ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (8) 3 :

3. Analyze how authors use key literary elements, including setting, plot, theme, characters, internal and external conflict, dialogue, and point of view, to contribute to the meaning and purpose of a text, using text evidence as support.

[ELA2021] (8) 27 :

27. Synthesize and present information during the research process to answer follow-up questions and participate in both informal and formal discussions about research findings with grade-appropriate command of language.

Students use Shakespeare's Secret, a featured title on the Teachers' Choices Booklist (International Reading Association, 2006), as a springboard to the exploration of the controversy regarding the authorship of Shakespeare's works. The novel makes liberal use of the historical details surrounding William Shakespeare's life and exposes students to the possibility raised by some theorists that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the works that have long been attributed to the Bard. Students explore the historical references in the novel and generate questions for further research. As they research these questions on suggested websites, they organize their findings with the help of the ReadWriteThink Notetaker. Then they work in small groups to create and present short dramatic skits that creatively connect the novel with the historical facts.