William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
Lesson plans and other teaching resources

For introductory, background and other resources, try Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Age . For links to other plays, try the Shakespeare Main Page.

60-Second Shakespeare
On this page, a tabloid-style summary of the play from the BBC. Follow links to learn how your students can produce something similar.

Enjoying Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Extensive commentary and related links from a Shakespeare enthusiast.

Olivia, May I?: Movement in Twelfth Night
Students will evaluate the dynamics of the scene using a basic movement game to figure out how Viola's words fail and succeed in wooing Olivia. Designed for about 45 minutes.

Twelfth Night
Reading strategies and activities, including an anticipation guide, magic squares, and Duke Orsino as Elvis singing "Can't Help Falling in Love." Lots of great ideas here!

Twelfth Night
This text of the play includes links to unfamiliar vocabulary.

Twelfth Night
A reader can search this text of the play for specific words and phrases.

Twelfth Night
Plot summary, themes, imagery, discussion questions, more.

Twelfth Night
Links to scholarship and texts of the play.

Twelfth Night
This series of videos depicts scenes from Penn State's School of Theatre production. Each clip can be downloaded, and captions can be turned on or off. Scroll down on the pages with video clips for teaching support in addition to the partner lesson plan link. You will be prompted to create an account with PBS Learning Media after 3 clicks:

• Act I, scene i video (1:50) and lesson plan
• Act I, scene ii video (3:10) and lesson plan
• Act I, scene iii video (7:34) and lesson plan
• Act I, scene iv lesson plan
• Act I, scene v lesson plan
• Act II, scene i lesson plan
• Act II, scene ii video (2:59) and lesson plan
• Act II, scene iii video (8:04) and lesson plan
• Act II, scene iv video (7:31) and lesson plan
• Act II, scene v video (9:37) and lesson plan
• Act III, scene i video and lesson plan
• Act III, scene ii lesson plan
• Act III, scene iii lesson plan
• Act III, scene iv lesson plan
• Act IV, scene i lesson plan
• Act IV, scene ii lesson plan
• Act IV, scene iii lesson plan
• Act V video (16:41) and lesson plan

Twelfth Night Revision
"Revision" here is in the sense of "looking again." In addition to summaries and quizzes, this page links to online games that help students review. My favorites: Shakespeare Shootout, with the Bard as a soccer goalie, and Fling the Teacher.

Twelfth Night, or What you Will Study Guide
Plot summary, commentary, and character analysis.

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
Background, scene summaries and questions, an essay question, and a link to the complete works.