I honestly love teaching The Canterbury Tales, and when I do it right, I even make my students love it a little too. 😉 I’ve tried many different activities to teach Chaucer’s classic throughout the years, so I wanted to list the very best strategies for engaging students with this fun tale. You can find all of my Canterbury Tales activities, handouts, prompts, and projects in my Canterbury Tales Unit.
Introducing The Canterbury Tales
Surprise students as they walk in by transforming your classroom into a Medieval tavern. If you enjoy being extra, you can go all out, but for a quick flip, just hit play on any ambient videos like this one: Medieval Fantasy Tavern
To spark curiosity in the Medieval Canterbury Tales, I like to bring it into the modern age. To do this, start out with something that teenagers are always interested in, themselves haha! In my Canterbury Tales introduction stations, several of the station stops provide community building and buy-in. For example, one station gives a Medieval job list with modern correlations for students to explore and another discusses modern-day pilgrimages that students might add to their bucket list. Another station in the pack is about language change, and students get to text part of the prologue. Here are some examples:
Since most British literature teachers begin with Beowulf and touch on Old English, it’s a natural continuum to teach The Canterbury Tales next as a way to bridge the language changes that brought about Middle English. To liven up your language change lecture, have students practice translating The Canterbury Tale’s prologue into Modern English by using text and emojis.
The Canterbury Tales Prologue Activities
To make the Canterbury Tales prologue more enjoyable, I like to assign each student a different character to create a jigsaw reading assignment. Once they have their character, they read independently and then create a character profile. Students get to choose the character’s clever user name, design a profile page, and add other important characterization details.
Once each student finishes their profile, I play Medieval music while students walk around the room for a “meet and greet” with all the other characters. Students love this Canterbury Tales activity so much, and I love that it gets them up and moving while also providing an efficient way of learning about The Canterbury Tales characters.
The Canterbury Tales Real World Connection
Chaucer captures the medieval voices and stories of everyday people from all walks of life— much like the popular Humans of New York (HONY) does today. Use this connection to show students how storytelling can create a snapshot of a society.
First, set up a gallery walk with selected posts from HONY. In small groups, students move around the room, analyzing the photos and captions. They discuss the subject’s story, the interviewer’s questions, and the overall message.
Then, we connect it back to Chaucer. How did he use his characters’ tales to comment on the society of his time? What similarities do we see between the pilgrims’ stories and the stories shared on HONY?
This activity helps students see the enduring power of storytelling and how it can be used for social commentary, whether in 14th-century England or 21st-century New York.
Teaching The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner’s Tale
“The Pardoner’s Tale” is a fun moral story about greed. To introduce it, start by talking about job stereotypes. Look at a few pictures of interesting people and guess their occupations. For example, if you saw a person with head to toe tattoos, would you guess that they are a kindergarten teacher? This experiment often leads to surprising reveals and conversations about bias.
It also makes a natural transition into how Chaucer portrays religious occupations in The Canterbury Tales. For instance, the Pardoner is deeply corrupt yet tells a tale with a moral message about greed. What we expect from his occupation isn’t what we get.
To explore the meaning behind this mismatch, students analyze how Chaucer portrayed the poor plowman vs the affluent Pardoner. Though more lowly on the feudal triangle and less of role in the church, Chaucer portrays the plowman as being more Godly.
If you’d like worksheets to explore these themes, you can download them here: The Canterbury Tales: Activities for the Prologue, Wife of Bath, Pardoner’s Tale
Teaching The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath’s Tale
The Wife of Bath is one of the most memorable and forward-thinking characters in English literature. To set the stage, do a quick jigsaw reading about the role of women in the Middle Ages. Next, analyze Chaucer’s description of the Wife of Bath as a bold, well-traveled woman who has been married five times.
Then, use her tale to dissect argument rebuttals. How does the old witch outwit the knight? How do her rebuttals about social status speak to issues of the time? If you’d like a close reading guide for this activity, you can find that here: The Canterbury Tales: Activities for the Prologue, Wife of Bath, Pardoner’s Tale
The Canterbury Tales Lesson Plans: The Knight’s Tale (Movie version)
While most textbooks focus on the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath, “The Knight’s Tale” is another great option, especially because there’s a fun movie adaptation! The 2001 film A Knight’s Tale starring Heath Ledger is always a hit and helps bring medieval society to life!
To help students understand the feudal triangle themes found throughout the story and film, do a word matching game. Print words derived from the Anglo-Saxons and the French then have students place them where they think they best belong on the feudal triangle. You can do this in groups or even create a large triangle in your room and have students move to their spot.
This lesson goes so far in showing how the language in power rises to the top.
The Canterbury Tales Activities: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale or Other Tales
There are 24 completed Canterbury Tales, so if you want to do more, you absolutely can! Here are some popular choices:
- The Paronder’s Tale (see above)
- The Wife of Bath’s Tale (see above)
- The Knight’s Tale (see above)
- The Miller’s Tale (crude but funny)
- The Nun’s Priest’s Tale (silly but cute)
Or better yet, give students a choice and voice for additional tales! If you’d like a choice board and general activity that can work with any tale, you can find that here: The Canterbury Tales: Activities for the Prologue, Wife of Bath, Pardoner’s Tale
Pairing for The Canterbury Tales:
Podcasts are one of my favorite teaching tools, and I found the perfect pairing for The Canterbury Tales. I use an episode from Rick Steves’ travel show called “Becoming a Road-Trip Pilgrim.” In the episode, he discusses the modern concept of pilgrimage and the personal significance of travel.
We listen to a short segment and students color a podcast page and jot down notes. Afterward, they write about a pilgrimage they would like to take one day. I learn so much about their dreams and aspirations from this activity, and it connects the medieval journey to their own lives in a really meaningful way. You can find a pairing guide in this Canterbury Tales Unit Plan.
The Canterbury Tales Project:
For a final project, you can go in a few different directions. A traditional essay is always an option, but I also love offering a creative project.
One of my favorites is the “Personal Pilgrimage Project.” Students create a travel brochure or website for a personal pilgrimage of their own. They use sensory language and persuasive techniques to describe the journey’s significance. It’s a wonderful way for them to reflect on what a meaningful journey looks like to them and practice their writing skills in a creative format.
You can download this project with examples here: The Canterbury Tales: Activities for the Prologue, Wife of Bath, Pardoner’s Tale
The Canterbury Tales is a window into the past and a mirror for shared humanity. By adding a little creativity and real-world connection into your classroom, you can help bring these themes to life!
