Unit Plan

Unit Title: Understanding Shakespearean Tragedy and Coming of Age theme through Romeo
and Juliet

Label: 9th grade/ English/ Room 218/ Anon High School/ 50-min periods/ 20 students

Sources/Materials:
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/page_260.html

https://prezi.com/m9uzeqddszvf/romeo-juliet-15-day-lesson-plan/

Standards:

● CC.1.2.9-10.A: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.

● CC.1.2.9-10.G: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a

person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are
emphasized in each account.

● CC.1.3.9-10.C: Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

● CC.1.3.9-10.J: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and

domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a
word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

● CC.1.3.9-10.K: Read and comprehend literary fiction on grade level, reading

independently and proficiently.
 ● CC.1.4.9-10.R: Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of
standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

● CC.1.5.9-10.A: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions

on grades level topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly and persuasively.

● CC.1.3.8.C: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama

propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Time Allocation: 3 weeks

Objectives: SWBAT:

● Point out the use of literary elements in texts.

● Define and describe different literary elements.
● Define and describe the characteristics of a Tragedy
● Define and describe the characteristics of a Coming of Age theme
● Act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet
● Comprehend the scenes of Romeo and Juliet
● Demonstrate their understanding of Shakespearean language.
Relevance: Romeo and Juliet is a title that many students are not interested in when approaching
high school. They believe that Shakespeare’s works are old and not relevant to current day or to
their lives. However, through this unit plan they will learn that the Coming of Age theme
presented in this play is in fact relevant to their lives, as it shows things that they go through and
will go through in their lives, such as: death, love, the belief of fate and destiny, etc. By having
students read the play while looking for these themes, they will understand that while Romeo and
Juliet is a fictitious play, it holds more value and relevancy than they think.

Assessment methods and scoring tools:

Diagnostic: To determine how much the students already know about Shakespearean Tragedy
and the Coming of Age theme, I plan to do a few activities. On the first day, we will go over
literary devices to give them either new knowledge or a refresher of the important words that
they should think of while we are reading. On the second day, we will start the class by playing
four corners, going over the different themes in Coming of Age (death, love, fate and destiny),
this will get them thinking about the themes within the play and see what their opinions are
before they begin reading.

Formative: Throughout the unit, I will be assessing the students’ ongoing process by having
discussions of what they are reading every class. By having discussions, I will be able to see
what questions students may have, as well as be able to ensure that all of the students are in fact
reading the play. Throughout our readings, students will be partaking in Jigsaw groups at the end
of every Act. I will walk around to ensure every student has theirs completely filled out. I will
collect these at the end of the Act 5 and count it as a completion grade for participation. We will
be watching the newer version of the play, and while we are watching, students will jot down
differences between the play and the film adaptation. When we are finished, I will collect it for a
participation grade before returning it to the students. This will show me that they were paying
attention to the details and following along with both the play and the film.

Summative: The end-of-unit assessment that I plan to give to the students will be an essay.
Students will write a 5-paragraph essay where they choose any theme from the play that they
found interesting (I will provide a list that they can use if they are stuck). In the essay, they will
mention how/when that theme was shown, and why it is the most important theme in the play.
This will be an in-class essay, but students will be encouraged to come in prepared with quotes
ready for their paper. It will be open-book, but they will not be able to have a paper already
written.

Alternative: Students will be reenacting scenes from Romeo and Juliet. I will split the class into
5 groups of 4 students. Each group will pick a scene that they find most interesting (I will help
give ideas of scenes for them to do – I will have to approve the scene before they begin).
Students will be graded on a rubric that they will have ahead of time. I will grade the students on
their knowledge of the script and wordage, as well as creativity. They will also be graded by
their peers using a similar rubric. Students will be graded as a group, and individually. (Peers =
group grade, teacher grade = individual). As the final grade, each student will get an individual
grade that factors in both my score as well as the score they received from their peers.
Daily Objectives and/or Content:

