Romeo and Juliet Scholastic Edition Before Reading Strategy Directed Reading and Thinking Activity Context: This will be an activity used prior to studying Romeo and Juliet. Students will take a close look at the prologue introducing Romeo and Juliet and try to predict what will happen in the play. Also they will talk about love and possible types of love that exist. Purpose: The idea is to help prepare the students to read the play with scaffolding and frontloading. This shows the students a way to approach Shakespeare and helps them understand the plot before diving in. This activity will bring up the central question of love and also introduce the plot to the students. Directions: Materials Needed: o Handouts with prologue on it without a title. o Transparency with the prologue on it and marker. o Colored markers or pencils. Students will take two colors. STEP 1 Pass out the handouts to everyone and put up the transparency to look at with the class. Tell the students that this passage was written as an introduction to a story that we will be reading soon. Ask a student to read the passage in their best movie announcer voice, like the one heard in movie trailers. STEP 2 Separate students into pairs and talk about how the long sentences in the passage can sometimes make it hard to understand. Pass the markers out and have
students pick out two different colors. Instruct the students to look at each sentence in the prologue and to pick out the main subject and verb in each sentence. One color is for the subject, one color is for the verb. Give them several minutes to complete the whole passage. STEP 3 After students have finished finding the subjects and verbs in the passage, go back to the overhead and read the passage slowly, asking them to tell you where the main subjects and verbs are in each sentence. Explain that this way it is easier to understand the main parts of the sentence and that everything else is just to elaborate on those main points. Congratulate the students on a job well done. STEP 4 Go over the prologue s main points quickly with the students using the verbs and subjects that they highlighted. Clarify any difficult vocabulary words such as households star-crossed and maybe naught or any others they might question. Ask the students to summarize and predict with their partner what they think will happen in this story they are going to read. Ask for volunteers to tell what they think and write some ideas on the board. Does it sound like fun? STEP 5 Who thought it was easy to figure out what was happening in the passage? Reveal that the story this refers to is Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet if they haven t figured it out already. Tell them how well they did understanding what he wrote. They can use these techniques when using Shakespeare to help them understand what he is trying to say. Do they feel like this will help them read his plays? \STEP 6 Point out that the prologue is written in a special form of poetry called a Sonnet. Talk about the features of a sonnet and how in Shakespeare s day sonnets were usually about love. Does this sound like a love story to them? STEP 7 Love is one of the principal human emotions. Everyone talks about it in movies and poems and songs. Talk about the different types of love that exist. What
kinds of love do they see in this sonnet? Go over the sonnet one more time, having the students point out when they see an example of love mentioned. Where do they see examples of hate? Point out in the prologue how love is the only thing powerful enough to erase the hate between the two families. Ask the students if they think that love is powerful? What do people do for love? STEP 8 Tell the students to keep these ideas in mind as the read Romeo and Juliet in class. Remind them of the techniques of breaking down the big sentences to understand them better. Tell them that you know they will do a great job with the play. Assessment: To close the activity, have the students answer two questions on the back of the handout. 1. How do they feel about reading a Shakespeare play? 2. Do they think that love can be powerful? Why or why not? Have them hand this in as an exit slip.
Romeo and Juliet Scholastic Edition During-Reading Strategy Guided Imagery Context: Guided Imagery is generally used as a pre-reading strategy but will be used as a duringreading strategy for Romeo and Juliet because the students will have just read the part in the play (the Prologue of Act II and Act II, Scene 1) where Romeo and Juliet must take action against their families and society to preserve their love or to give it up forever. The Guided Imagery will allow the students to delve further into the consciousness of the main characters, develop empathy for them, and determine how the student might respond to a similar situation or circumstance. Purpose: Guided Imagery is a literacy strategy that engages all of the senses. It allows the students to enter a story in a creative atmosphere where they have the opportunity to visualize images and develop ideas. Guided Imagery encourages problem solving and expands the students mental concepts. It also provides a basis for inquiry, discussion and group work. Directions: STEP 1-BUILDING THE DREAM First, the students must be in a relaxed state before they are asked to participate in the Guided Imagery strategy. Allow students to find a comfortable position at their desk or somewhere around the classroom if there is space. Make sure that each student has a place that is all their own so they will be able to focus and not be tempted to start talking to their peers. Other ways to create a proper mood in the classroom that promotes the relaxation and creativity that this strategy requires are to dim the lights, play instrumental music at a low volume, and use potpourri or a fragrant candle. Let the students know that as they listen they should be trying to create visual images in their heads the employ all of the senses. STEP 2-READING
