors and make any suggestions for improvements.
When students have finished, ask them to think of a suitable title for their mini-saga,
for example Love turns to tragedy (Romeo and Juliet), or Ambition corrupts
(Macbeth).

3. Read the mini- You can display the mini-sagas around the classroom, and ask students to read
sagas
them and perhaps even vote on the best one.

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Write a play script and act out the play
Time

45 minutes

Materials

props and costumes (optional)

Play(s)

any

1. Write the play

Ask learners to tell you who the characters are in the play you have chosen. Write
the characters on the board.
Next, brainstorm the main events in the play and write or display them on the board.
As a whole class, decide on the first few lines of the play. You can also include stage
directions! For example, for Romeo and Juliet, you could write:
o [Romeo is talking with his friends]
o Romeos friend: I really want to go to a party tonight I know the Capulets
are having a big party shall we go?
o Romeo: If we get caught there, the Capulets will go crazy do you think its
a good idea?
o Romeos friend: Its a fancy dress party we can wear masks. Come on, itll
be great! [They go to get ready for the party]
Put learners in groups, according to how many characters there are. If you have an
uneven number of learners, pair a weaker with a stronger learner to work together,
or ask one learner to take two characters, although it doesnt matter at this stage
which learner is which character.
Learners then continue writing the play script in their group. Alternatively, using the
main events that you have on the board, divide the play into different scenes and ask
different groups to work on different parts of the play. Encourage each learner to
take a turn at writing. Monitor and help as needed.
If you have strong learners, you could alternatively ask them to write a play script
with either modern or locally relevant details. For example, Romeo and Juliet could
live in your local town/city instead of Verona, and you could even change the
characters names to reflect typical names of young people in your learners country.

2. Practise the
play

When they have finished writing their play, learners need to choose a character, or
you could assign one, for example if you would like a weaker learner to have an
easier part, or a stronger learner a more challenging part. If you want learners to
choose a character randomly, you could write each character on a small piece of
paper, fold in half, and learners take one piece of paper each.
In their groups, learners practise reading the play or their scene from the play.
Monitor and help with pronunciation and intonation.
When the learners are comfortable with their lines, they can stand up and physically
rehearse the play in a corner of the room. You might like to do this activity over two
lessons, if you think learners would prefer to practise their lines some more at home
first, or even prepare costumes and props to bring in for the next lesson!

3. Perform the

Finally, each group performs their play for the class. If learners have worked on

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play

different scenes, they can perform the scenes in order.

Depending on your learners, you might like to record the plays for the learners to
watch afterwards!

Design a theatre poster

Time

20 minutes

Materials

card and drawing supplies

Play(s)

any

1. Look at the
genre

Write the play(s) you have covered on the board. As a class, brainstorm some of the
themes from each play.
Show learners some examples of theatre posters for the plays on the board. What
features do the posters have? For example, the name of the play, the actors and
actresses playing the main roles, the theatre, the days and times of the show, the
cost of tickets, the name of the theatre group and the use of the word presents (e.g.
The TeachingEnglish Acting Company presents William Shakespeares Much Ado
About Nothing), etc. List these features on the board.
Ask learners which posters they like best. Do the images on the posters illustrate or
suggest the themes of the play?

2. Plan and
produce the
poster

Depending on your learners, they can work in pairs or individually. Give them some
scrap paper and ask them to choose a play and plan a rough draft of their poster,
making sure to include the list of features on the board.
If you have done an activity previously where learners have acted out a play, they
could imagine the poster is for their own performance of the play!
Encourage learners to be creative, for example using famous actors or actresses
names for the main roles, choosing an imaginative name for the theatre or theatre
group, thinking of images that would illustrate the themes of the play.
Monitor as learners are planning their poster, helping where needed and checking
they have included all the features. When they are ready, give them a piece of card
and drawing supplies, and they can make the poster.
If you have learners who dont like drawing, they could find images to cut out from
old magazines instead. If you have access to a computer room, the posters could be
produced digitally. You might want to try using a website like www.glogster.com to
produce an interactive poster.
Producing the poster could also be set for homework.

3. Display the
posters

Display the finished posters around the room. Ask learners to look around the room.
Which posters do they like best?
Alternatively, you could collect the posters in before displaying, and carefully cover
up the name of the play with a blank piece of paper and some white-tack, then
display them. Can learners guess the name of each play from the rest of the poster?

