BBC Bitesize is running a daily programme of online lessons whilst schools are closed. The Bitesize team is publishing new lessons each day this week, devised by us for Year 10 students studying Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

As well as introducing social and historical context, the lessons give students insights into how actors and directors work in the rehearsal room and get students to try out some scenes and speeches at home.

Focussing on Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, the lessons offer special insights from RSC actors and directors about how to decode Shakespeare’s language and develop skills that will help them to write and talk about new texts with confidence.

This is the second of three weeks of RSC Shakespeare lessons on BBC Bitesize - the third week, for Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) runs from 22 to 26 June.

Do today's Shakespeare lesson on BBC Bitesize

BBC Bitesize Daily is designed to support the curriculum and educational needs of children across the nation during the current Coronavirus pandemic. 

As well as the Shakespeare teaching weeks there are also six RSC plays now available on iPlayer as part of the BBC's Culture in Quarantine programme. These are:

• Macbeth - with Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack
• Hamlet - directed by Simon Godwin with Paapa Essiedu
• Romeo and Juliet directed by our Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman
• Much Ado About Nothing - directed by Christopher Luscombe
• Othello - with Hugh Quarshie and Lucian Msamati
• The Merchant of Venice - directed by Polly Findlay