Ask the students to close their eyes or draw on a sheet of paper as they listen. Read the following passage of prompts slowly and in a soft voice. Give the students time to visualize each image before moving on to the next statement. Close your eyes inhale slowly.exhale slowly.tell all of your muscles to relax you are walking along a narrow path the sun is setting and the sky is full of colors you feel a slight breeze across your face...you can smell the nature around you the path reaches a fork and you stop not knowing which way to go you see someone in the distance on the left side of the fork it is your parents.behind them are the rest of your family, your neighbors, and other members of your community.your heart swells as you look at them you are about to go down the left side of the path when you see someone standing in the distance on the right side of the fork it is the love of your life, the one you want to marry and spend your whole life with you know deep down that you can only choose one side of the path the one you don t choose with be lost to you forever which side do you choose? STEP 3-WRITING Have the students open their eyes and write what they visualized in their mind during the Guided Imagery prompt. Allow the students to write in any form or to even draw what they saw. Invite the students to describe not only what they saw but how it made them feel and how the experience impacted them. The students will need several minutes to reflect and write about this activity. If students are struggling to remember what they visualized, have them close their eyes and try to relive the experience. You may also want to have extra copies of the prompt so that students can look over them as they write. When the students have finished writing, ask for volunteers that want to share either a part or all of what they wrote. Some students may have been impacted by the Guided Imagery activity in a personal way so do not make anyone to share who does not want to. STEP 4-MAKING THE CONNECTION Have the students return to the page on which they have been writing or drawing. Ask them to consider how their opinions about Romeo and Juliet s actions and decisions have changed or stayed the same. Do they feel different about the characters now that they have participated in the Guided Imagery activity? What would the students do if they were in a similar situation? Give the students adequate time to write their responses to these questions. When they are done, allow the students to share their opinions about Romeo and Juliet with each other in small groups. Assessment: The Guided Imagery strategy does not need a formal assessment. You may collect the students responses and read them in order to see if the students were able to connect with the activity and apply it to the novel. Another option is to just check whether or not the students participated and have the students keep their responses and use them as a
discussion tool or as pre-writing activity for a larger writing project that the students will complete towards the end of the unit after the reading of the novel is finished. REFLECTION The purpose of the Guided Imagery Strategy is to give the students the opportunity to enter a story in a way that engages all of their five senses. It is a way for the students to practice the skill of visualizing the words that they hear so that they will be able to create mental images as they read. Being able to visualize and make mental pictures from a text is a characteristic of an effective reader that has increased reading comprehension over peers who struggle with this skill. This is because a reader who can create images in their mind is better able to connect with the text. Therefore, they are more engaged in the writing and can explore it at deeper levels because they are already competent in eliciting meaning and understanding from what they read. The Guided Imagery Strategy not only encourages students to become better readers but to become better writers as well. Professional writers use literal and figurative language. They also use images that engage the senses and elicit emotional responses from their audience. A Guided Imagery gives students the opportunity to focus on their own personal responses and ideas to the words that they hear. The students then participate in free-writing for several minutes where they reflect on the experience and create very detailed descriptions of the images they saw in their minds and how it made they feel. The writing portion of the Guided Imagery activity shows the students that they have the ability to create images in their minds and then write about them in a way that focuses on rich descriptions and can affect the emotions of their audience. Overall, a Guided Imagery can be used to connect students to the characters and themes of a novel as well as provide them with a pre-writing strategy that can be used to generate original ideas and descriptions that appeal to different senses.
Romeo and Juliet Scholastic Edition After Reading Strategy Fishbowl Discussion Context: Students will use this strategy after they have finished reading the entire play to help them synthesize the ideas throughout. This is a good strategy to use at the end of the play because at this point students should have a lot to say and this will give all students a chance to participate in the discussion. Since this strategy is relatively unstructured, this strategy won t work unless students have had a lot of practice with discussion which is why it s a good one to do at the end. Purpose: The purpose of this strategy is for students to practice discussing ideas with each other rather than looking to the teacher for answers. There is no right or wrong answer to the question they are discussing, but discussing it gives them the opportunity to think deeper about the issue. It will help them develop critical thinking skills that transfer to many other contexts. Time: 45-60 minutes Directions: Main Idea: Romeo and Juliet explores many aspects of love, including romantic love, familial love, and societal love. The characters in the play are often asked to choose between these types of love. The purpose of this discussion is to have students discuss their ideas about which type of love is most important. STEP 1 Arrange the desks in a big circle around the room with four desks in a small circle in the middle of the room. Four students sit in the middle. The rest of the class and the teacher sit in the big circle. STEP 2 Explain the rules of the discussion to the students. Rules:
1) The people in the middle are going to discuss the following question: What type of love is the most important romantic, familial, or societal. Students are to back up their responses with ideas from the text 2) Only the people in the middle are allowed to talk. 3) If you have something to say, go to the middle and tap someone out. They go sit in the circle and you join the discussion. 4) You can t tap out someone who hasn t spoken yet. 5) You can tap in as many times as you want. 6) You must tap in at least once. I will be keeping track and you will get points for participating. STEP 3 Let the students discuss. Do not interrupt the discussion. Keep track of which students are participating and take notes of anything you want to address when the discussion is over. STEP 4 When the time is up, tell students that so and so has the last word. Follow up the discussion with any comments you have noted. Assessment: You will be able to tell how effective this strategy was by the level of comments students were able to make.