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Create a storyboard
Time

20 minutes

Materials

storyboard template

Play(s)

any

1. Brainstorm
the main events

Show the learners a storyboard template. This is usually six boxes. Each box has a
main space for a picture and speech bubbles, and a strip at the bottom for a
sentence describing the events in the picture.
Explain to the learners they are going to make a storyboard of the play. They need to
decide on the event for each box, what characters need to appear in each box, what
dialogue they might be saying, and what sentence to write at the bottom.
Now brainstorm as a class the main events of the play you have chosen. If there are
lots of ideas, write them all on the board and then decide as a class the six key
events.

2. Plan and
produce the
storyboard

Put learners into pairs. In their notebooks, they should try to decide what the picture,
dialogue and sentence should be for each of the six main events as listed on the
board. Monitor and help as necessary.
When each pair is ready, give them a storyboard template, and they can create the
storyboard.

3. Display the
storyboards

Display the finished storyboards around the room. Ask learners to look around the
room. Which one do they like best?
For stronger learners, you could allow them to choose which play they would like to
storyboard. Put the learners into groups according to which play they have chosen,
and the groups can brainstorm the list of six main events. Then they can work in
pairs to plan and create the storyboard as above.
Learners might like to create a storyboard of another play as homework!

Write a different ending

Time

30 minutes

Materials

none

Play(s)

any of the tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet or Macbeth)

1. Brainstorm
ideas

Talk about the ending of your chosen play with your learners. Was it a happy or sad
ending? Why was it sad? What did the characters do or not do to lead to such a sad
ending? For example, with Romeo and Juliet you could talk about why Romeo and
Juliet got married in secret, and why they killed themselves in the end.
What might the learners do instead in that situation? For example, if they had a good
friend and their parents tried to stop them from seeing each other.
Brainstorm ideas of things that the characters in the play could have done differently.

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For example, Romeo and Juliet could have talked to their parents or asked Friar
Lawrence to mediate, Romeo could have stopped Mercutio from fighting Tybalt or
Juliet could have waited to be sure Romeo had received the message describing the
plan!
2. Write the
ending

Ask learners to think about how doing these things differently might have led to a
happy ending, or at least a different outcome. They should choose one or some of
the ideas, and write a new ending for the play. It should be clear at what part of the
play they are starting from.
Monitor and help as necessary as learners write a draft in their notebooks. You could
encourage students to correct each others work, focusing on grammar and
vocabulary. When they have done this, they can write out a neat copy.
If you wish, you can ask learners to imagine this is happening in modern times. They
can imagine how this would affect (or not affect) the characters actions and the
outcomes of their actions. For example, Juliet could have phoned Romeo and
explained the plan to him. But would it have worked? For example, even if Romeo
had known the plan, would a modern doctor have been able to tell Juliet wasnt really
dead? Or, perhaps Juliet sent Romeo a text message, but he didnt receive it
because hed run out of battery?

3. Read each
others endings

Ask learners to swap endings with the other learners on their table, and read each
one. Which ending do they think is the best, the most realistic or the most unlikely?

Write or record a diary entry

Time

30 minutes

Materials

cameras e.g. on their phones or tablets (optional)

Play(s)

any

1. Generate
ideas and
introduce the
genre

Ask learners to tell you the characters in your chosen play and write their names on
the board.
Which character do they think has the most interesting storyline? Why? Whats the
most dramatic thing that happens to them?
Tell learners they are going to imagine they are that character, and they are going to
write or record a diary entry for that character, at the end of the day when the
dramatic event has happened.
Brainstorm with learners some ideas of some of the things the character might say or
write. Encourage them to imagine they are the character, and think about how they
would react and feel.
Show learners a simple example diary entry. Highlight that they should use the first
person and past tenses. The diary entry should say:
o what happened
o how they felt
o how they feel now.
Explain that diary entries often start with Dear Diary,!

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2. Prepare and
write or record
the diary entry

Depending on your learners, you could ask them to work in pairs. They should plan
the diary entry in their notebooks, using the class brainstorm to decide what they will
write for the three areas (what happened, how they felt, how they feel now). Monitor
and help as necessary.
If they are going to write their diary entry, ask both learners in the pair to write their
own version. Monitor and help, and when they are ready, ask them to swap and read
each others work. They should say two things they like about their partners work,
and make one suggestion. Then they can write up the final version.
If they are going to record their diary entry, they should make notes, based on the
plan in their notebook, about what they are going to say. They shouldnt write out the
full script so that the diary entry will be more natural when recorded. They can take
turns to rehearse to each other. When listening to their partner, encourage them to
make suggestions about how they sound when expressing different emotions or
talking about the dramatic events. Monitor and help as necessary. When they feel
ready, they can record their diary entries and then watch them back!

