This paper describes a semi-analytic approach to problems involving rectangular elastic plates of shallow draft floating on water. Specifically, two problems are considered: the scattering of plane monochromatic incident waves by a single elastic plate and the propagation/attenuation of waves through a periodic rectangular arrangement of plates. The approach combines Fourier methods with Rayleigh-Ritz methods for free modes of rectangular plates which reduces each problem to an algebraic system of equations which are are numerically accurate and efficient to compute. A selection of results are given to illustrate the work. The approach can be applied to many problems in hydroelasticity including the seakeeping of large flat-bottomed marine vessels, deflections in very large floating structures such as offshore airports and wave propagation through areas of broken sea ice.