Let Your Students “Speak the Speech”: The Academic and Social Benefits of a Performance-Based Approach to Teaching Shakespeare’s Plays to Middle School and High School Students

Abstract Most students meet Shakespeare in middle or high school, on a page in a book in an English classroom. This first encounter is a disservice to the students themselves and to Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s plays are works of both literature and theatre, and should be taught as such. A performance-based teaching approach not only provides high school students, like me, and middle school students with the richest understanding of Shakespeare’s plays but also offers a wide array of transcendent academic and social benefits. From increased vocabulary to deeper emotional connections, these benefits help middle and high schoolers grow as students and as individuals. Guided by the opinions of teaching artists, I relive my own middle and high school experiences with Shakespeare to demonstrate the merits of the performance-based approach, both under normal circumstances and during the COVID-19 pandemic.