3. Extension

You might like to create more diary entries with your learners, for example they could
produce more for the same character to span the length of the play, or they could
produce some for the same day but different characters to get different perspectives
on the same events.

Write to a problem page

Time

30 minutes

Materials

example problem page from a magazine or website

Play(s)

any

1. Introduce the
genre and
generate ideas

Find an example of a problem page in a magazine or on a website aimed at the age

of your learners. Ask your learners what kind of problems people might write about
and what kind of advice might be given.
Brainstorm some of the main characters from the plays you have covered. What kind
of problems did they have in the play? For example, Juliet not being able to marry
Romeo, Claudio thinking Hero is with another man, Miranda being stuck on an island
with her father and Caliban, Hamlet finding out that Claudius killed his father,
Macbeth being paranoid that his friends and family know he killed Duncan.
Now brainstorm some of the advice you might give these characters in their
situation.

2. Prepare and
write the letter

Explain to the learners that they should choose a character, and that they are going
to write to a problem page about their problem. They should keep in mind the point in
the play at which the character has the problem, and think about how they might feel
at that point.
Brainstorm some language on the board that might help them, e.g. Im desperate, I
dont know what to do, The problem is , Can you help me?, Should I ?
You can also suggest some stages for the letter, for example:

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describing the problem
saying how you feel
explaining what youre thinking of doing, and why youre not sure its the
right thing to do
o asking for advice.
Learners start writing their letter. Monitor and help as necessary.
o
o
o

3. Write a reply

When learners have finished their letters, explain that they are now going to swap
with someone and write a reply.
First, brainstorm some language on the board that might help them, for example
language for advice (should, shouldnt, I think ) or suggestions (You can try /
You could / Why dont you?).
Now each learner should swap letters with another learner. This can be with their
neighbour but ideally it should be someone who has written a letter as a different
character.
Learners should read the letters and write a reply! If learners are struggling to think
of advice, you could pair learners who have a letter about the same character
together. Monitor and help as necessary.
Give the replies back to the original learner. Do they think they have received good
advice?

Focus on a minor character

Time

30 minutes

Materials

none

Play(s)

any

1. Generate
ideas

Brainstorm some of the less featured characters from the play(s) you have covered.
For example, Ophelia from Hamlet, Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet, Caliban
from The Tempest, the guards or the witches from Macbeth, Don John (the wedding
guest who plays the trick on Claudio) in Much Ado About Nothing.
Choose one or two of the characters. Ask learners what they might have thought
about the other characters actions, or what they might have been doing or have
done before or after their part in the play. For example, what was Caliban doing on
the island before Prospero and Miranda were shipwrecked? What did the witches
think Macbeth would do after they met him on the moor? What did Friar Lawrence do
after Romeo and Juliet killed themselves?

2. Write a diary
entry or
conversation

Ask learners to choose one of the characters. Depending on your learners, they
could either write a diary entry for the character or imagine a conversation between
the character and one of the other characters. For example, they could write a diary
entry (or several!) to show what Caliban was doing on the island before Prospero
arrived, or write a conversation between Caliban and Antonio when he first arrives
on the island.
As learners are writing, monitor and help as necessary. Encourage them to be

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creative, and share ideas with the other learners on their table.
3. Swap diary
entry or act out
conversation

If learners have written a diary entry for a character, ask them to swap with another
learner who chose the same character. How similar or different are they?
If learners have imagined a conversation, they could act out the conversation with
their partner!

Character conversations
Time

2030 minutes

Materials

none

Play(s)

any

1. Generate
ideas and do an
example

Choose a play to focus on. Ask learners to tell you some of the points in the story
when two characters have a conversation (even if the conversation wasnt explicitly
in the video), for example the conversation between the ghost and Hamlet in Hamlet,
Friar Lawrence telling the Capulets and Montagues what happened in Romeo and
Juliet, Heros father (Leonato) telling Claudio that he must marry his niece in Much
Ado About Nothing, Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth to kill King Duncan in Macbeth,
Miranda telling Ferdinand that she is in love with him in The Tempest.
Choose one conversation and brainstorm ideas of what the characters might say to
each other. Use learners ideas to generate a dialogue on the board. Encourage
them to think about how the characters are feeling and how they might react to what
the other says.

