The RSC Shakespeare toolkit for teachers (Revised edition) by the Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company's education manifesto calls for students to be allowed to do Shakespeare on their feet, to see it live and to start it early. This book is part of that manifesto and is aimed at KS2 and 3, for teachers who do not have specialist training in either Shakespeare or drama. The book has a very clear layout with teacher notes on delivery and potential questions for students. There are worksheets that can be directly photocopied for use in the classroom and additionally there is an accompanying CD–ROM that could be used to print the worksheets or display them in the lessons using a projector or smart board.

Three texts are looked at in depth in this edition: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet. The activities can be done as one-off lessons, or systematically in the order in which they appear in the book. Many activities and questions would be (and proved to be when I tried them out) totally relevant for KS4 as well as KS3. I did wonder if some elements might be a little challenging for KS2, but I would bow to a higher authority regarding this, as that's not my specialist area.

Overall, I felt the book was more relevant for English at times. While not revolutionary, the book could certainly save a teacher hours of searching for resources and planning, and it would get students engaged with Shakespeare – it therefore delivers what it promises.