Created by: Cynthia Skinner

Grade Level: 11 and12

Lesson: Interpreting Romeo and Juliet (Overall, this plan will take about 6 to 7 class periods of 45 minutes each to complete, depending on how fast the children complete their projects and how long it takes to get through the presentations)

Materials Needed:

*        The text of Romeo and Juliet that has already been read by the class

*        Handout ‘Recreating Romeo and Juliet’

*        Materials for various options include but are not limited to:

·         Blank Paper

·         Markers, Crayons, or Colored Pencils

·         4”x6” cards that can be used for the game option

·         Cue cards for acting option

 

California Standard: Sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.9 and 2.1 under Writing Standards, Sections 1.7, 1.9, and 1.10 under Listening and Speaking Standards, and Section 2.3 under Listening and Speaking Standards

 

Social Learning Theory: Students will learn by observing the presentations of their peers. Taken from http://tip.psychology.org/bandura.html.

 

Objectives

*        Students will have a deeper understanding of Shakespeare as they complete their projects and share them with one another

*        Students will develop their skills to analyze, summarize and interpret Shakespearean text

*        Students will develop their skills for organization and team work, as well as individual responsibility

 

Introduction: (About 3 minutes) Now that we have finished reading Romeo and Juliet together, we can begin to analyze and help each other understand the text better. Today we are going to start on projects that will help you understand what the play is about. These projects will require creativity and lots of work, but it should be fun as well. You will be working in groups and I am going to give you four different project choices and these projects will take you about a week to complete. You will then be presenting your projects to the class and evaluating your peers as you listen to their presentations.

 

Procedures: (As stated above, times will vary, but allowing four days to work is a good starting point)

1.      Pass out handout with instructions for the projects entitled ‘Recreating Romeo and Juliet.’

2.      Go over handout together in class:

a.       Read introduction paragraph. Explain how you will group the students. Examples: You may want to let them pick their own groups or you could group them by who would prefer to do each project.

b.      Read through the instructions for each project. You may choose to take questions as they arise or ask them to wait until you have finished reading.

c.       Explain that the students will be evaluated on their presentations by their peers. In addition, the teacher will also grade them on their performance as a group and as an individual.

d.      If you have done this plan already and have examples to pass around, do so at this time.

3.      Give the students class time to work on their projects and be available to assist them. Have materials on hand that the students can use if needed.

4.      Allow one to two days for the students to present their projects.

5.      For the presentations, pass out the Peer Evaluation worksheets and go through each question with the class. Have the students fill out the worksheet during or after each presentation.

Closure: (If time allows, do this at the end of presentations or the beginning of the next class period – about 10 -15 minutes) Discuss the various approaches to the projects with the students. Ask them what worked and what didn’t when they were doing their projects. Ask them if doing the project and listening to their peers present helped them understand the play better. See if the students have any suggestions for students working on this project in the future. You may want to write these answers on the board or take them down in a notebook for future reference.

 

Lesson Analysis: The students might have a hard time without any concrete examples, so I may try to make my own examples before I try to teach this lesson. Also, another downfall could be the actual projects. They might prove to be too difficult to complete in the time given and I may have to cut down the lesson so that each group only focuses on one scene. I really wanted to give each individual responsibility as well as encourage teamwork so that’s why I included group and individual responsibility and grading in this plan.


 

Recreating Romeo and Juliet

 

After reading the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, this project should help you and your classmates have a better understanding of the play. You will work in groups. There will be a maximum of two groups per project. Your group will choose one of the following:

 

  1. Your group will summarize one act in the play and draw a comic book that explains what is happening throughout the act. It may be possible to explain a scene in just one picture, but you will probably need to use numerous panels and/or pages to explain the scene. Paperclip, bind, or staple these pages together to make your comic book. You may use class time to help each other summarize the scenes. The work will be divided among you and each person MUST draw at least one scene of the act your group chose in the comic book. You are not being graded on your drawing ability, but merely your understanding of the text. You will be presenting your comic book to the class.

 

  1. Your group will choose three major scenes from the play and act them out together for the class. You may summarize and use modern language to help the class better understand these scenes. You are being graded on your knowledge of the scenes, not your acting ability, and each person in your group MUST participate in the acting. Cue cards may be used if necessary. Your group must also explain why the three scenes you chose are important to the play. For example: Your group can choose to act out the scene in which Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball. This scene is important because Romeo falls in love with Juliet who is from the rival family and creates the main conflict in the play.

 

  1. Your group will create a game for the class to play in which they must answer questions about the play. There should be a variety of questions, ranging from easy to difficult and should include the whole class. The questions should be created from each scene in the play and require that the play must have been read in order to answer them. Also, your group must provide all the correct answers to these questions. Each person in the group is responsible for coming up with at least three questions and answers each; one easy, one medium, and one difficult. For example:

Easy – Q. What is Juliet’s last name? A. Capulet

Medium – Q. What is the name of Romeo’s love interest before he meets Juliet? A. Rosaline

Hard – Q. How old are Romeo and Juliet? A. Sixteen and Thirteen

You group must come up with a point value system for these questions and be prepared to play the game with the class.

 

  1. Your group will rewrite at least one act in the play as a modern text. You must work collaboratively to write the act using the same plot as Romeo and Juliet but update it to fit the 21st century. The language, costumes and names should be updated. The group should agree on the character’s names, language, and costume before writing. Each person will be responsible for at least one scene in the act that is chosen, but you may help each other by revising and fitting your pieces together. You will be presenting your rewritten act to the class. You do not have to act it out, but you must explain what happens in the act and the choices you made in updating the act.

 

 

Each group will be graded both as a group and individually. Each group will have four or five class periods to work together. The rest of the project should be done at home as homework. It would be a good idea to get the names, phone numbers and if possible, email addresses of the other people in your group so that you can contact each other outside of class.

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _________________________

Peer Evaluation Worksheet

 

Names of the people in the group you are evaluating: __________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

  1. Which project did this group choose? (If it is the game option, skip to question 4)

 

 

 

  1. Which acts and/or scenes did the group choose?

 

 

 

  1. What happens in the chosen acts and or/scenes?

 

 

 

  1. Did this presentation help you to better understand the play? Why or why not?

 

 

 

  1. How many points out of ten would you give this group? Circle your answer.

 

1        2        3        4        5        6        7        8        9        10

 

  1. Any further comments for this group?