2. Write and act

out the
conversation

Ask learners to work in pairs and choose another conversation. In their notebooks
they should write a conversation between the characters. Encourage them to be
creative! Monitor and help where necessary.
When they have finished, learners can act out their conversations.

3. Improvisation

If learners enjoyed this activity, you could also ask them to improvise some
conversations. Give them some situations that are not necessarily in the play, for
example Lady Macbeth goes to see the witches, or Ophelia goes to speak to
Hamlets mother about Hamlets behaviour. In pairs, learners can decide who they
are and then try to have a conversation. It doesnt have to be about something in the
play but encourage learners to think about what their character likes and dislikes,
what they might say and how they might act. For support, give learners some
language for starting and maintaining a conversation, for example:
o Nice to meet you. Im
o Hows it going?
o Great./Terrible.
o Oh really?/Oh dear!
o What do you think about ?
o Did you see ?
o What are you doing later?
This activity could also be done as a mingle. For example, you could assign a

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different character from the play to each learner (if there are more learners than
characters, two learners can be the same character or you could break the class into
groups) and then ask them to imagine they are all at a party! What would the
characters say to each other? Learners should mingle and make sure they speak to
all the other characters.
If your learners are familiar with several plays, try having a mixed-up party! For
example, what would Hero and Juliet talk about if they met at a party? What would
Prospero say to Claudio? At the end, learners can say what the most interesting
conversation was that they had at the party!

Newspaper or TV news report

Time

3045 minutes

Materials

props and costumes for the TV news report (optional)

Play(s)

any

1. Generate
ideas for the
news event

Choose a play to focus on. Ask learners to brainstorm some of the dramatic parts,
for example Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio (Romeos friend) and Tybalt (Juliets
cousin) are killed, Hamlet when they fight, Macbeth when the army comes to the
castle, or Much Ado About Nothing when Claudio finds out that Hero is dead.
Ask learners to imagine that these events took place in modern times. Would they
hear about it on TV, the internet or in newspapers? Tell learners they are going to
either write a newspaper report or make a TV/internet news report.

2. Write a
newspaper
report

If learners are going to write a newspaper report, talk about some of the features of a
newspaper report that youd like them to include, for example:
o an interesting headline
o a short summary of what happened
o more information about who, what, where, when, why and how
o the current situation
o quotes from the witnesses and people involved
o a photo.
Depending on your learners, they could work individually or in pairs to produce their
newspaper report. Monitor and help as necessary.
If you have covered several plays, and learners are writing reports on different
events in different plays, the reports could be put together at the end to make a
whole newspaper!

3. Make a TV
news report

If learners are going to make a TV/internet news report, talk about some of the roles
involved, such as news anchor (in the studio), reporter(s), witnesses to be
interviewed, etc. Make a list, for example for Romeo and Juliet when Mercutio and
Tybalt are killed, the roles needed might be:
o news anchor
o reporter
o Romeo
o police officer

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o one of Tybalts friends/family members

o one of Mercutios friends/family members.
More roles or scenes could be added, for example having a reporter on the street
where it happened interviewing a witness, and a reporter at the courthouse reporting
on the trial, etc.
Learners work in groups. Depending on your learners, they can either choose roles
or you can assign them. In their group, they should plan the news script. First, they
should plan the order of who speaks, for example:
o news anchor in the studio
o reporter on the street where it happened, explaining the event and
interviewing a witness
o back to news anchor in the studio
o reporter at the police station interviewing the police officer who arrested
Romeo
o back to news anchor in the studio
o reporter outside the courtroom explaining what happened at the trial and
interviewing Romeo as he comes out of the courtroom on his way to being
banished
o back to news anchor in the studio.
Next the learners should write what they will say for their own part. Monitor and help
as necessary.
Now the learners should practise their lines. Monitor and help with pronunciation and
intonation. When they are ready, they can stand up and physically rehearse in a
corner of the room. You might like to do this activity over two lessons, if you think
learners would prefer to practise their lines some more at home first, or even prepare
costumes and props to bring in for the next lesson!
Finally, each group performs their news report while the teacher films!

Discussion/Essay writing Who is responsible?

