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CURRICULUM
GUIDE
Unit Title: Introducing
Shakespeare
Grade Levels: 6-7-8
Subject/Topic Areas:
Shakespeare: his times and work; Roman history, Italian
history; Julius Caesar; Romeo and
Juliet
Key Words: Shakespeare,
performance, Shakespearean verse, Julius Caesar,
Romeo and Juliet, Roman history, Roman senate, 14th
century Italian history; playwriting
Unit Designers: Meg Moloney,
William Endslow
Time Frame: 20
lessons
Created at the Haggerty School,
2001
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Click here for Teacher
Resources:
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Link to Massachusetts
Standards:
History and social sciences #1 (chronology and cause); #3
(research, evidence and point of view) Arts: Theater #1
(acting), #2 (reading and writing scripts), #3 (directing),
and #5 (critical response); Language Arts #1 (discussing),
#2 (questioning, listening, contributing), #4 (Vocabulary
and concept development), #8 (understanding text), #9
(making connections) #18 (dramatic reading and
performance)
Brief Summary of Unit
(including what students will understand as a result of this
unit)
Students will work with both the language and ideas in
several of Shakespeare's plays in order to grapple with
prejudice, leadership, loyalty and vengeance as it applies
to characters and to the students' own lives. They will
rehearse and perform a historically correct scene from
Romeo and Juliet in original Shakespearean
verse.
Drama Strategies
- Performance
- dramatic tableaux
- stagefight
choreography
- character research
- improvisation
- peer critique
- public speaking
- hot seating characters
Key Concepts (What statement(s)
clearly expresses what I want students to know and
understand?)
Great literature contains ideas about human nature that we
can apply to our own lives. A play written four hundred
years ago can have as big an effect on us as yesterday's
news. The drama of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, for
example, tells as much about the nature of power and loyalty
as it does about ancient Roman history; studying Romeo
and Juliet helps us learn about prejudice and vengeance.
By reading great works of art we acquire the tools to
understand history and humanity, and our place in it.
Essential Questions (What
specific questions will guide this unit and focus teaching
and learning?)
- What lessons can be learned from
Romeo and Juliet that apply to our lives
today?
- What are the qualities of a good
leader?
- Why is it important to study
classical plays like Julius Caesar?
- How does history repeat
itself?
- What influence could a long-dead
writer like Shakespeare have on our lives?
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Students will know
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Students will be able
to
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What it was like to attend
plays in Shakespeare's time; the historical
background for two of Shakespeare's plays: 14th c
Italy (Romeo and Juliet) and 1st c BC Rome
(Julius Caesar)
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Read Shakespeare in
historical context; understand the role that
history plays in literature
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How to sound out
Shakespearean rhythms and find definitions for
words they've never seen before
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Break down and decipher
Shakespearean verse in order to put the ideas into
their own words; memorize pieces of
verse
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How to discover the ideas and
themes behind Shakespeare's characters and
plots
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Compare the lives of
Shakespeare's characters, both historic and
fictional, with those of people they
know
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Rudimentary drama skills: how
to be comfortable standing on stage, how to speak
publicly, how to focus, how to give constructive
criticism
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Develop a voice and character
as a performer; perform a speech on stage
effectively; work as a group; share ideas and
critique each other's acting/performance skills in
a positive manner; recognize and produce good
dramatic speaking
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What makes a scripted, live
performance effective, arresting and
authentic
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Perform a section of a
Shakespearean play in original verse with
confidence and energy
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EVIDENCE OF STUDENT
UNDERSTANDING:
Summary of performance tasks and
projects
- Students research Shakespeare's
time and the settings for Julius Caesar and
Romeo and Juliet
- Students translate Shakespearean
phrases into modern English sentence
- Students create a modern scene
ased on a scene from Shakespeare
- Students perform a 4-minute scene
from Romeo and Juliet (Act I, scene
i)
Summary of quizzes, tests and
prompts
none
Other Evidence (e.g.,
observations, work samples and dialogues)
- Shakespearean bingo
game
- Teacher's observation of small
group work
- Teacher's observation of student
performance during teacher-in-role sessions (e.g. secret
senator's meeting)
- Teacher's observations of students
in rehearsal
- Teacher's observations of
improvisations: create a modern parallel scene to one
from Julius Caesar
- video of final performance
SEQUENCE OF
ACTIVITIES:
What sequence of teaching and learning experiences will
equip students to develop and demonstrate the desired
understandings?
