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Teaching Shakespeare Here and Now, For Real: Lessons from the Folger Shakespeare Library and from Folger Classrooms

Noelle Cammon; Peggy O'Brien; and Corinne Viglietta

Imagine a classroom that is buzzing with the energy of student-driven learning, with the voices of students speaking Shakespeare alongside authors of other cultures, races, centuries, and genders. Where a respectful classroom community undertakes Shakespeare broadly and truthfully—confronts the problems, the beauty, the harm, the wisdom, and the ambiguity. Where studying Shakespeare is studying race, representation, and power, and talking back to Shakespeare is part of what’s happening—students working together to make meaning of his text and then collectively offering their own counterpoint. Where small groups discuss, with textual evidence and passion, which parts of a text are the most compelling and which performance choices will bring those forward. Where all students bring their identities, customs, perspectives, and home languages—their whole selves—to their own fresh performances of scenes. Where students are doing the lion’s share of the work, and the teacher, who has thoughtfully set up this ongoing discovery, is observing from the side. Where what matters most are the sparks that fly when students interact directly with a complex text and with each other. Where everyone is engaged in something that feels important. Where every student realizes they can do hard things on their own and make real contributions to the ongoing human conversation.

This classroom is in fact many classrooms. Some context:

For forty years, the Folger has prioritized our collection—the largest Shakespeare collection in the world—and prioritized bringing new scholarship and a specific, inclusive methodology into the lives and work of secondary-school teachers and their students. Teachers are the precious engines that ignite students’ curiosity and lifelong love of literature. We know that teachers are doing the most important work on Earth on a daily basis. They are an institutional priority at the Folger.

A cornerstone of our work with teachers is the Folger Method, a way of teaching and learning Shakespeare (and other literature as well, we have learned) that is authentic, and effective in engaging students of all ability levels in meaningful learning. Peggy O’Brien and her students in their DC public high-school classroom are responsible for the gist and the heart of the Method. Over time, at the Folger, this method has been enhanced, refined, and tested in collaboration with working schoolteachers, scholars, and actors. Involving scholarship and classroom practice that is active and inclusive, it provides students with opportunities to make their own discoveries about all that is going on in these plays. Teachers across the United States are using the Folger Method to engage every single student in the kind of active, direct, and hands-on learning described above, and in their classrooms, we regularly see some version of the classroom picture described above.

What does the Folger Method have to do with seeing elements of race, power, and humanity in Shakespeare then, and in the here and now? Everything. When students learn this way, there is no shying away from “the rich jewel in the Ethiope’s ear” or “Out, tawny Tartar, out!” Instead, students question the language, examine primary sources, connect the there and then to the here and now.

They collaborate, they inquire and interpret, and they perform their own responses to Shakespeare.

First in the Folger Method is to ask students to see and hear the language on the page. What’s in those words? Quickly they notice “pale complexion” or Caliban’s “vile race.” Race is everywhere in Shakespeare, often intersecting with culture, religion, gender. To help teachers navigate these moments is important to us.

All of the Folger’s work with teachers is collaborative—staff, scholars, and working teachers who are on the front line in real time. Their knowledge and experience are essential. We work together on professional development for schoolteachers—online in both short bursts and course-length sessions, and in live weekend intensives, summer academies, and institutes in person at the beautifully expanded Folger. Perhaps our latest and greatest thus far are The Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare—five volumes each diving deeply into Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream—packed with what teachers told us they needed: more—and juicy—information about the play, an excellent and accessible scholarly essay, and a day-by-day five-week unit that takes teacher and students through the play via the Folger Method. (Published during in the 2024–2025 school year, they are available at shop.folger.edu).

Scholarship is an important part of what the Folger brings to middle and high school teachers. Their schedules are so heavily packed that they have little time to dive into it. Folger Education staff and the thousands of teachers in our national community continue to benefit from collaborations with many RB4R scholars including Ayanna Thompson, Ian Smith, Ruben Espinosa, Kim Hall, Kyle Grady, Patricia Akhimie, Ambereen Dadabhoy, Margo Hendricks, and David Sterling Brown. We we teach it intentionally and critically—together.