Time

3060 minutes

Materials

video transcripts from LearnEnglish Teens (optional)

Play(s)

Any of the tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet)

1. Introduction
to the idea

Focus on one of the tragedies. Explain that tragedy in the theatre is a play that tells
the story of a character who has a flaw (a weakness in their personality), and who
has to deal with a difficult situation. Often a tragedy ends in death and destruction.
Often the situation or the fatal ending could be avoided.
Ask learners to make a list of the main characters in the play. Write them on the
board. Ask learners to think about how their actions contributed to the tragic ending.
For example, if you are working on Romeo and Juliet:
o Romeo Went to the party at the Capulets, although he knew it was dangerous,
he married Juliet in secret, he killed Tybalt and then had to leave town, he killed
himself too early (if he had waited, he would have seen Juliet wake up)
o Friar Lawrence He made a secret of the wedding, he gave Juliet the drug to

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make her seem dead, he didnt make sure that Romeo got the message about
Juliet.
Go through a couple of characters and then ask students to work in pairs and make
notes for each character.
2. Discussion

Ask learners to work in pairs and discuss which character they feel is most
responsible, based on their notes. It is important that they justify their reasons.
When they have done this, separate learners and put them into groups of 34
(depending on your class size). Learners should now take it in turns to say which
character they think is most responsible and why. Again, students can agree or
disagree but should justify their answers. You might want to quickly review language
for agreeing/disagreeing or asking for opinions here. Once they have reached an
agreement (or not!), you can regroup them again (an easy way to do this is to
number each group member 1,2,3,4, and then ask all the 1s to work together, all the
2s, etc.).
When students are in their new groups, ask them to compare who they think is
responsible again and, again, to give reasons.
Set a time limit (10 minutes) and then ask for feedback from different groups. Can
the class agree on who was responsible?

3. Writing
follow-up
(optional)

If you would like your students to practise writing skills, they could now choose two of
the characters that they discussed, and write an essay Who is responsible for
Romeo and Juliets deaths? (again, depending on the play you have discussed it
could be Hamlets death / Macbeths downfall).
Encourage learners to plan their writing using this structure:
Paragraph 1: Introduction what has happened?
Paragraph 2: Discussion of first character, their actions and consequences
Paragraph 3: Discussion of second character, their actions and consequences
Paragraph 4: Conclusion which character is most responsible?
For more on writing essays, see:
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing-skills-practice/opinion-essay

Writing a horoscope
Time

30 minutes

Materials

none possibly some example horoscopes from magazines or the internet

Play(s)

any

1. Introduction
to the idea

Choose one of the plays you have studied, or if you have studied more than one,
you could focus on several. Ask learners to make a list of some of the characters
from each play and some of the things that happen to them.
Write the word horoscope on the board. Check that learners know what a

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horoscope is. Do they ever read them? What is its purpose? (To predict the future)
What kind of information does it normally include? (Predictions about events and
feelings, warnings, advice)
Tell students that they are going to choose one of the characters from the play(s)
and choose a point in the play, and write a horoscope for that character.
You should show students an example horoscope here, so that they have a model to
work from an example:
It is going to be a great day for romance as your beloved will agree to marry you
you will feel happier than you have for a long time. But, be careful, as your friends
might not be as true as they seem. Dont believe everything you hear, and remember
to trust your feelings. If you dont, you might end up spending the rest of your life with
someone who you dont love.
Ask learners who they think the horoscope is for (in this case, Claudio in Much Ado
About Nothing, just after Hero agrees to marry him). Ask learners which verb tenses
are used in horoscopes (will, going to, modal verbs). Again, point out that the
horoscope talks about feelings, and also offers a warning/advice.
2. Write the
horoscope

Learners can now work individually or in pairs to choose their character and a point
in the play, and write a similar text on a piece of paper. Monitor and help out with
language. They should not write any character names in their horoscope.
When learners have finished, write a number of the top of the page, and then pin the
horoscopes up around the classroom.

3. Read the
horoscopes

Ask learners to move around the room, reading the horoscopes and making a note
of which character each horoscope refers to. They can also write down which point
in the play the horoscope refers to.
Make a note of any good language from the texts, or errors that you would like to
correct, while students are doing this.
When students have read all the horoscopes, check their answers and see if they
have been able to identify who the horoscopes are written for.
Give some general feedback and/or error correction.

Contributed by
Rachael Ro