Part
One:
Introduction
to Shakespeare: language and plays
(approx. 3 sessions)
1. Theater skills
basics
Teacher leads warmup and simple
acting exercises. Students practice tongue twisters for
articulation, pass a gesture around the circle, pass a
sound, pass a Shakespearean insult such as "the wolf
behowls the moon," "thou wretched, intruding fool," "thou
vile worm." Establish regular "drama training" time (30
minutes) each week, beginning with vocal warm-up for
improved articulation (see resources for specific
exercises).
Teacher introduces information
about Shakespeare, his language, and the Old Globe
Theater: how plays took place outdoors so that volume and
diction were important.
2. Introduction to Shakespearean
language and times
Clapping game: breaking down the
verse. Students learn to clap rhythms of Shakespearean
verse using the "witch's spell" as a guide (see
resources). Shakespearean insults: each student makes up
his/her own insult from the "insult sheet" (resources).
Students take turns projecting insults at each other.
Increase the distance between students to increase volume
and diction.
20-minute research
project
Students break down into five
research teams. Each team gets a large informational
poster on a different subject, such as "Shakespeare's
Life" or "Ancient Rome" (posters available from the
Learning Tree store, Danvers or Stoughton,
www.tltree.com). Teams have four minutes to jot down as
many facts as they can about the subject depicted on
their poster, then go on to a new poster for the next
four minutes, and so on, until each group has seen each
poster. Each group shares their research with the class.
Students keep their "cheat sheet" of notes; they will be
used later for Shakespearean bingo.
3. Shakespearean
Bingo
Each student gets an empty grid of
16 numbered squares (see resources). Teacher reads facts
(at least 16) taken from the research posters during the
"20-minute research project." If the fact he/she reads is
one the student has listed on his/her cheat sheet, the
student can check off a box. The first student to check
off a row wins.
Part
Two:
Shakespeare and history:
Julius Caesar (approx. 5 sessions)
4. Theater warm-up: teacher leads
articulation and projection exercises (attached). Warm-up
phrase: "Has thou heard Hamlet howling in the hallway?"
"Julius Caesar juggled jealous jaded jurors judiciously;"
"Sir Haggety." Class reads short scene from modern
translation of Julius Caesar aloud. Teacher
introduces information about ancient Rome, the historical
characters that appear in the play, and the political
climate of the time.
5. Students continue to read modern
translation of Julius Caesar; class discusses
nature of leadership. What makes Caesar a good leader? A
bad leader? Who is most loyal to Caesar and
why?
Character
research
6. Hand out worksheet: Motivators
in Julius Caesar (see resources). Students,
imagining themselves as senators, write their point of
view of the proposed assassination of Caesar. Teacher, in
role of Roman senator, convenes a secret senator's
meeting. Each participant must decide if they want to
participate in the plot against Caesar, and states their
argument in front of the others. Assassinate Caesar or
not? The majority rules.
7. Parallel scenes: Small groups of
students are each assigned a different scene in Julius
Caesar (a good book to use is Discovering
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar edition, Olster and
Hamilton). Working together, they must imagine a scene in
today's world that parallels the scene they are assigned.
Students write down an outline of this new scene and
describe the characters in it in contemporary
terms.
8. Improvisation of parallel
scenes: students get to rehearse, then perform improvised
scenes that parallel scenes from Julius Caesar.
Class discusses the similarities/differences between the
situations Shakespeare was writing about and the
situations in our world today.
Field trip: Class sees
professional production of Julius Caesar, if
available.
Part
Three
Performing Shakespeare:
Romeo and Juliet (about 12
sessions)
9. Introduction to Romeo and
Juliet: Teacher introduces Italian culture and the
historical period of the play.
10. Working with original text:
This activity utilizes the book, Discovering
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet edition (Olster and
Hamilton) which has original Shakespearean language on
one side of the page and modern translation of language
on the other.
Teacher writes excerpts of original
verse (about ten lines) on separate slips of paper and
gives a piece of text to each of several small groups of
students. The students try and decipher the meaning of
the text and put it in their own words. Afterwards,
teacher reads modern translation so students can see how
close they came.
11. Using the book listed above,
class reads Romeo and Juliet outloud, with each
student reading a different character part.