Our work with scholars and the principles foundational to the Folger Method are evident in the two lessons below—examples of what and how we teach. They—as is everything we do—are based on the Folger Method’s 8 Foundational Principles.

The Folger Method: 8 Foundational Principles

  1. Shakespeare’s language is not a barrier but a portal. The language is the way in. Language is where the presence and work of power, gender, race, and humanity does much of its work, and diving into that is where students gain the tools for interrogating and resisting.
  2. All students and teachers deserve the real thing—and that means Shakespeare’s original language, access to primary source materials, new information that expands our understanding of history, and honest conversations about the dynamic of race, difference, and power that is present in every Shakespeare play.
  3. Give up Shakespeare worship. If your Shakespeare lives on a pedestal, take him down and move him to a space where he can talk to everyday people and great writers like Toni Morrison and Julia Alvarez, Frederick Douglass and Joy Harjo, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Azar Nafisi, Amy Tan and George Moses Horton, Jane Austen and Pablo Neruda, and James Baldwin and Homer.
  4. Throw out themes, tidy explanations, and the idea of a single right interpretation. Resist the urge to wrap up a text with a neat bow. Don’t shy away from problems in the text. Help students identify the problems the text presents and then investigate them.
  5. The teacher is not the explainer but rather the architect. You set up a zone of inquiry and discovery, provide students with tools to work with, step back, and watch your students and Shakespeare discover each other. Get out of the way and let your students teach you new ways of seeing the connections between there and then, and here and now.
  6. Amplify the voice of every single student. Leave space for students to bring their whole selves to the process of reading, analysis, and learning. Shakespeare has something to say to everybody, and everybody has something to say back to Shakespeare. Student voices, both literal and figurative, are essential to this work. The future of the humanities—and our world—depends on the insights and contributions of all students.
  7. The Folger Method is a radical engine for equity. Every student can learn this way, and every teacher can teach this way. In the end, all students read closely, interrogate actively, and make meaning from texts. In the end, students can confront how difference, power, and representation work in literature as well as life.
  8. All of this sets students on fire with excitement about literature. Active reading that brings mysteries, surprises, and meaningful discussion motivates students to read closely and cite evidence. And they gain confidence in their ability to tackle the next challenge.

These principles are paired with 9 Folger Essentials—classroom practices that put students squarely in the midst of Shakespeare’s language and supply tools that students use to navigate their way through a text with little help from the teacher. (For more specifics on the Essentials, what they are and the learning that students derive from them, see The Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare and/or www.folger.edu/teach.)

This chapter includes two lessons created by public high-school teacher and Folger mentor teacher Noelle Cammon. Macbeth Through a New Lens gets students exploring the work of the African Grove Theatre (New York, 1820s). Beauty in Black and White pairs the work of two very different writers and their perceptions of beauty: Maya Angelou and William Shakespeare

The format of these lessons (and all Folger lessons, actually) is the result of advice from many working schoolteachers and testing by a smaller number of them. Teachers asked us specifically to include the final “Here’s What Just Happened in Class” section in each lesson because, for many teachers, this is a very different way of teaching. “If you’re a teacher trying a number of new things in class,” Folger mentor teacher Ashley Bessicks advised, “at first you may not be able to see where the learning is happening. So be sure to point that out.”

Both of these lessons include Choral Reading, a popular Folger Essential that brings students’ voices and Shakespeare’s words together in a way that sets a low bar to entry and offers big returns. Folger teachers and ultimately their students often use Choral Reading as an initial step to experiencing Shakespeare in a different way and later places in a unit because it moves students to collaboration and understanding.