Day 1 Monday: On this day, I will tell the students that we will be reading Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet. We will begin by going over literary elements to help students consider these words
while reading. To get students interested, I will show on the projector a list of well-known
literary devices in the form of tongue twisters. I will give them a worksheet with the name of
each literary element and its definition, as well as a spot for them to write an example for each.
We will go over the definitions as a class, with students coming up with the examples for some.
Students will get into “teams” and have 1 student pull out a smart phone or laptop per team and
log into Kahoot! to play a quick game on literary elements. Before leaving, students will write an
“exit ticket” where they write one literary element that they learned, and any that they still do not
understand. For HW, students will have a worksheet where they match the literary element with
its definition.

Students will be able to:

● Point out the use of literary elements in texts.
● Define and describe different literary elements.
● Explain how and why literary elements are used.

Day 2 Tuesday: On this day, we will start the class by playing 4 corners (strongly agree, agree,
disagree, strongly disagree) for the following phrases:
- The punishment for murder should always be death.
- Teenagers can’t understand what true love really is.
- Friends should stick together at all times no matter how wrong a friend may be.
- Parents should make the decisions about their children’s lives.
- It is possible to fall in love at first sight.
- Telling lies or hiding the truth is acceptable for the right reasons.
This will get the students thinking about the ongoing themes in the play, and show them that it is
a relevant play because both Romeo and Juliet were similar to their ages. When we are done
playing, we will begin to read the play. I will ask my students “Why do we read Shakespeare?”
and go around the room letting students answer. I will then tell them the relevancy of the play in
today’s time. I will tell my students “Consider these themes while reading the play, and while
reading, think about which one stands out the most to you” This will help them when they write
their essay towards the end of the unit. I will encourage students to use “No Fear Shakespeare”
while reading at home to help them with the difficult language. Students will have a notebook
where they will write down any words or parts that they did not understand. We will spend the
last 30 minutes of the class reading Act 1 Scene I

HW: Students will read Act 1 Scene I & II for next class)

Students will be able to:

● Describe the different themes prevalent in the play.
● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language.

Day 3 Wednesday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 1
Scene I&II that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. We will continue
reading Act 1 Scene III as a class, with students reading aloud as the characters – students will
volunteer.

HW: Students will read Act 1 Scene IV&V for next class

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language

● Explain the plot points of the scene

Day 4 Thursday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 1
Scenes IV&V that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. After going over
any questions, we will make a family map of the characters, I will write it on the board and they
will copy it into their notebooks. I will have the students help me with the family trees. For the
remaining 30 minutes, students will get into Jigsaw groups. Each group will be assigned a scene
from Act 1. After the group gathers information about the scene (there will be a worksheet that
has points for them to note, such as the scene, who was in the scene, etc.) After having time to go
over the scenes in groups, the students will then get into home groups. In these groups, each of
the students in the home groups will be experts on the scene they were assigned. Now, in their
home groups each student will give the other students in their group the information that they
have now become an expert in. By the end, all of the students will have a packet of information
for each of the scenes in the assigned act, and should all have relatively similar information.

HW: Students will read Act II Scenes I&II for next class
Students will be able to:
● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking

● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene

● Classify the characters into a family tree
● Recall the themes of the first Act

Day 5 Friday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 2
Scene I&II that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. We will continue
reading Act 2 Scene III as a class, with students reading aloud as the characters – students will
volunteer. We will then discuss the themes that we are already seeing by the end of Act 1 and
beginning of Act 2. I will then pass out the essay prompt that students will complete towards the
end of the unit so that they can begin thinking about what theme they might want to write about.
This will be written in class, but they are to start marking down spots to cite so that they are
prepared when it comes time for the in-class essay.

