Objective #1 – Get Students to Engage With and Enjoy the Play
It sounds simple, too simple. But it’s the number one thing that must happen if you are going to achieve meaningful success with your other educational goals. You want your students to enjoy and engage with literature. Otherwise they will not forge a significant connection to the text and the higher-level thinking so essential to education will not occur.
To this end, it is imperative that you create an atmosphere conducive to enjoying and engaging with the play. Your lessons, assignments, and projects should emphasize the humor and emotion of Romeo and Juliet. You must make the play “come alive” for your students.
The Complete Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan gives you step-by-step lesson plans and amazing assignments that will ensure your students form a personal connection with the play.
Objective #2 – To Develop Cultural Literacy
I am often asked why we continue to teach Shakespeare. Well, other than the fact that he was one of the greatest writers and poets ever to walk the earth, I believe it is important to teach Shakespeare to develop cultural literacy.
Cultural literacy is the ability to recognize and understand references and allusions to culturally relevant literature and art. There is real value in knowing what someone is referring to when they say “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
It is also important that students become adults who can converse about a variety of things with intelligence and understanding.
Objective #3 – Learn and Practice Critical Analysis
As is always the case when studying literature in an English class, one of the primary objectives is to improve analytical abilities. Students must learn to examine a piece of literature and make critical observations about aspects such as character, theme, symbolism, etc.
These skills are developed through close and careful reading together, through modeling of the critical process, and through challenging assignments that require students to delve deeply into the text and go beyond the obvious or superficial.
The Complete Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan emphasizes critical analysis without letting go of the principles essential to objective #1 – to enjoy the play. The trick is to get your students to want to engage in critical analysis by compelling them to engage with the play in a personal way.
Objective #4 – Develop and Practice Writing Skills
Every unit and almost every assignment in an English class should have some connection to improving writing skills. This unit should help students work on their personal and persuasive paragraphs.
Use the controversial issues and major themes as places to begin from. Ask your students to develop and express their opinions. Discuss these opinions. Then get them to write about it.
Work on paragraph structure. Have them start with a thesis, then provide explanation and evidence in the form of quotes and specific references, then finish with a strong, thought-provoking conclusion.
The Complete Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan integrates writing activities with engaging, thought-provoking discussions and activities. Students learn the fundamentals while enjoying a deeper, more meaningful connection to the text.
Objective #5 – Cover the Curriculum
Like it or not, there is stuff that just needs to be covered. I wish we could just go to the theatre, watch the play, and then discuss it and write about it, but the fact is we have a responsibility to cover the curriculum. And that responsibility isn’t just to our bosses or the board of education; it’s also a responsibility to the students. They need to know this stuff so they can perform on standardized tests and exams (don’t get me started on these).
So, that means you have to work in the relevant terminology and jargon. You have to give your students the vocabulary they will need to effectively converse about the important elements of the play. Ideally, your lessons and assignments should integrate these terms and concepts so that meaning learning occurs, not just memorization.
Fortunately, The Complete Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan covers the entire curriculum in a smooth, engaging way. It really can be that simple.
