Hamlet: A classic

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo k
• Leerjaar 2

For the teacher:

**The lesson is divided into four sections (pre-listening, listening, post-listening, closing) which are indicated by green slides that are hidden from student view. 

**Presentation notes for many slides are available for while you are teaching.

**The basic lesson lasts around 30-minutes. A ⏰ in the presentation notes indicates material that would likely lengthen the lesson to over 30 minutes. 

**A 🚀 in the presentation notes denotes a tip or extra material.

**This lesson can be taught to a group or given as an individual assignment. Depending on which you choose, you may need to change a slide's visibility. 

A ⚠️ will be in the presentation notes if this is the case.

Hamlet: a classic

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students...

1. ...can understand the important points of the story of Hamlet on video by putting the different parts of the story in the correct order

2. ...know who Shakespeare was

3. ...are familiar with the importance of Shakespeare's legacy.

4. ...can mention three/four pieces of information about Hamlet (Shakespeare)

5. ...can give one or two examples that show the relevance of Hamlet /Shakespeare in modern day culture.

pre-listening

LOOK at the cartoon. 

(kijk naar het plaatje)

Have the students look at the cartoon and then complete the mindmaps on the following three slides.

What caught your attention?
(Wat valt je op in het plaatje?)

[If necessary, you can zoom into the image.]

What does the skull look like?
(Waar lijkt de schedel op?)

[If necessary, you can zoom into the image.]

Why is the man wearing old-fashioned clothes?
(Waarom draagt de man ouderwetse kleren?)

[If necessary, you can zoom into the image.]

Ask “Why is the man wearing old-fashioned clothes?” Link it to Hamlet/Shakespeare (To be or not to be, the clothes) – explain what the function of a cartoon is. Don’t forget to comment that Hamlet was such an important play in the 17th century that it is still used nowadays. The same happens to other plays of Shakespeare. You might mention Romeo and Juliet. 

🚀 ⏰ TIP for higher levels: (if you want to dive deeper into the original story you could explain the scene with the gravediggers and Yorick, but this may be too much for the intended audience.)

Who is

William Shakespeare?

⏰ Students could guess who Shakespeare is or tell what they already know.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)

Ken jij misschien het verhaal van Romeo en Juliet? Naast Hamlet, is dit ook geschreven door Shakespeare, die wordt beschouwd als de belangrijkste Engelse schrijver en de grootste toneelschrijver ooit . Zijn werk is vertaald naar bijna alle gesproken talen en wordt nog steeds uitgevoerd in theaters over de hele wereld. Hij heeft o.a. 39 toneelstukken en 154 sonnetten (soort gedicht) geschreven. 

(Lees meer op Wikipedia!)

listening

Instructions:

Watch the video that is on the next slide.

As you watch, write down 

the names of the characters.

https:

[Link to the Hamlet video]

Play twice. 

First time through, students have the task of writing down character names.

Replay the video and instruct the students to focus on understanding the story.

⏰Play a third time to increase understanding.

Wie was een karakter in het filmpje?

Laertes

Hamlet

Romeo

Julius

Ophelia

Sybil

Gertrude

Polonius

Horace

Claudius

Horatio

Garfunkel

⚠️Option 1 (group/verbal response): When the students are done watching, ask them to name the characters they have written down.

⚠️⏰Option 2 (individual or group): This drag and drop 

post-listening

Put the story in the correct order

• Denk aan de video die je zojuist gezien hebt.  
  
• In de volgende dia, zet de alinea’s in de goede volgorde zodat het verhaal klopt.

💥Woordhulp nodig?💥

Als een woord zwart is, is die ook te vinden aan de linkerkant van de dia. Klik erop om de vertaling te zien.

angry

boos

confused

in de war

ghost

spook

to kill

vermoorden

mean

gemeen

to marry

trouwen

play

toneelstuk

poison

vergif

to punish

straffen

sad

verdrietig

strangely

vreemd

sword

zwaard

thirsty

dorstig

truth

waarheid

upset

overstuur/boos

worried

bezorgd

Hamlet now acts very strangely. He is mean and angry, and he upsets his girlfriend, Ophelia. ‘Go away! Leave me alone!’

‘Oh, he is so mean!’ Ophelia cries.

 Claudius is very worried about Hamlet now and makes a plan with Ophelia’s brother, Laertes. ‘You will fight him and we will put poison on the sword and in his drink too.’ Laertes and Hamlet fight. Laertes cuts Hamlet, but in the fight Hamlet takes Laertes’ sword and cuts him with it too!

Many years ago in Denmark there was a prince called Hamlet. One day Hamlet’s father, the king, dies suddenly and Hamlet is very sad.

After this, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, gets married again very quickly. She marries her husband’s brother, Claudius, and Claudius is now the king!

‘Aargh! How could you do this to me!’ Hamlet shouts.

‘Here, Hamlet, drink this.’ ‘No, thank you, Mother. I’m not thirsty.’

