Shakespeare Informational Text, Test Prep, Close Reading, and Poem Puzzle

Before you teach Shakespeare's plays, have your students learn about Shakespeare through this informational text while also practicing test prep and close reading skills! This Shakespeare informational text is designed to spark curiosity about the mysterious life of the bard while also prompting inferencing, reading for context clues, and other Common Core test-taking skills.

After students work hard on their Shakespeare close reading, they will have a chance to be creative by putting together their own poem using words from Shakespeare's most famous quotes. This will give students a chance to practice with Shakespeare's language before diving into one of his plays.

You will get:

⭐3 pages of informational text

⭐14 text-prep questions

⭐1 Poem puzzle template

⭐1 Answer key

This assignment can be printed or used digitally in Google classrooms, Microsoft classrooms, and other LMS providers. Answer key included!

❗Note: This is written to support complex text instruction for high school reading levels. Please take a look at the snippets of the passages in the preview to ensure this level is appropriate for teaching Shakespeare in middle school.