Hamlet
Lesson plans and teaching ideas

Anticipation Guide
Scroll down on the page for a model anticipation guide.

Cartoon Summary
The play in 48 cartoons.

Comparing Film Adaptations
Strategies for engaging students using clips from more than one film version. Includes a handout; Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application required for access to the handout.

Enter Ophelia: Stage Directions, Promptbooks, and Film
This standards-based lesson focuses on 4.5.1-224. Students examine a variety of stagings of the scene using film and promptbooks (available at this site). They consider the causes and effects of the different versions.

Essay Topics on Hamlet
A variety of fairly traditional topics.

Folger on the Ramparts
Students use online resources to plan the staging of a scene.

Giving up the Ghost: Ways of Seeing the Ghost in Hamlet
Students examine artwork (available at the site) to help understand the nonverbal elements of the play. This activity is designed for elementary students.

The Great Shakespeare Experiment
Using the first 11 lines from Hamlet, students become comfortable with Shakespearean language and develop "an appreciation for the role of the actor in interpreting a text by making choices."

Hamlet
Using a theme of "Grief, Guilt, and Revenge!" this site offers a summary, prereading and interdisciplinary activities, and links to suggestions for additional reading.

Hamlet
The two activities at this site ask students to analyze major and minor characters.

Hamlet
Plot summary, discussion of purgatory, themes, questions and essay topics, background, more.

Hamlet
This 24-page document addresses 161 vocabulary words drawn from the play. Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application required for access.

Hamlet
Summary and 5 lessons. Access to this 64-page document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application.

Hamlet — Executive Summary
PowerPoint summary of the plot.

Hamlet Haven
An annotated bibliography of some online scholarship.

Hamlet: A Guide for Teachers
This 74-page guide supports the Hallmark Channel Hamlet starring Campbell Scott. It contains several pre-reading/pre-viewing activities to acquaint students with language, activities to support reading/viewing, projects for post reading/viewing, and related links. Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application required for access.

Hamlet Hook
This simple, effective activity serves as an introduction to the play, asking students to connect to Hamlet's dilemma on an emotional level.

Hamlet's Soliloquy
This activity identifyies common themes in the soliloquy, and invites learners to comment on what is going on in Hamlet's mind of the character. Worksheets available, Adobe Acrobat Reader or compatible application required for access.

Hamlet: Word Pictures and Ghost Stories
This introduction to the play is designed for elementary students. As the teacher reads a passage, students draw what they hear.

Hamlet Works
An amazing repository of scholarly material on the play, including searchable texts and concordances.

Horatio's Story
Students analyze the text to understand the limitations of Horatio's understanding of the events of the play.

The Language of the "Undiscovered Country"
Students use context clues to interpret Hamlet's solilquy, then check their understandings with other sources.

Learning Guide: Hamlet
This guide from Teach With Movies is based on the Mel Gibson version but is very easily adaptable to reading and to other film versions. Summary, themes, extensive discussion questions, suggestions for activities, and links to related sites.

Like, Wow
This standards-based lesson focuses on 1.1 and introduces students to the concept of perception vs. reality in the play.

Preparing for the War of Hamlet
Following a close reading, students play the role of diplomats and prepare a document explaining the political situation in Denmark.

"Remember Me": Retribution and Reconciliation in Hamlet
This activity emphasize critical analysis, focusing on "the ways in which the Ghost's speech (lines 43-92) contribute to the themes of corruption, revenge, and forgiveness" (from the page).

See Hamlet Run
A decidedly irreverent take on the play.

Shakespeare in the Bush
Laura Bohannon's account of telling the story of Hamlet to the Tiv people of West Africa.

Shakespeare: Subject to Change
This outstanding site from Cable in the Classroom offers a multimedia look at background information about Shakespeare in general and Hamlet specifically.

Shakespearean Comedy on Film
Lesson 2, "Comedy in Tragedy," explores the gravediggers scene and the impact of comedy.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
This activity emphasizes critical analysis, focusing on the theme of the corrupting influence of evil.

Spirit Stalks Elsinore
After a close reading of 1.1, students write a newspaper article.

Stick Figure Hamlet
As the title implies, the play is reproduced at this site in high quality stick figures. No lesson plans here, just a terrific resource for students who have trouble reading and for anyone who appreciates the play.

Studying Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
This very extensive page offers a wealth of discussion questions and insights into the play.

Teacher's Guide to Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Dealing with the language, journal prompts, prereading, during reading, and postreading activities with emphasis on theme and character. This extensive document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or equivalent application for access.

Test-Yourself Reading Quiz on Hamlet, Acts I & II and Acts III, IV, and V
Self-correcting interactive quizzes, great review material.

"Touching this vision": Imagery in Hamlet
This standards-based lesson focuses on Acts 1-3. Students write poetry informed by the imagery in the play.

The Tragedy of ?
Students explore the definition of tragedy and the tragic hero.

The Tragedy of Hamlet
This SCORE guide offers 6 activities to encourage students to explore different facets of the play.

Who is Gertrude, Really?
Students form their own opinions about Gertrude by imaginatively creating entries for Gertrude's journal. Each journal entry will reveal much about Gertrude's character at pivotal moments in the play.

www.Hamlet
In this standards-based lesson, students use an online concordance to explore the patterns of imagery in the play.

You Can't Go Home Again (or, If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother)
This standards-based lesson from the Folger Library focuses on Act 1, scene 2.