January marks the beginning of third quarter, or what I fondly think of as the start of “Shakespeare season” in English classrooms. Sure, Shakespeare Day isn’t until April 23^rd, but anyone who’s taught one of Billy Shakes’s plays will tell you that they take a long time to get through, so it’s best to start early.

My first go-round with teaching the bard was in 2016 in my English I Honors classroom. I chose to start our Romeo and Juliet unit with iambic pentameter, and I remember the unbridled optimism with which I distributed Sonnet 18 for my students to mark up. That optimism died a swift death, as I watched class after class of panicked ninth graders struggle to scratch out the meter above the words. They whispered loudly to each other:

“Do you understand this?”

“I have no idea what’s going on.”

“I hate Shakespeare!”

“Why is she torturing us?”

Their indignant mutterings signaled that I was in danger of committing the classic teacher sin: robbing something wonderful of its joy by making it all academic and no fun. (Even Shakespeare has Romeo comment on the drudgery of school when he observes in Act II[1], “Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, / But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”)

I had to act quickly.

Like I would do many times over the next few years, I implored my colleagues, Ms. Temple and Mr. Wood, for some much needed help. They were more seasoned than I, and they also imbued their classrooms with the kind of creativity that inspires cultish admiration. I knew they’d have answers, and I was right.

The following Romeo and Juliet teaching resources are a conglomeration of those handed down to me by Ms. Temple and Mr. Wood, as well as activities that I eventually (when I had the bandwidth) created myself. I did not use each activity every year, but I can attest that each helps elevate Shakespeare’s most famous play from a “horrible nightmare our teacher is forcing us to read” to “way better than that time she made us read Animal Farm”—all while keeping iambic pentameter!

Family Shields Activity

Materials Needed:

• Romeo and Juliet Family Shield Template (FREE download)
• Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
• Laptops or phones (to research quotes)

Instructions:

1. First things first: Are you a Capulet or a Montague? You can either have the students pick their allegiance, or you can assign it randomly in order to promote even numbers for both houses. Once this is decided, have them write a C or an M in the bottom right corner of their shields (C for Capulet or M for Montague).
2. Now that students know where they stand, have them write their names and draw their self-portraits in the upper left corner.
3. Next, students should write a quote that represents them in the upper right corner. I tell students that this quote should capture something about their values or how they view the world.
4. After students have their quotes, they should list five activities they enjoy in the lower left corner. This represents who they are as individuals within their respective families.
5. Finally, have the students color the upper left and bottom right corners of their shields with their family colors (red for Capulet and blue for Montague).
6. Hang the shields on opposite sides of the room to showcase their allegiances, and then get to reading!

Romeo and Juliet Comics

Here’s an example comic from Macbeth:

Materials Needed:

• Romeo and Juliet Comic Template (FREE download)
• Pencils, colored pencils, markers, etc.

Instructions:

1. After reading each scene (or after a few scenes), have students fill in the appropriate box with a picture and a quote that captures the essence of that scene.
   • For example: In Act II, scene 2, Romeo swears his love to Juliet, invoking the moon. Juliet responds, “O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, / That monthly changes in her circled orb” (lines 109-110). This is a great quote to summarize the content of the scene, and would pair well with a picture of a changing moon and balcony to help students remember what happened.
2. After finishing each act, have students write a five-sentence summary in the rectangle preceding that act’s scenes.

As an incentive, you can tell students that they may use this as a reference sheet on their final test.

Act III: Pool Noodle Swords

Materials Needed:

• Two pool noodles, cut in half

Instructions:

1. While reading Act III, scene 1, get three volunteers to act out the parts of Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt.
   • Note: I recommend having one set of students read the parts and one set of students act out the parts. It’s too difficult to do both at the same time.
   • A good time to ask for volunteers is after Mercutio exclaims, “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission! / Alla stoccata carries it away. / Tybalt, you rat catcher, will you walk?” (lines 72-74).
2. Give the students the pool noodles. (1) When stage directions instruct Mercutio and Tybalt to draw, tell them to draw their swords, but remain still, creating a tableau. (2)
3. When the stage directions say they fight, after Mercutio says, “Come sir, your passado” (line 84), tell the students to engage in a sword fight. (3)
   • Tell them they should not hit one another, but focus on the clashing of swords. (They love fighting with the noodles, and it usually always elicits laughter from the class.) After 15-30 seconds, instruct them to freeze in their fight.
4. Instruct the student playing Romeo to walk between Mercutio and Tybalt, putting their hands up to separate the fighting pair. (4)
5. When the stage directions say Tybalt under Romeo’s arm stabs Mercutio, have the student playing Tybalt push the pool noodle under Romeo’s arm and “stab” Mercutio. (5)
6. Instruct the student playing Mercutio to fall or swoon. (6) (Usually, this student moans dramatically and elicits more laughter. Sometimes a student will volunteer to be Benvolio and drag Mercutio away.)
7. Have the students reading the parts continue, with Romeo and Tybalt frozen in a tableau. Wait for the inevitable gasp when Benvolio says, “brave Mercutio is dead!” (line 115)
8. Instruct Romeo to draw his sword after he says, “This shall determine that” (line 130).
9. Instruct Romeo and Tybalt to engage in a sword fight, again not hitting each other, but clashing swords, for 15-30 seconds. (7) Then, instruct Romeo to “stab” Tybalt. (8) Tell Tybalt to fall.
10. Thank the students for their incredible performances and tell them to return to their seats.

More Romeo and Juliet Resources

If you’re looking for resources to help with Shakespeare’s language (including poetic elements, like iambic pentameter and motifs), I have activities that I have created available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. They include:

[1] All citations are from this edition of Romeo and Juliet.