Romeo and Juliet Scholastic Edition Vocabulary Strategy Word Squares Purpose: The largest barrier for students in reading Shakespeare is the language. Students can benefit greatly in their comprehension of the plays if they can understand the language being used. While we shouldn t turn reading Shakespeare into a deciphering task, we can help students by focusing on a few key words used in each of the scenes or acts. The word squares strategy allows students to create word relationships with graphics, definitions, and context. It gives students multiple exposures to the same word but in different forms, which cements the word s meaning in their minds. Lastly, if used while reading the novel, students can learn the words in context, giving them more meaning and purpose. Context: This strategy is best used at multiple intervals during reading the play. Because the list of vocabulary words needed to understand Shakespeare is extensive, it s best to break up instruction according to a few words in each act. Before reading a new act, students complete the word squares from the list given to them. As they read, students can fill in additional word squares for themselves if needed. The teacher-made lists students are given should contain words that are still used in our language today, so they will continue to be relevant and applicable to students lives. (This strategy is applicable to all the plays of Shakespeare, not just Romeo and Juliet). Directions Materials needed: multiple word squares for each student word lists for each or act Time: 45 minutes STEP 1 Before reading a new act, give each student their word square sheets and their word lists that coincide with that portion of the text. Do one word square together, and then put students into groups to complete the remaining word squares. Students can use a dictionary and each other to define the words, but they must each complete their own word squares.
How to complete a word square: The paper is divided into four squares, with the word in the middle of the squares. In each square, you do something different with the word. In one you draw a picture of the word or something to do with the word; in another you write a definition in your own words; in a third you list synonyms for the word; and in the last square you write an original sentence. STEP 2 After completing the word squares for that scene or act, read that portion of the text together as a class. While reading, students can stop to write down unknown words that they encounter, and then they can make word squares for those words after reading. Assessment There are a variety of assessments that could be used with word squares. After reading a few acts, students could be asked to fill in a few squares of a collection of vocabulary words from those acts. Students wouldn t have to fill in all four squares, but if they had to fill in at least two squares then they still must display how well they know the word. A second assessment is to have students write a letter to Shakespeare. After ever act, students write to Shakespeare about what happened in the plot and to the characters, asking him questions and sharing their opinions. The key is that students have to use the vocabulary words from that act in their letter. This assessment allows students to use the vocabulary words in an authentic context and it also acts as a summary of the play. Summary After completing the word squares before, during, and possibly after reading, students will be better prepared to read and comprehend the play. The word square allows
students to put the word into different forms and in context, which deepens the connections for them. Vocabulary Words for Act I Shakespeare Word Squares Romeo and Juliet Forfeit Warrant Chaste Exquisite Adversary Augments Grievance Purge Pernicious Solemnity Create a word square for each of these words. We will do the first one together, and then you will work in small groups using a dictionary and your peers to make word squares for the remaining words. You will keep these word squares in your binder to use as reference tools and study guides. As you read, write down any additional words that are unknown to you, and you can make a word square for them after we re finished reading the act. (Example of Word Square leave squares blank for students to fill in)
Something that is extremely harmful, even deadly. Pernicious Destructive Dangerous Harmful Wicked Evil Malignant The pernicious act left the innocent bystander fatally wounded. Reflection The goal of the word squares strategy with reading Romeo and Juliet or any Shakespeare play is to first teach students how they can comprehend the language, and then secondly to teach students vocabulary words that they will use outside of reading Shakespeare. The word squares strategy will give students several different connections with the word, which they can recall as they encounter the word. For example, if students can t remember the exact definition of pernicious but they can remember a few synonyms or the picture they drew, then they will still be able to comprehend what they re reading. Putting the word into different forms gives all students access to the word, rather than requiring them to know the straight definition. By doing the word squares strategy, all students have a much more likely chance to read and comprehend some of the difficult words in Shakespeare s plays.