Increase Students' Background Knowledge About William Shakespeare & His Works!

No matter which of Shakespeare's works you are studying, Celeste Davidson Mannis's book Who Was William Shakespeare? will give your students excellent background information. The text is written on about a 4th grade level and provides a thorough yet compact summary of Shakespeare's life and works, in about 100 pages of easy-to-read text plus illustrations. This book is ideal for a study of Shakespeare in lower grades and a great way to cover essential background information for students studying any of Shakespeare's plays/works in higher grades.

Note: This product, Literature Lessons: Who Was William Shakespeare? is written as a workbook and study guide to go along with the text.  When you order this pdf downloadable product, you are given the option of adding one copy of Celeste Davidson Mannis's paperback book to go along with it. If you want more than one copy, you can order them separately here. 

This workbook is recommended for use in grades 6-12, though advanced students in lower grades may be able to handle the assignments.

The reading assignments are broken down into roughly two-chapter segments. Each segment has vocabulary work, fill in the blanks, multiple choice, critical thinking, writing skills, and a review puzzle.

The goals of this workbook are to help students understand what they read, think about what they read, and remember the important facts about William Shakespeare.

This book and workbook can be used as a stand-alone study of Shakespeare, especially in the lower grades or for low level students in the upper grades.

In the upper grades, this book and workbook would be an excellent extra project to assign students who are reading any of Shakespeare's works. The reading level of the text is about on a 4th grade level, so older students should be able to easily read the text. The point in doing this book in the upper grades would be to give students a concise non-fiction account of Shakespeare and his works, as background knowledge. This also will help fulfill related non-fiction reading for the CCSS.

• The Vocabulary section is intended to familiarize students with words from the text that they may not know.
• The Fill in the Blanks section is intended to encourage close reading and reinforce important facts.
• The Multiple Choice section is intended as a self-quiz, so students can see what they have retained from their reading, as well as another review of important ideas.
• The Critical Thinking section is intended to make students think about what they have read and to encourage higher level thinking skills.
• The Writing Skills section is also intended to make students think more about what they have read as well as to practice important writing skills.
• The Crossword Review puzzles for each section is, again, meant to reinforce important names or ideas from the text.
• At the end of the reading of the book, there are some Whole Book Review materials to help students remember important people, places, events, and ideas about William Shakespeare.

Along the way, in the unit of study, we’ve tried to educate students with some good life lessons as well–practical and helpful tips, things to think about, and so on.