Locked LessonsHome › Shakespeare
Shakespeare escape rooms
Self-checking escape rooms for every act of twelve of Shakespeare's most taught plays, from Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet and The Tempest. Every answer comes from the act, so each room checks reading as well as recall. They work with any edition and suit high school English classes and homeschoolers from about grade 8.
No logins and nothing to install: students open a link on any Chromebook, laptop or tablet. Try the first two locks of any room free.
Macbeth escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Romeo and Juliet escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Julius Caesar escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
A Midsummer Night's Dream escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Hamlet escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Othello escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
King Lear escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
The Tempest escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Twelfth Night escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
Much Ado About Nothing escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
The Merchant of Venice escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
As You Like It escape rooms
Five rooms, one for each act.
For teachers
Each room covers one act, and every answer comes from it, so it checks reading as well as recall. The seven locks:
- Crossword — ten names, places and key words from the act, with clues from the scenes.
- Scrambled names — unscramble seven names or words, with a clue for each.
- Secret message — decode a shift-three cipher and answer the riddle it asks.
- Who's who — match eight characters to what they do in this act.
- Make the pairs — complete four pairs (father and daughter, master and servant…) from a set of cards.
- Odd one out — six rows on characters, lines and events: find the one that does not belong.
- The last lock — choose two of the words earned in locks 1–6 to answer the final clue.
Most students take 30 to 45 minutes. They can work alone or in pairs on any device with a browser, or you can project the room and solve it together. Every answer checks itself, and progress is saved in the browser, so a room can be split across two lessons. The rooms work with any edition and suit high school English classes and homeschoolers from about grade 8.
Questions
Which edition do the rooms use?
Any. The rooms ask about characters, events and famous lines, quoted in standard modern spelling, so they work with Folger, Arden, No Fear Shakespeare or any school edition.
How are the rooms organised?
One room for each act, so every play has five rooms. Students can do a room as they finish each act, or work through all five as review before a test or essay.
Which plays are there?
Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It.
Do students need accounts?
No. Students open a link on any Chromebook, laptop or tablet. There is nothing to install, and progress is saved in the browser so a room can be finished another day.