Elizabethan England · 1590-1616

Shakespeare's London

A glover's son from Stratford becomes the most famous playwright in the world. Students explore the crowded London of the Globe Theatre, where courtiers, apprentices and pickpockets watched the same plays, and ask why theatre was so popular.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1600
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A glover's son from Stratford becomes the most famous playwright in the world. Students explore the crowded London of the Globe Theatre, where courtiers, apprentices and pickpockets watched the same plays, and ask why theatre was so popular.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe what a visit to the Globe Theatre was like around 1600.
  • Locate Stratford-upon-Avon, London and two foreign settings of Shakespeare's plays.
  • Explain why theatre was popular, and why some people opposed it.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1600

From Stratford to London

Open the map in 1600 and zoom in on England. Find Stratford-upon-Avon in the Midlands and London on the Thames. How long might the journey of about 150 km take on foot or on horseback?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1600

A great city

Turn on the Cities layer in 1600 and compare London with Paris. Which is bigger? Why would a large and growing city need entertainment?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1600

Stories from abroad

Zoom out over Europe. Find Verona and Venice in Italy and Elsinore on the strait into the Baltic. Why would Shakespeare set plays in places most of his audience would never see?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why were many theatres built on the south bank of the Thames, outside the control of the City of London?
  2. A standing place at the Globe cost a penny. Why did rich and poor people watch the same plays?
  3. Theatres were closed when plague was bad in London. Why?
  4. Puritans wanted the theatres shut for good. What were their arguments?
  5. Why do you think Shakespeare's plays are still performed all over the world?
4

Game round

9 min

Play a round of Rule History as Elizabeth I, whose court watched plays by Shakespeare's company, while her officials checked every script before it was performed. Discuss: why would a ruler want popular theatre to flourish, and also watch it closely?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.