As you consider these lessons below, know that the Folger is committed to this work and that we’d love to work with you! As always, we offer a range of PD, and a Teacher Membership for educators looking to deepen their relationship with the Folger and access hundreds of online resources. Yet we are still in process, for sure. We’d love to learn from you and collaborate with you. At the heart of everything we do is the knowledge that schoolteachers do the most important work on earth. Working with you would be an honor.

Lesson #1: Black Macbeth

What We’re Doing and Why

Students will get into the play Macbeth and into the experience of early Black Shakespearean actors simultaneously. Students will see the parallels between the inner turmoil of Macbeth and the struggles of actors. Students will be able to interpret and apply the words of Shakespeare to real-life struggles, particularly of Black actors and of Black Americans then and now.

James Hewlett is the first known Black Shakespearean actor. He performed with The African Company at the African Grove Theatre in New York City in the 1820s. The African Company had many detractors who sought to discourage Black performers from playing Shakespeare. In the quote students will read, Hewlett is responding to a white actor in England who has mocked the African Grove.

What I Will Need
  • Slides or paper copies of
    • Selection about the African Grove Theatre—RESOURCE 1
      View JPG | Download PDFSee page 313
    • James Hewlett’s quote (select words in bold)—RESOURCE 2
      View JPG | Download PDF See page 314
    • Excerpt from Macbeth, Act One, scene 7 (select words in bold)—RESOURCE 3
      View JPG | Download PDFSee page 315
    • A “smashed” version (mash-up) of both speeches—RESOURCE 4
      View JPG | Download PDFSee page 316
    How to Arrange the Room

    Make space to create (a) a big standing circle of your whole class of students and (b) two parallel lines of students in the center or at the front of the room.

    Agenda

    Background: 5–10 minutes
    Choral Reading: 15–20 minutes
    Reflection and Discussion: 15–20 minutes

    What Students Hear (You Say) and (Then They’ll) Do

    QUICK BACKGROUND
    Today you will be analyzing two texts. One is a speech from Macbeth; the other is a quotation from Black actor James Hewlett. Hewlett’s company at the African Grove Theatre in 1820s New York had many detractors who sought to discourage Black performers from playing Shakespeare. You will read the Macbeth and Hewlett texts separately and together to see how the art of Shakespeare imitates the lives of the very people who performed his work.

    1. But first let’s talk about the hateration, the hatred or hostility you’re about to uncover. Let’s have a brave volunteer read the selection about the African Grove Theatre—RESOURCE 1.
    2. Now that we’ve all heard this, what observations do you have? What is ironic about the audiences of the theatre? Why were the white audience members hating on the Black Shakespeareans in their own theatre? How do you think this makes the Black Shakespearean performers feel? What other observations do you have?

    CHORAL READING #1—James Hewlett

    1. Read the Hewlett selection as loud and fast as you can while still staying together with the rest of the class.
    2. Read the selection again, also loud and fast. Think about how you feel when you argue with your family. Read it that way.
    3. By a show of fingers (1=I’m lost, 3=I’ve got this!), indicate your understanding of the speech.
    4. Now, read it again, but this time shout the bold words and whisper the regular text.
    5. Let’s try that again. Really shout those bold words.
    6. By a show of fingers again, indicate your understanding.
    7. Next, I’m going to ask two volunteers (Reader 1 and Reader 2) to read the speech by alternating lines.
    8. By a show of fingers, indicate your understanding again.
    9. What do you notice about this speech? What do you hear?
    10. What do you think Hewlett is thinking about or feeling? How do you know?

    CHORAL READING #2—Macbeth

    1. Read the Macbeth speech as loud and fast as you can while still staying together with the rest of the class.
    2. Read the quote again, loud and fast. Think about how you feel when you argue with your family. Read it that way.
    3. By a show of fingers (1=I’m lost, 3=I’ve got this!), indicate your understanding of the speech.
    4. Now, read it again, but this time shout the bold words and whisper the regular text.
    5. Let’s try that again. Really shout those bold words.
    6. By a show of fingers, indicate your understanding.
    7. Next, two volunteers (Reader 1 and Reader 2) will read the speech by alternating lines.
    8. By a show of fingers, indicate your understanding.
    9. What do you notice about this speech? What do you hear?
    10. What do you think the character Macbeth is thinking about or feeling? How do you know?