HW: Students will read Act 2 Scene IV&V for next class

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language

● Explain the plot points of the scene

Day 6 Monday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 2
Scene IV&V that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. We will continue
reading Act 2 Scene VI as a class, with students reading aloud as the characters – students will
volunteer. For the remainder of class, students will get into Jigsaw groups. Each group will be
assigned a scene from Act 2. After the group gathers information about the scene (there will be a
worksheet that has points for them to note, such as the scene, who was in the scene, etc.) After
having time to go over the scenes in groups, the students will then get into home groups. In these
groups, each of the students in the home groups will be experts on the scene they were assigned.
Now, in their home groups each student will give the other students in their group the
information that they have now become an expert in. By the end, all of the students will have a
packet of information for each of the scenes in both Act 1 & 2, and should all have relatively
similar information.
HW: Students will read Act 3 Scenes I&II for next class

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language

● Explain the plot points of the scene

● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Recall the themes of Act 2.

Day 7 Tuesday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 3
Scene I&II that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. We will continue
reading Act 3 Scene III as a class, with students reading aloud as the characters – students will
volunteer. (Every student will read at least once, so no student can read again until every student
has had a turn to read at least once) By having the students read aloud, they will begin to feel
more comfortable with Shakespearean language.

HW: Students will read Act 3 Scene IV&V for next class

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language

● Explain the plot points of the scene

Day 8 Wednesday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 3
Scene IV&V that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. As a class, we will
begin brainstorming some reoccurring themes within the play. For the remainder of class,
students will get into Jigsaw groups. Each group will be assigned a scene from Act 3. After the
group gathers information about the scene (there will be a worksheet that has points for them to
note, such as the scene, who was in the scene, etc.) After having time to go over the scenes in
groups, the students will then get into home groups. In these groups, each of the students in the
home groups will be experts on the scene they were assigned. Now, in their home groups each
student will give the other students in their group the information that they have now become an
expert in. By the end, all of the students will have a packet of information for each of the scenes
in Acts 1, 2 & 3, and should all have relatively similar information.
HW: Students will read all of Act 4 for next class

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language

● Explain the plot points of the scene

● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Recall the themes of Act 3.

Day 9 Thursday: We will start the class period by students sharing any words or parts of Act 4
that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. As a class, we will then go over
Act 4 (because it is a short Act) using the “jigsaw” worksheet template. By the end, all of the
students will have a packet of information for each of the scenes in Acts 1, 2, 3 & 4 and should
all have relatively similar information, with the exception of Act 4 where all students will
definitely have the same information. We will start watching Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo and
Juliet film adaptation. (30 min of movie) Student will be told to take note of the differences and
similarities between the film and the play, as I will be collecting it at the end of the film.

HW: Students will read all of Act 5 for next class. I will remind them that their short essay of
what theme is most prevalent will be on Thursday.

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language
● Explain the plot points of the scene
● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Recall the themes of Act 4.
● Analyze the differences and similarities between a play and its film adaptation.

Day 10 Friday: Last day of reading! We will start the class period by students sharing any words
or parts of Act 5 that they did not understand – we will go over them as a class. As a class, we
will then go over Act 5 (because it is a short Act) using the “jigsaw” worksheet template. By the
end, all of the students will have a packet of information for each of the scenes in the play and
should all have relatively similar information, with the exception of Acts 4 and 5 where all
students will definitely have the same information. We will continue watching Baz Luhrmann’s
1996 Romeo and Juliet film adaptation. (30 min of movie – halfway through movie) Student will
be told to continue taking notes of the differences and similarities between the film and the play,
as I will be collecting it at the end of the film.

HW: I will remind them that their short essay of what theme is most prevalent will be on
Thursday.

Students will be able to:

● Distinguish between today’s English versus Shakespearean language
● Explain the plot points of the scene
● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Recall the themes of Act 5.
● Analyze the differences and similarities between a play and its film adaptation.

