FAQ
Welcome to myShakespeare. Please reach out to us at info@myshakespeare.com or via our Contact form with any additional questions.
How do I register? How do I register my students?
Students and teachers will each need to register individually for their own free accounts. There is no difference between a Teacher account and a Student account, and we do not offer classroom codes or bulk registration.
To create an account, simply click on the “Sign In” button in the top menu on any page. Then click “Register.” You can register using our Google or Clever single-sign-on options, or you can create your account with an email and password.
Please note that using our single-sign-on feature does not provide additional integrations with Google or Clever products; it just means that each time you sign into our site, you’ll sign in using your Google or Clever credentials, rather than entering your email and password. For more on this process, please view our Site Tour Video: https://youtu.be/1fMFlNkkwh0.
Do I need to register? What comes with an account?
Creating a free account will give you access to our account-based features, including interactive reading comprehension and interpretive questions, highlighting and annotating, and to our Notebook, where all your work will be stored. If you do not create an account, you will still be able to read the play, and access all of our multi-media content, including performance videos, interviews with the characters, modern English translations, read-along audio, pop-up notes, and more.
While you do not need to register to use the site, we highly recommend creating a free account to ensure the best, most individualized experience. We do not share or sell your personal information.
How much does myShakespeare cost?
All of myShakespeare is completely free for all users for the 2022-2023 school year. There is no additional cost to create an account and use our account-based features.
How do I change my password?
To change your password, click on the Profile icon on the left in the top menu on any page. Click “My Account.” On the Account page, click the “Change Password” button. Enter your new password, and confirmation, then click Save.
Does myShakespeare offer integrations with Google Classroom or other learning platforms?
At this time, we do not offer direct integrations with Google Classroom, Canvas, or other learning management systems. To share their work with teachers, students can export a copy of their Notebook, and upload the resulting PDF to submit assignments on learning management systems. We do not offer a way for teachers to view all of their students’ work in one place, nor do we provide automatic grading or assessments.
How can I see my students’ work?
There are two ways to view your students' work.
Teachers can create a classroom, which will be assigned a code that you can distribute to your students. This will populate a classroom roster on your Manage Classroom page, where you can click on individual student Notebooks to view a student's work.
Users can also view all of their work in the Notebook feature and export these notes to a printable, shareable PDF, which students can send to their teacher. To do this, make sure you’re signed in, then navigate to your Notebook. Once you’re in the Notebook, you can filter the results by Act, Scene, and other filters. Once you’ve filtered for the desired results, click the Export button and export a PDF to your computer, or save the PDF to your Google Drive. The saved PDF can be submitted as an assignment by sending directly to your teacher or attaching to an assignment on Google Classroom, or other learning management systems. For more on this process, please view our Site Tour Video: https://youtu.be/1fMFlNkkwh0.
What is the Notebook?
The Notebook stores a user’s highlights, annotations, multiple-choice quiz answers, and short written responses. These results are filterable by Act, Scene, type, color, and tag, making it easy to organize notes to help prepare for essays, tests, and other assignments. For more on this, please view our Site Tour Video: https://youtu.be/1fMFlNkkwh0.
How can I print the text?
Please email us at info@myshakespeare.com, or get in touch via our Contact form (https://myshakespeare.com/contact) to request access to printable files.
Do you offer lesson plans?
We offer curriculum guides for four of our plays, available for free on our For Teachers page: https://myshakespeare.com/teachers. We also have suggestions for how to use our features in the classroom and for homework on our Using myShakespeare page: https://myshakespeare.com/using-myshakespeare.
Please contact us at info@myshakespeare.com for more resources, or to set up a meeting with one of our team members to discuss how to integrate myShakespeare into your curriculum.
How can I get in touch with myShakespeare?
Please email us at info@myshakespeare.com, or get in touch via our Contact form: https://myshakespeare.com/contact. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
What plays do you offer? Do you have plans to add more?
We currently offer Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Taming of the Shrew. We plan to add Twelfth Night soon.
How can I use myShakespeare in the classroom?
myShakespeare offers the full and complete text of each play, along with multimedia resources. We can act as your core text for a Shakespeare unit, or a supplement to suit your needs. We also offer curriculum guides for four of our plays, available for free on our For Teachers page (https://myshakespeare.com/teachers), and suggestions for how to use our features in the classroom and at home on our Using myShakespeare page (https://myshakespeare.com/using-myshakespeare).
Please contact us at info@myshakespeare.com for more resources, or to set up a Zoom meeting with one of our team members to discuss how to integrate myShakespeare into your curriculum.
What version of the text do you use?
There is no one definitive edition of Shakespeare’s plays. The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a helpful primer (https://www.folger.edu/publishing-shakespeare) on the history of the publication of Shakespeare’s plays. Over the centuries, editors and publishers have left their own marks on the texts, their changes reflecting historical and cultural concerns and other contexts. In that tradition, we have published our own versions of Shakespeare’s text, taking into consideration the best editorial decisions across the different versions of the texts and adding some of our own to make readable, accessible, and historically accurate versions of the plays. While this may mean that our versions look a little different than ones that you’re used to, our editorial decisions are designed to create an engaging and educational reading experience.
Do you offer resources for English language learners?
In addition to our inter-line gloss (which offers definitions of obscure words just below each line), we also offer a modern Spanish translation of Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, which is available by clicking the En Español button on any Modern English pop-up note. Modern Spanish translations for the other plays will be available soon.
Can I use myShakespeare offline?
While using the site does require an internet connection, we do offer downloadable audio, and printable versions of some of our resources. Please email us at info@myshakespeare.com, or get in touch via our Contact form to request access to printable files: https://myshakespeare.com/contact.
Do you offer webinars or other professional development? How can I learn more?
We are always happy to speak with teachers about our site. If you would like to set up a Zoom meeting to learn more about how myShakespeare can best help you teach these plays, please contact us at info@myshakespeare.com. We can walk you through our features, answer any questions you may have, and brainstorm activities, assessments, and integrations that make use of our unique features.
Why is Act 4, Scene 4 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet shorter than that of other versions?
Our Act 4, Scene 4 of Hamlet is shorter than other common classroom versions of the text. There is no one definitive edition of Shakespeare’s plays. We've chosen to draw primarily from the first folio edition of Hamlet, which does not feature the rest of Act 4, Scene 4 and Hamlet's final, seventh soliloquy (which only appears in the second quarto edition). You can find the Second Quarto edition of the scene, including the soliloquy, here: https://www.playshakespeare.com/hamlet/scenes/act-iv-scene-4. The Wooster Group, a theater company based in New York, has also handily put all three versions of the play side by side, which you can find here: http://www.thewoostergroup.org/projects/hamlet/Q1Q2F.html. For more on these textual discrepancies, the Folger Shakespeare Library offers a helpful primer on the history of the publication of Shakespeare’s plays: https://www.folger.edu/publishing-shakespeare.