    CHORAL READING #3—THE MASH-UP

    1. Next, form two lines that face each other.
    2. Using the “smashed text,” or mash-up, you will alternate between the Hewlett quote and Macbeth.
    3. After this reading, check again for understanding using the finger system. If more students are holding up two fingers, ask: What do you notice about this new piece? Compare the two pieces. What feelings do each of the speakers express? How do they work together?
    4. Remind students to point out words or lines in the speech that help them to develop their answers.
    5. Read the speech again; this time try assigning a volume to side 1 and side 2 (side 1 will always shout; side 2 will always whisper). After this reading, check in again: What new understanding do students have of the texts, especially when smashed? Did they think the dynamics were appropriate for what their side read? Why or why not?
    6. If another reading is needed to boost comprehension of what’s being said, try one of these variations:
      • Start soft; each side gets increasingly louder.
      • Start loud; each side gets increasingly softer.
      • Each line takes one small step toward the center each time they read.
      • Lines begin facing each other and take one step away each time they read.
    1. Let’s think through the separate parts: What new understanding do you have of Hewlett’s perspective? Of Macbeth’s mindset? What words or phrases are still unclear? What further observations do you have?
    2. What was the effect of reading them together and of the mash-up? Observations and questions?
    3. Perhaps give some further questions to prompt their thinking:
      • Do characters speak the same words?
      • Face the same conflicts?
      • Make similar choices?
      • Express the same (or very different) ideas?
      • Are writers making similar choices or addressing similar topics in separate places and times?
      • What is powerful about speaking your truth?
      • Do these texts make you wonder anything about your world today?
    Here’s What Just Happened in Class
    • Students made sense of complex texts without your help.
      • Hewlett is grappling with racism and prejudice in a world that does not want him.
      • Macbeth is grappling with the futility of life
      • Paired together, the texts show the futility of a Black man’s words to a white audience
    • Students explored multiple interpretations of words, lines, and meanings in two complex texts.
    • Students connected there and here, then and now: Shakespeare’s Macbeth, James Hewlett and the nineteenth-century African Grove Theatre in New York, and the worlds of students living today.
    • Students made a personal connection with Hewlett and Macbeth.

    Lesson #2: Beauty in Black and White

    What We’re Doing and Why

    This lesson asks students to interrogate what beauty is and who gets to decide. It can stand alone or launch a larger unit on poetry, voice, identity, and the gaze. When taught as part of a Romeo and Juliet unit, it primes students to grapple with racism, sexism, and the problems with the Petrarchan conventions in the play. Students will arrive at their own understandings of two core texts: a speech from Romeo and Juliet (Act One, scene five) and Maya Angelou’s “Ain’t That Bad.” They will evaluate different representations of beauty and experience the importance of talking back to Shakespeare.

    What I Will Need
    • Slides or paper copies of
      • Romeo and Juliet 5.51–60—RESOURCE A
        View JPG | Download PDFSee page 317
      • Cut version of Maya Angelou’s “Ain’t That Bad”— RESOURCE B
        View JPG | Download PDFSee page 318
      • Mash-up version of both speeches—RESOURCE C
        View JPG | Download PDFSee page 319
    How to Arrange the Room

    Make space to create (a) a big standing circle of your whole class of students and (b) two parallel lines of students in the center or at the front of the room.

