Romeo and Juliet

My Honors Freshman almost always come into class with a dislike of Shakespeare.  One of the keys for this unit is to take time to explain the elements of the scene, then read the scene outloud, and then discuss important elements of the scenes that relate to the themes of the play.  I have to admit, much to my fellow department members chagrin, that I tell students they can go to sparknotes as a background information source. If the students just read sparknotes they will not be able to pass the test or participate in most of the activities in class, so I never mind if they consult the website for more information. 

1. I begin the unit with a discussion of the themes that sparknotes identifies. I ask students to write about what the idea means to them (using specific examples) and what they think the theme will have to do with Romeo and Juliet. Students then get into groups and discuss their ideas with eachother and then share the best examples for each with the entire class. 
2. Students get participation points each time they raise their hand, and they get double points for acting out a part in the play.  The students can’t just sit and read the play–they have to go to the front of the room and at least attempt to read with some emotion. (I alsways have a few hams that are more than happy to emote profusely throughout the unit.) The students who are not reading are responsible for looking at all the footnotes, and for responding to my many questions.  (My most common question is, “So, what did he/she just say? Put it into your own words.)
3. For lower level students, I have them take notes on each scene before we read it so that they can concentrate on the language rather than the language and trinyg to identify plot.  I ask them to continually think about the themes we discussed at the start of the unit, and a key for their notes is to write down the actual examples from the text that they feel relate to the themes.
4. You have to decide the depth that you want to go as far as which scenes you will read out loud and which scenes you will just give notes on. (I usually skip over the conversations between Paris and Capulet because they are easy to summarize.)
5. I use both versions of the Romeo and Juliet films (the Zeferelli and Lurhmann versions).  Rather than watching the entire movie at the end of the unit, I show both versions one act at a time as we finish reading each act.  If you are lucky enough to have a production of Romeo and Juliet going sometime during the school year, that would be the best avenue and do whatever you have to so that you can get your students into that play.  Because the play is meant to be acted, students HAVE to experience the play visually.  I have students take notes on the things that they notice that are different from our class reading.  I usually stop the films at the end of each scene or two so that we can discuss and comment on the films.
6. I make my students memorize a monologue from the play.  Because I used to be an acting major, I am highly sensitive to this assignment.  There is nothing worse that 30 really bad monologues.  To help with this, I have students complete multiple assignments before they actually give their monologues.  They complete a line-by-line translation of their chosen monologue. (I help them on the lines that they didn’t understand in this phase.)  They then write a descriptive paragraph about what they see around them during the monologue and they create a floor plan of the area where their monologue takes place.  The most critical assignment (and the most time consuming) is to create something I call a line-by-line chart.  They list out each line and then identify the following: physical sensations, thoughts/memories, and personal connection.  If they really take time with each of these assignments, their monologue performance is vastly improved.  I also give extra credit for dressing up or for using props that help assist in the realistic presentation of their monologue.
7. At the end of the play, I announce that the next class we will have a huge, six-person funeral for all of those that perished during the course of the play.  Students write eulogies for the character of their choice (I make sure there are even numbers for each dead person), and are asked to bring in food for the funeral.  On the day of the funeral, I dress up as Sister Laura, and explain that Friar Lawrence has gone into seclusion because of the great tragedy that he felt responsible for.  I make the students wear name tags and stay in their chosen character all class period.  (It is so wonderful to see them all talking about the tragedy of the deaths in Verona while they linger over the food tables.) They give their eulogies and a few lucky people get to be the dead people (they always get so excited to be “dead”).
8. I also have the students write a thematic analysis paper over one of the themes in the play.  After all of the other enrichment activities, their understanding of the play never fails to astound me.  Most of the time the students want to write on a topic that is too large for in-depth analysis.  (For the writing process I use, see the Writing Workshop page.)