‘No, don’t!’ ‘It was him! He poisoned us all!’ Finally, Hamlet knows he must stop Claudius. ‘Aargh! Have this and this!’ All the royal family are now poisoned and Hamlet tells his friend that there must be a new king. ‘Goodbye, my prince’ says Horatio.

One day a group of actors come to the castle and Hamlet makes a plan. He asks the actors to change their play. The new play will show a king poisoned like Hamlet’s father. ‘With this play I will catch the king.’ When Claudius watches the play he looks very worried and runs away. Hamlet sees him and he knows the truth. 

One night Hamlet’s friend, Horatio, tells him that there is a ghost in the castle. It is the ghost of Hamlet’s father! ‘Claudius killed me with poison! Hamlet, you must punish Claudius for me!’ Hamlet is confused. He doesn’t know if he believes the ghost and he doesn’t know what to do. 

Once the students have put the story in order, check their understanding.

Options:

You could have the students....

• ... tell the story in Dutch box by box.
• ... explain how they figured out the order of the story.
• ... define important words.

Why care about Hamlet?

Three Reasons!

Drie redenen over Hamlet te zorgen

SO? WHO CARES?

...en?

Teacher says: 

We used Hamlet--a short version--to practice reading and listening because it is very important to English and international culture. Why do you think people still care about Hamlet?

Wat denk je?
Waarom houdt Hamlet ons
nog steeds bezig ?

Good advice.

(er zit goed advies in)

#1

Teacher says:

Shakespeare includes some advice in the original play. What do you think of the advice he gives?

Tell the students that the following slides are polls and that they will give their opinion on whether they think the advice is good or not.

Listen to many people.
Talk with only a few people.

👍

👎

🤷‍♀️

Teacher asks:

Do you agree? Disagree? 

Don't borrow money from a friend.

👍

👎

🤷‍♀️

Think before you speak.

👍

👎

🤷‍♀️

Buy good clothes that aren't trendy.

👍

👎

🤷‍♀️

Be yourself.
Don't worry about what other people think.

👍

👎

🤷‍♀️

It's a 

great story.

(and we love great stories)

#2

Teacher says:

Another reason to care about Hamlet is because it is a great story, and who doesn't love a great story?

What series, movies, or
books do you like?

Teacher says:

What stories do you like? Think about movies, books, series, comics.

Why do you like them?
Leuke personages? Gevoelens?
Humor? Mooi verhaal? Typ iets in!

Teacher says:

What are some of the reasons you like those stories? Do they have good characters? Are they funny? Is their lots of action?

Hamlet has all of those!

Teacher says:

Hamlet has interesting characters, humour, emotions, and a good plot including a ghost and a mystery!

Shakespeare is 

an influencer.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/a-history-of-the-influencer-from-shakespeare-to-instagram

(Zelfs na 450 jaren!)

#3

Teacher says:

Shakespeare is an influencer. Even after 450 years, Shakespeare's work -- especially Hamlet-- is still being performed.

Hamlet is one of the most popular plays of all time

#2 meest gefilmde verhaal ter wereld

elke minuut van iedere dag wordt Hamlet opgevoerd

vertaald naar minstens 75 talen, inclusief Klingon

Teacher reads either the slide or the following translation: 

Check out these statistics:

• It has been estimated that every minute of every day, Hamlet is performed
• It has been translated to at least 75 languages, including Klingon
• It is the 2nd most filmed story  

⏰ Have students guess which is the most filmed story ever (Cinderella)

Hamlet is overal te zien.

Teacher says:

You can see Hamlet references everywhere in pop-culture: from Donald Duck, to the Lion King; from the Simpsons, to Sesame Street, to Sons of Anarchy.

**on the next slide, play video for 30 seconds through about 2:15**

Teacher says:

Does anyone recognize this famous line?

▶️ Play 1:45 - 2:15

🚀⏰For a higher level class you could watch the entire video.

Teacher says:

It is also used very often in comics. 

🚀⏰Ask the students why they think the line "To be or not to be" gets used so often.

And this skull.

Teacher says:

This skull is also very famous. In the original play, Hamlet talks about the meaning of life while he holds the skull of someone he once knew.

Why care about Hamlet?

#1: Get some good advice

#2: It's a good story

#3: Its influence on culture!

--

#1: Krijg wat goede advies

#2: Leuke verhaal

#3: Invloed op cultuur!

Teacher says:

So: Why do we still care about hamlet?

[read the slide.]

closing 

What do you remember?

• Who was Shakespeare?
• Why is Shakespeare / Hamlet still important?
• What are the most important points of Hamlet?

⚠️ Option 1 (group/verbal answers): The bulletpoints will appear one at a time so that you can ask the students for verbal answers to each question.

⚠️⏰ Option 2 (individual or group): Students answer the questions on the following slides. 

Who was Shakespeare?
Why is he important?

⚠️ ⏰

What is one thing you could tell someone else about Hamlet?

⚠️⏰

What questions do you have?

The End