The Folger Shakespeare Library provides resources to teach Shakespeare through performance-based methods. It offers professional development programs for teachers, as well as resources for students like online texts, videos, and lesson plans aligned with Common Core standards. The Library's mission is to preserve collections and advance understanding of Shakespeare through educational programming.

1. Folger Education: an Introduction
Please have something to write with ready!
Presented by
Lucretia Anderson and Caitlin Griffin
www.folger.edu/education

2. Located on Capitol Hill in
Washington, DC.
Home to the world’s
largest and finest
collection of Shakespeare
materials and major
collections of other rare
and Early Modern books,
manuscripts, and works
of art.
Folger Shakespeare Library

3. Mission:
• The mission of the Folger Shakespeare Library
is to preserve and enhance its collections; to
render the collections, in appropriate formats,
accessible to scholars; and to
advance understanding and appreciation of
Shakespeare's writings and of the culture of
early modern Europe more generally
through various programs designed for all
students and for the general public.

4. Folger Education
• Provides resources for teaching
Shakespeare for grades 3-12.
• Collaborates with Exhibitions and
Theatre staff to create Study Guides for
exhibits and performances.
• Oversees Docents: Volunteers who lead tours
and greet visitors to the Library.
www.folger.edu/education

5. Folger Education
• We reach hundreds of thousands of teachers and
students locally and nationally each year through:
– Professional Development programs for Teachers
– Free online resources for Teachers, Parents and
Students
– Programs for Students at the Library and in schools,
including Festivals, Performances, Workshops, and
our new annual Electronic Field Trips.
– Programs and resources for Families visiting the
Library
www.folger.edu/education

6. So: How do we do it?
www.folger.edu/education

7. Performance-based teaching is...
an interactive approach to the study of literature, particularly
Shakespeare's plays and poems, in which students
participate in a close reading of text through intellectual,
physical, and vocal engagement.
Folger Education believes that students can engage
Shakespeare’s texts most effectively when they are on their
feet, working with peers, and speaking some of the greatest
lines in the English language.
The crucial element of performance often makes a
connection that traditional teaching methods may not.
www.folger.edu/education

8. Our Methodology is best illustrated in our
current residency programs:
Shakespeare Steps Out (3rd-6th gr.)
(SSO)
Shakespeare for a New Generation (7th-12th gr.)
(SFANG)
• For more information about SSO: www.folger.edu/sso
Two Videos
www.folger.edu/education

9. Common Core State Standards
•Teaching Shakespeare addresses several Common Core Standards in
Reading: Literature and Informational Text, Speaking and Listening as well as
Language
•The standards mandate certain critical types of content for all students,
including classic myths and stories from around the world, foundational U.S.
documents, seminal works of American literature, and the writings of
Shakespeare.
•From Common Core State Standards ELA K-5
Note on range and content of student reading….
To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read
widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality increasingly
challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of
stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time
periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity
with various text structures and elements.
Our current and ongoing lesson plans align with CCS.

10. Professional Development:
One-Day Workshops and Webinars
for Teachers
• Shakespeare Set Free
• [Insert Play Here] Set Free
• Shakespeare 2.0
• For more information:
www.folger.edu/ssf
www.folger.edu/education

11. Professional Development:
National Institutes
• Shakespeare Set Free
Two Day Institutes with the ESU
(http://www.esuus.org)
• NEA Grant-funded:
Teaching Shakespeare Institute
4 weeks at the Folger
• For more information:
www.folger.edu/tsi2012
www.folger.edu/education

12. Professional Development:
Conferences
• Annually presenting at NCTE and STA
(National Conference for Teachers of English)
(Shakespeare Theatre Association)
• World Presence: appeared at Royal
Shakespeare Company and Tate Modern’s Worlds
Together Conference in London Summer 2012
• Elementary Educators’ Conference
Hosted at the Folger June 24-26, 2013
• For more information:
www.folger.edu/EEC
www.folger.edu/education

13. Digital Resources
www.folger.edu/education

14. Web Resources for Teachers
www.folger.edu/education
• Get Ready. Still have those
writing utensils?

15. As well as a host of
accessible resources for
studying Shakespeare’s
Plays.
Recently, we’ve started a
We also feature Audio
Lesson Plans collection of
fast-growing for all of the
and Video Resources for
plays (and thedesigned
Lesson Plans Sonnets)
teachers to explore and
…and English Language
specifically for
are available.
use in the classroom.
Learners.
Elementary students…

16. Free Texts are Online!
www.folgerdigitaltexts.org

17. We’re on YouTube!
www.youtube.com/folgerlibrary

18. We’re on iTunes in Podcasts!
Search for “Folger” in iTunes

19. We Blog!
FolgerEducation.wordpress.com

20. We send monthly e-Newsletters!
www.folger.edu/enews
Select: Bard Notes

21. We’re on Facebook!
www.facebook.com/folgereducation

22. We’re on Twitter!
www.twitter.com/folgerlibrary

23. Our Collection is Available Online!

24. We created a Teaching
Shakespeare Toolkit!
www.folger.edu/shop
This one’s not a Digital
Resource, but it does put
everything you’d need to
start teaching
Shakespeare in your
hands!

25. Folger Education: www.folger.edu/education
Lesson Plans: www.folger.edu/LessonPlans
Folger Digital Texts: www.FolgerDigitalTexts.org
YouTube Videos: www.youtube.com/FolgerLibrary
Shakespeare Set Free: www.folger.edu/SSF
Teaching Shakespeare Toolkit: www.folger.edu/shop
Keep in Touch!
Email: Educate@folger.edu
Bard Notes E-Newsletter: www.folger.edu/enews
Education Blog: FolgerEducation.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FolgerEducation
Folger Shakespeare Library
Twitter: www.twitter.com/FolgerLibrary