Erickson and Savoie Hamlet Unit Plan
One way to encourage student’s engagement with the text is to do small group work where the groups have been previously
selected, placing some of the stronger people amongst the students who are struggling. By allowing students to discuss key
passages in small groups, they are able to talk their way through the scene and work amongst their peers to come to a
conclusion about the text. This takes the pressure off of them being afraid to ask questions in front of the class, where they
can discuss amongst their peers and work together to find the answer.
Extension
Some students may be able to work through the play with ease and may wish to take a more challenging project under their
wing. If there are a couple students who are in this boat, you may get them to recreate a scene or two from the play with full
costume, set, and props, and video tape their performance. This would be an activity to engage the excelling students, as
well as being able to show the video to the class you can spark a class discussion on the scene, and ask the students to
justify why they filmed their scenes the way they did. This allows the students to think about the story as being a play, and
what aspects of a play are important to highlight within the work that we don’t necessarily see when we’re reading (such as
characters who are in a scene but not saying anything).
Even though neither of the authors here have read it, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is supposed to be a
great reworking of the Hamlet plot. It is on the Oprah Book Club and has received much praise. The modern prairie setting
may appeal to Albertan students. Also, for dog lovers, these animals play a big role in the novel. Excelling students could
either read this book for enjoyment, or they could do a compare-contrast written assignment with it and the Shakespearean
text. That, or students could respond artistically to it somehow.
If you’re living in a city, theatre companies often put on Shakepearean plays. If possible, try to arrange for your class to view
a live performance of the play. Along with theatre companies, many high schools or universities also put on these plays, so
if you can find one of these educational facilities doing a performance, you can often arrange for your class to stop in and
see a dress rehearsal (free of charge!).
Lesson Plans
Possible Sponge Activities
Students can rewrite any key passages from the current act being worked on in modern English.
Act out a scene in front of the class, getting volunteers to read and do their best to physically act out the scene as
well.
Get students to draw a scene from Hamlet in a comic style. It can be drawn with any kind of interpretation, with the
characters as people, stickmen, or even animals.
Students can write in their journal (or to hand in separately) which character in Hamlet they feel like they can relate
to the best and why.
Lesson #1A: Introduction to Hamlet – Timeless Themes and Hopeless Dreams
(in-depth lesson plan attached)
Introduction Activity:
Concept Web: Ask students to work independently or in small groups to create a word web or other graphic organizer that
explores one or more of the following concepts: fate, revenge, ambition, guilt, mortality, or indecisiveness. You might
encourage students who are having difficulty in getting started to define the concept, give examples that illustrate it, and list