Day 11 Monday: I will start the class by telling students that they will be putting on presentations
of the play on Wednesday. I will use popsicle sticks with the students’ names on them to
randomize the order of the groups. There will be 4 groups of 5 students each. There will have to
be Romeo, Juliet, a narrator, and then two people depending on the scene that is chosen. I will
give them a choice between either the party scene, the balcony scene or the ending scene.
However, they are not limited to these three choices, but must get the scene approved by me if it
is something different. We will then continue watching roughly 45 minutes of the movie. (15
minutes left of movie after this day)

HW: Start thinking about who you might want to be/ what scene you might want to do. Come in
with ideas to discuss with your group next class.
Students will be able to:
● Explain the plot points of the scene
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Analyze the differences and similarities between a play and its film adaptation.

Day 12 Tuesday: The first 15 minutes will be spent finishing the movie. Students will hand in
their journals where they wrote key differences and similarities between the written play and the
film adaptation. After finishing the film, we will spend a few minutes talking about which one
students like better and why. After the discussion, students will get into their groups and have the
remainder of time to work on their projects. They will get the rubric ahead of time to show them
what I will be looking for. Overall, the project is up to them and they are free to be as creative as
possible while still keeping the main parts of the script the same. They will hand in a paper that
has their group name, all of the members of their group, and who is being who. this will be
turned in by the end of the class. I will be providing some costumes, but they are encouraged to
bring in any other props that I may not have if they need them. They will have 45 minutes in
class to prepare today, and then the full class period tomorrow.

HW: Prepare for the presentations! Bring in any questions you have regarding the presentations
as well as the essay that will be completed on Friday.

Students will be able to:

● Explain the plot points of the scene
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Analyze the differences and similarities between a play and its film adaptation
● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking.

Day 13 Wednesday: Students will come in and get in their assigned groups. They will have this
class period to prepare and finish their presentations. During this time, they are encouraged to
clear up any questions that they may have with me. The presentations will not be long, 5-10
minutes per group, so they should be able to finish the project during this class period. I will tell
them that they will have 10 minutes in the beginning of tomorrow’s class to prepare one last
time. If they are not finished for some reason by the end of class today, it will be up to them to
meet after school to finish up their presentations.

HW: Prepare for the presentations tomorrow! Bring in any questions you have regarding the
essay that will be completed on Friday.

Students will be able to:

● Explain the plot points of the scene
● Understand, in depth, what is going on in each scene
● Analyze the differences and similarities between a play and its film adaptation
● Identify scenes in the play, as well as who is speaking.

Day 14 Thursday: Presentation day! Today, students will be putting on their presentations of
their own adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet play. During the first 10 minutes of the class
period, students will be able to meet with their groups and rehearse one last time. I will randomly
pick popsicle sticks again to see what order the groups will go in, this way it is randomized and
fair. I will pass out the peer rubrics and instruct each student to grade their peers based on the
rubric. I will then go over the instructions once more regarding the presentations, my rubric and
the peer rubrics. After about 40 minutes (assuming each group uses the max of 10 minutes) we
will use the last 10 minutes to review for the essay for tomorrow.

HW: Bring in any notes you have from the play. Essay tomorrow!

Students will be able to:

● Act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet
● Comprehend the scenes of Romeo and Juliet
● Demonstrate their understanding of Shakespearean language.

Day 15 Friday: Today, students will have the entire period to write a 5 paragraph essay about
one major theme in the play that we talked about in class. Students were asked to note moments
in their book that would help them, as it is open book. This will save time from finding examples
and help students spend more time compiling their thoughts. When students enter the room, they
will be given a prompt and 2 pieces of paper. They will only be able to have out their books and
notes, which I will check individually to make sure no student has already written a full paper
and is trying to turn that in. Students will have the entire class period to write their paper. When
they are finished, they will be asked to turn it in, and then they can silently read for the
remainder of the class period.

HW: None!

Students will be able to:

● Construct a 5 paragraph essay about a theme in Romeo and Juliet
● Comprehend the scenes of Romeo and Juliet
● Demonstrate their understanding of Shakespeare
● Defend their stance on which theme is most prevalent