Fun Introduction to Shakespeare Sonnets Unit: Sonnets 18, 130, 73, & Love Songs

Looking for engaging lessons that will give your students the confidence and skills they need to read Shakespeare independently?

So often, teachers think that the only way they can introduce their classes to the Bard is by working through the same old boring power point lectures on when Shakespeare was born, when he died, and where he lived.

But Shakespeare’s work is popular 500 years after he died for a reason. The universal themes and questions of his poetry and plays are still very much relevant today.

If you want to get your classes excited to read the often challenging work of one of our greatest writers, you need an innovative unit that will help them to truly read and understand the words, engage independently with texts, and build the skills they need to read challenging poetry on their own.

This innovative unit focuses on one main question: How do we talk about love? It’s a question that has been asked for centuries, and it is one that has never been fully answered, even by the greatest poets of all time. And yet, it is an important question to ask, especially for teenagers who are still struggling to define their world.

As they work through different answers to that question in this engaging unit, your classes will analyze Shakepeare's Sonnet 18 "[Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?]", Sonnet 130 ”[My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;]", and Sonnet 73 "[That time of year thou mayst in me behold]." Pairing those classic texts with contemporary TED Talks and pop culture, plus non-fiction primary source documents from the period will give your students a unique perspective on an age-old question.

This unit is a great way to introduce a longer unit on a Shakespeare play, and it’s also a great stand-alone unit that will get your classes thinking critically, discussing big ideas, and having fun exploring language and meaning.

The variety of materials, real-life connections, and innovative approaches to the information will keep students engaged and excited about learning. Additionally, the concrete text-based questions and unique sources discourage cheating and encourage students to answer for themselves.

When you teach this unit on love metaphors you will:

• Engage your classes with a contemporary sources such as a fun film clip, a fascinating TED Talk, and a pop song of their choice

• Conquer your students’ fear of poetry by getting them to experiment with their own poetry writing.

• Fulfill common core requirements with fun, low-key lessons.

• Introduce your unit on a Shakespeare play by boosting your students’ confidence in reading his work.

• Give your students the scaffolding they need to work through challenging texts by utilizing the proven questions and graphic organizers included here

• Get your classes to compare the figurative language of Romeo and Juliet with those of a typical compliments of the period by examining primary source documents.

• Add rigor to your lesson plans by inspiring your students to think critically with the ready-to-go handouts, writing prompts, and activities

• Easily teach the unit with Google Classroom using the ready-to-go instructions, links, handouts, and forms.

• Have fun grading student work when you choose from seven summative creative projects, essays, or writing options

• Quickly and easily grade the assessments using the provided rubrics

In all, there is enough here for a full week of rigorous, engaging, and fun lessons.

Pairings: This unit could be paired with any novel or play that deals with themes of love or love poetry such as Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Odyssey, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or Great Expectations.

There are no lectures or power points here—students will do the work themselves, with guidance from you. Rather than telling them what the texts mean, you will empower your students with the confidence and skills to tackle these challenges on their own.