12. Class discussion: what does
Romeo and Juliet have to tell us? How can you
imagine this play in a contemporary setting - can you
think of a parallel for the Capulets and Montagues? Why
did this play end tragically? Can you see any way the
characters' deaths could be prevented?
13. Teacher distributes Act I,
scene i of Romeo and Juliet to class in original
Shakespearean verse. In small groups, students work on
translating the text into their own words. Class shares
translations.
Homework: Each student types
up his/her section of the translation.
14. Using students' translations as
text for the scene, teacher stages Act I, scene i, using
each member of the class. Lines can be added to crowd
scenes to provide more speaking roles. Teacher stages and
rehearses swordfight scene (utilizing resources of person
skilled in stage combat if necessary). No props are used
in the fight scene yet!
Homework: Memorize
lines.
15. Teacher introduces "swords"
(wooden dowels or another kind of imitation sword). To be
able to use these, students must have their lines
memorized and know the fight choreography. Rehearse scene
with props.
Homework: Each student
brings in an article of clothing his/her character would
wear.
16. Watch video of Act I, scene i
of Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968). It
is important that students watch the film after they have
taken on roles in their own scene, rather than vice
versa, so it doesn't influence their choices.
**film is rated PG for brief partial nudity in love scene
later in film- fast forward, stop the video before this
scene or talk about it in advance).
17. Rehearse scene replacing
students' translation of verse with real Shakespearean
verse.
Homework: Memorize new
lines.
18. Add costume pieces and any
additional props needed; continue rehearsing.
19. Dress rehearsal.
20. Performance of scene for
audience; videotape performance. (Scene is about 4
minutes long.)
What resources are helpful and/or
necessary to accomplish this curriculum?
Books
•Discovering Shakespeare: A
workbook for students and teachers. Fred Olster and
Rick Hamilton, Smith & Kraus.
(Versions for Julius Caesar and Romeo and
Juliet)
The Shakespeare Stealer,
Mary Blackwood, Puffin Books, New York, 1998.
This is a novel appropriate for 5-7th grade readers about
a boy living in Shakespeare's time who is engaged by a
theater company to steal scenes from a rival company's
productions.
Shakespeare: His Work and His
World, Michael Rosen and Robert Ingpen, Candlewick
Press, Cambridge, MA (wonderful illustrations and
descriptions)
• 101 Theatre Games for
Drama Teachers, Classroom Teachers and Directors,
Mila Johansen (copies in CPS Dept. of Drama and
Dance)
• Live on Stage! Performing
Arts for Middle School, Carla Black, Jody Roberts,
Dale Seymour Publishing, Palo Alto, CA, 1997
• Bring in the Arts.
Improvisations in Dramatics, Art, and Story Writing for
Elementary and Middle School Classrooms, Pamela
Prince Walker, Heinemann Publishing, 1993
websites
• www.folger.edu/education
This is a huge site organized into lessons submitted by
teachers for teachers. Each lesson plan includes a "why
do this" section as well as a step-by-step how to,
handouts and resources. Check the archive to see what's
there. Check the links to find info such as the complete
works of Shakespeare on-line and information about the
Old Globe.
www.tidal.u-net.com/Shakespeare/
Teaching Shakespeare: Practical
Analysis in the Classroom
This site lets you see how a pair of middle school
teachers used Shakespeare in their classrooms. The
Overview features Romeo and Juliet, and how they
organized their performance of a scene. It also includes
a special needs version of the lessons.
www.cc.emory.edu/ENGLISH/classes/Shakespeare_illustrated/plays.html
Maintained by Harry Rusche at Emory University, the site
offers a offers a good number of paintings, illustrations
and artwork inspired by Shakespeare plays. Both Julius
Caesar and Romeo and Juliet are listed there. Artwork
inspired by each is a click away.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/Shakes.htm
Shakespeare for Teachers and Students
This site is maintained by the Internet School Library
Media Center and provides links to every imaginable area
of Shakespeare studies from puzzles to texts using the
original spellings to portriats to a line index. There
are links to the Old Globe, Lesson Plans and
Resources.
Materials
• Costume pieces for each
character
• Video: Romeo and Juliet,
1968, Franco Zeffirelli (PG)
• Props: swords
Curriculum developed by the
Department of Drama and Dance, Cambridge Public School
teachers and Studebaker Theater artists involved with the
Cambridge Public School Drama Collaborative, a project
funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a
state agency. CPSDC is a multi-year teacher training program
that helps teachers integrate drama into the curriculum.
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