Mr. Chiaravalli 2013-2014
English 9 Semester 2 Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Genre: Drama
Overview Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most read plays. It details the ill-fated love of a young man and woman who come from feuding families. Though the play is more than 500 years old, it still captivates its readers with its universal themes, comedic moments, dramatic plot, and colorful characters. At the heart of the tragedy are a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings. We use this thematic focus as a springboard to explore the ever-growing potential and peril of digital media and communication in our own day. At each stage of the unit we ask ourselves the question: how can we maximize the power of digital tools while avoiding their potentially tragic pitfalls? As we read, we also explore these other questions: How is literature from long ago still applicable to our lives today? What strategies can we use to help us understand complicated texts? How do my origins influence who I am today and what I believe is possible for the future? How do my relationships influence me and affect others?
How to Use This Packet: This packet has all the work that we will be doing for the coming weeks. I will be providing guidance and instruction at a pace that will have you finished by the end of the unit. Each step has its own rationale, objectives, sequence, and assignments (explained below). Rationale: This tells you why we are doing something, why it’s important now or in the future. Objectives: These are the skills you should be able to demonstrate by the end of each step. Sequence: This lists work you must complete in order to progress toward meeting our objectives. represents an assignment to turn in o represents steps leading up to assignments Assignments: On the last page of the packet, all the assigned work is check-listed in order. I may add, subtract, or change assignments as needed throughout the unit.
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Mr. Chiaravalli 2013-2014
English 9 Semester 2
Step One: Building background knowledge of history and culture Rationale With works from long ago, exploring the author’s time period is often an important first step. Gathering this biographical and historical information can sometimes help us to better appreciate a work, providing a useful lens for analysis. To this end, we begin our unit with some basic information on William Shakespeare’s life and times. Using this entry-level input as a starting point, we deepen and sharpen our knowledge by locating and evaluating information online. In the last twenty years, the Internet has opened the door to vast stores of informational riches. Learning how to find valid, reliable, and unbiased information on the web is critical to your academic success. Objectives After completing this step you should be able to 1. Articulate and support an opinion with your own ideas; refine your opinion after receiving new information. 2. Evaluate information/findings in various print and electronic sources. 3. Restate, paraphrase, summarize, and represent content. 4. Develop a system for gathering, organizing, paraphrasing, and summarizing information. Sequence o We begin our unit with an anticipation guide activity, assessing our level of agreement with basic statements related to our unit. We first spend a few minutes filling out the anticipation guide. Write down your responses to the statements and be prepared to give evidence supporting them. Then, in groups, discuss a few of the statements, articulating and supporting your own opinions while listening to and building on those of others. Complete a conclusion reflecting on one or more of the statements and turn in your individual anticipation guide. Make sure to reference one or more points made by others that allowed you to refine or change your opinion. o While listening to/viewing the instructional input on Shakespeare’s life and times, students take notes by adding to a partially completed concept map. Please note that correctly spelled terminology, names, and other specifics will be especially useful as keywords later in this step. This completed concept map will be used as a starting point for our research. Having watched and taken notes on a brief video demonstrating advanced web-searching methods, students conduct Internet research on one or more topics from the concept map, completing a K-W-L graphic organizer and Website Evaluation Form. o In class, we share our findings with other members of the class, creating a master concept map in the process. 2
Mr. Chiaravalli 2013-2014
English 9 Semester 2
Step Two: Reading and responding to Romeo and Juliet Rationale Nothing gives students a greater sense of achievement than having successfully read and understood a Shakespeare play. We’ve all been told that he is the top of the mark, the reference point for all other English-language writers. As we read this play, we cast a fairly wide analytical net: discussing the language of Shakespeare, including his use of puns; comparing different film versions to appreciate how directors use dramatic elements to support meaning; performing passages; and continuing to pay attention to the elements of literature. This breadth of scope will not only help you to better understand the play as we read it, but also prepare you for the formal paper we will write at the end of the next unit. Starting with this unit, we also begin using an online discussion forum to extend our classroom work, posting thoughts about paper topics and responding to one another’s posts. My hope is that this medium will mitigate our chronic shortage of in-class discussion time, giving you a chance to engage the material in the presence of your peers. Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are rapidly becoming a fixture in education. Many of you have taken courses with a strong online component; others have not. Regardless, you are likely to take one or more online or blended courses over the course of your educational career. As a result, learning how to navigate and appropriately engage in online learning is an academic essential. Objectives After completing this step you should be able to 1. Read with developing fluency, using a variety of effective strategies to construct meaning. 2. Discuss the ways that authors use the elements of literature to engage readers. 3. Demonstrate an understanding of and adherence to the rules of netiquette. Sequence o Read or view a summary of Romeo and Juliet. o Choose and use a note-taking method to take notes as you read, paying particular attention to material that will be useful for discussion forum posts as well as for your eventual paper. Extend our discussion of Romeo and Juliet by posting 3 times per week in your group’s discussion forum, following a provided timetable. In particular, try to use your posts to hammer out ideas for the paper. These posts are scored using the Discussion Board Rubric. Step Three: Star-crossed lovers online: Romeo and Juliet for a digital age Rationale This lesson invites you to use your understanding of modern experiences with digital technologies to make active meaning of an older text, Romeo and Juliet. Students first brainstorm a list of technologies they use, and then imagine what would happen if Romeo and Juliet were set in a modern-day world and 3
Mr. Chiaravalli 2013-2014
English 9 Semester 2
that technology was available to the characters. This step allows you to explore the text in relationship to your own understanding of the world and your own experiences. As a result, you not only identify underlying meaning in the play itself but also find echoes of the drama’s theme and subject in the modern world. Objectives After completing this step you should be able to 1. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. Sequence o Individually brainstorm a list of technologies and apps you use, see, or know about in your notebook. In groups, find a way to organize this information into different categories or types of technologies. Discuss how, despite the power of these technologies, they still have potential pitfalls, especially ones related to communication and miscommunication. o Returning to our journals, imagine what would happen if the play were set in a modern-day world and technology was available to the characters. Spend several minutes freewriting, gathering ideas to discuss with the class. o In groups, you are assigned a character from the play. With group members, you create a technology profile for the character you have been assigned. I will model this process using a minor character. Share your technology profiles with the class. In your journal, respond to the following questions: “What surprised you the most about the modern-day interpretations of the characters from Romeo and Juliet? Why?” Additionally write down anything you would add, subtract, or change about your character’s technology profile. In groups, choose one of the “Modern-day Interpretation Projects” to create. Groups can also propose their own projects. Groups work together, conferencing with me as to how the assessment criteria apply to their project. Graded with the Rubric for Modern-day Interpretation Projects. o Students deliver presentations to the class.
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Mr. Chiaravalli 2013-2014
English 9 Semester 2
Assignments From Step One: Anticipation Guide K-W-L Organizer/Website Evaluation Form From Step Two: Note-taking Method Discussion Forum Posts From Step Three: Modern-day Interpretation Project Grammar Concepts Predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, objects of a preposition Academic Vocabulary aesthetic complacent sans bereft irresolute countenance woeful altruistic ambiguities
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