Notes that "Julius Caesar" is required in nearly every high school curriculum, but that making the play accessible to students is not easy. Tries new teaching ideas to see whether students would more readily take to "Julius Caesar" using a more interdisciplinary approach. Describes three of these ideas that were particularly successful. (SG)

Suggests students will view film adaptations of Shakespeare plays more critically by carefully analyzing the same scene from several different film versions. Discusses relevant scenes from "Romeo and Juliet" for classroom interpretation. Suggests that by providing students the vocabulary to discuss the film, educators can encourage them to look…

Encourages modification of teaching strategies to facilitate academic achievement among students from diverse groups. Describes how the author collaborated with professionals from the Folger Library's Teaching Shakespeare Institute to develop a better way to teach Shakespeare to her predominantly African-American students. Describes how her…

Presents a brief quiz designed to focus on facts often forgotten or about which misperceptions typically swirl, and to concentrate attention on the lives of children and young adults during the Renaissance. Notes that the answers to the quiz are followed by explanations arranged, like the quiz, in three sections that provide some information about…

Presents a condensed method for involving students in the kind of theatrical problem-solving that transforms a script to a play. Describes how to incorporate a "human slide show" into the class. Notes that students must read plays not just to understand events, but to make artistic choices about how to stage the action so that an audience…

Discusses two approaches that engage both students and teachers as they come to share an understanding of Shakespeare's relevance to all ages. Suggests teaching Shakespeare through picture books and through music. Notes that one of the first ways to modernize Shakespeare is to allow students to interact with the work. (SG)

Considers how the successful teaching of Shakespeare represents the ultimate challenge for many English teachers, one that measures their ability to enlighten and inspire. Discusses how her colleague approaches teaching Shakespeare to eight graders. Describes how she approaches teaching Henry V to her ninth grade students. (SG)

Presents the author's experiences as a kind of case study of what it looks and sounds like when "doing" Shakespeare is in the foreground of instruction and "play" is the thing that makes that happen. Discusses guidelines and suggestions for putting a play together. (SG)

Considers how to relate great Shakespearean works to teenagers whose only question is how to get out of "doing" school. Suggests that English teachers need to view technology as a means of collecting information, capturing ideas, and making meaning. Discusses WebQuests, web sites, PowerPoint presentations, software, and tutorials to make the Bard…

Suggests that in addition to using books and movies to enhance students' understanding of Shakespeare, teachers can add the World Wide Web to their repertoire to help students connect to Shakespeare. Presents annotations of 12 websites to use for teaching Shakespeare. (SG)

Notes that professional reflection is a powerful aspect of practice and, in welcoming many "English Journal" colleagues back to another academic year, the author suspects that many are thinking a good deal about grading. Discusses the importance of feedback for student writing. Suggests the need to relocate teacher feedback to the public forums of…

Presents a collection of excerpts from a recent virtual class discussion students (primarily senior English majors planning to become English teachers) had on a course listserv regarding young adult literature. Contains annotations of 10 recommended works of YA literature. (SG)

Describes the positive results when a high school English teacher decided to have her students choose poems to be presented to and discussed by the class. Notes that Alice Walker's poems were chosen often by the students. Suggests students began to have a genuine interaction with these poems they chose themselves. (RS)

Presents brief essays from 12 secondary English teachers describing their favorite poetry teaching activities. (RS)

Describes poems that come to the author's mind as she goes about her day as a (former) middle school teacher and currently as an inservice and preservice teacher educator. Demonstrates the role poetry plays in everyday life. (RS)