Teaching Julius Caesar was part of the 10th grade curriculum. I liked teaching the first three acts, and because we were always pressed for time, eventually I ONLY taught the first three acts (and then summarized the rest).
Whenever I teach a play, I always do Reader's Theater. There are 100 ways to do Reader's Theater correctly, but essential the kids are acting out lines/scenes they have been assigned. Some teachers ask kids to rewrite the scenes in modern day or in another setting, but since I was working with honors kids and I wanted them to engage the language, I always let them revise their scenes (cut out lines, etc.) but not change the language itself. All of the handouts and directions that I would give the kids for this activity are below.
I always started the unit by activating background knowledge and introducing students to the "big ideas." For Julius Caesar, that big idea was always "power". Who has it? How do you get it? How do you keep it? And I also used it as a chance to introduce my 10 advanced kids to AP/IB skills.
The materials below are in the general order that I used them. Although since I taught Julius Caesar a few times, I did not use every handout every year.
Pre-Reading Materials
Act 1 Materials
Act 2 Materials
Act 3 Materials
Readers Theater Materials
Readers Theater Assignment for Acts 1-3 (These are the notes I would use to figure out how many kids to assign to each scene.)
Vocabulary Handouts for Julius Caesar
After Reading Julius Caesar
Choice Book Activities forJulius Caesar