    Agenda
    • Choral Reading with Built-in Reflection: 40 minutes
    • Writing: 10 minutes
    What Students Hear (You Say) and (Then They’ll) Do

    CHORAL READING #1—Romeo

    1. Here’s the first of multiple passages you’ll be reading today. You’re going to be reading and re-reading a bunch, so don’t stress!
    2. Read this as fast as you can, as loud as you can, and stay together.
    3. Read it again, together, fast, and loud. Do you argue in your family? Read it like that.
    4. Now one person at a time will read to a period, semicolon, exclamation point, dash, or question mark. Read through the commas. Keep reading around the circle until everyone has a turn and the whole passage is read.
    5. Now read it in a whisper, all together.
    6. I need two volunteers to read the passage for us. You will face each other in the middle of the circle. Take turns reading the passage, alternating each time the line breaks. (Person A reads line 1, Person B reads line 2, Person A reads line 3, etc.)
    7. Alright! Bravo!
      1. How was that?
      2. Any observations about what’s happening with this guy Romeo?
      3. What is beautiful to him? What is ugly? What do you think of that?

    CHORAL READING #2—“Ain’t That Bad”

    1. Let’s look at the second passage we have.
    2. Read this as fast as you can, as loud as you can, and stay together.
    3. Read it again, together, fast, and loud. Do you argue in your family? Read it like that.
    4. Now one person at a time will read to a period, semicolon, exclamation point, dash, or question mark. Read through the commas. Keep reading around the circle until everyone has a turn and the whole passage is read.
    5. Now read it in a whisper, all together.
    6. Like last time, I need two volunteers to read the passage for us. Face each other. Take turns reading the passage, alternating each time the line breaks. (Person A reads line 1, Person B reads line 2, Person A reads line 3, etc.)
    7. Alright! Bravo!
      1. How was that?
    8. Any observations about what’s happening with this poem?
    9. What is beautiful to the speaker? What is ugly? What do you think of that?

    CHORAL READING #3—The Mash-up

    1. It’s mash-up time! See what happens when Maya Angelou talks back to Shakespeare. Everyone, divide yourselves into two equal choruses. Make two lines facing each other. Chorus A, read your parts loudly, and Chorus B, you do the same. Read loud and fast!
    2. Try that one more time, this time trying to stay together with your chorus.
    3. Bravo!
      1. How was that?
      2. What did you notice?
      3. What is the effect of reading these texts together? In what ways is “Ain’t That Bad” a counter-text to Romeo’s speech?
      4. What do you wonder about?
      5. What is beauty to you?

    WRITING
    Writing time! Writers, you have three options. You’ll have ten or so minutes to get started in class today.

    • Option #1: Using words and phrases from both Shakespeare and Angelou, write a poem that defines beauty as YOU see it.
    • Option #2: Find another problematic speech or scene in Shakespeare and offer a counter-text. Then create your own mash-up of the two.
    • Option #3: Where do you see race in Shakespeare? Provide textual examples and explain your thinking.
    Here’s What Just Happened in Class
    1. Students have seen that by reading a text multiple times out loud, their comprehension and confidence grow.
    2. Students are able to make inferences and discoveries without any teacher explanation.
    3. Students have identified and interrogated racist notions of beauty in Shakespeare.
    4. Students have explored alternative notions of beauty by close reading Maya Angelou’s “Ain’t That Bad.”
    5. Students are thinking about race and racism in Shakespeare and imagining resistant readings.
    6. Students are questioning how beauty is defined today and why these definitions matter.

    THERE’S MORE TO DO
    The Folger is committed to this work, and we feel that we’re just getting started. Can we work together to continue creating and sharing learning experiences that engage everyone in reading critically and confronting racism? Please find us at www.folger.edu/teach. In November 2024, Simon & Schuster will publish the first three in our five-book series, the Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare on Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, and in the following April, the last two, on Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In those volumes, you’ll find more lessons like the ones in this chapter along with important essays by Ayanna Thompson, Ruben Espinosa, Kim Hall, and Ambereen Dadabhoy.

    Yet there’s always more to do! Teachers—and in particular K–12 teachers—do the most important work on Earth. It is our honor to serve them in this way. Let’s continue together.