Mainely Middle
Journal of the Maine Association for Middle
Level Education
|
|
|
|
2000/2001 |
Shakespeare Unit on "Romeo and Juliet"
During college I was handed an article about teaching "Romeo and Juliet" in a middle school classroom. At the time, I found that hard to believe. Here I was a college student, who had taken two courses on Shakespeare and done reasonably well at my level. Now someone was handing me an article about middle school students comprehending and completing activities over the plays of a man college students have troubles understanding. In my first year of teaching I was in a store for educators and I came across the book that had the complete play of "Romeo and Juliet" in everyday English. I then came across "Romeo and Juliet" in a book order form. Seeing those two items and remembering the article, I looked at the students in my class and thought that if any class could handle the reading, this would be the class. So, I ordered the books and went online looking for sources to come up with creative activities that would help my students comprehend the play. I found more online resources for teaching this play in the middle school then I would ever have imagined.
What We DidI had about sixteen students in the classroom, which made it easy to break the students into smaller groups for the everyday reading of the scenes. It was a heterogeneous mixture of seventh graders with more girls than boys. Looking back on the activity, I do not know if I would have done this activity had there not been a larger number of girls in the classroom. They were able to keep the level of maturity at a level that made the play comfortable for all to read. We completed this activity in the spring, after the students and I had time to get to know each other and the different learning styles in the class. For eight weeks, my seventh graders and I focused our attention toward studying Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in the classroom. We studied the play by several different means. We read the original version, a version written in everyday English, and we viewed the movie. The way our schedule worked, we focused on one act a week, breaking the play into scenes. As a full class, we read the Shakespearean version aloud with different students taking on the character roles. After reading a scene, the students would break into smaller groups and read the scene in everyday English. We then came back as a full class and discussed the scene and the events that took place. At the end of each act, we viewed the movie and have a quiz over the entire act. The class did several different activities over the play to enhance their understanding of the story. They completed some before reading activities; some during reading activities, and finally a few activities after the reading was completed.
Pre-reading ActivitiesBefore we read the play, the students studied a brief history of Shakespeare's times, his life, the Globe Theater, the language, poetry written, and the roles of men and women during this time. In class, the students completed research and gave short presentations over the topics. The students showed the most interest when we talked about the theater and the different roles men took in the play.
Activities During the ReadingThe students were asked to do several different activities during the reading. One of the most challenging was to find all the metaphors in the reading that had to do with plants, animals, and human body parts. Students were broken into small groups for class work and the reading of the everyday version. Each small group was assigned one group of metaphors to find. They had a hard time finding the metaphors in the reading and had to refer to the everyday version to find many of them. We also ended up finding many of the metaphors as a full class as we read and discussed the play. Another activity the class did, one they really enjoyed, was locating in the Shakespearean version all the negative things that were said. The students had to locate the word, who said it, the situation, and what it means in everyday English. They had no problem finding the negative references in the play and they really enjoyed finding out the true meanings of the insults. During certain times during the unit, students were assigned longer essay questions that asked them to examine an act from the play and connect it to common time. One questioned asked to the students was: The Nurse is undoubtedly very close to Juliet and lovers her like a mother. How is it possible to love a child if you are not its biological parent? What are some examples of this kind of human bonding? (Romeo and Juliet: Plainspoken) It was amazing to see the answers these young people came up with. They thought of people I never would have used as examples to answer these questions and yet their answers made sense, as did their reasoning. Many of the students mentioned stepparents, daycare providers, other family members, friends. Several also mentioned teachers, which really surprised me. One student wrote: Another human bond is that of a teacher and a student. Even though it is not a parent/child relationship, they are still close because they know so much about each other and have been around each other for a long time. This was more common in Elizabethan times when teachers lived with their students. I assumed the students would focus on areas like adoption, foster homes, daycare, other relatives, or stepparents. I really did not think so many would see their teachers as someone they can talk too. The students answered eight of these questions dealing with the different themes we found in the play. I was really amazed by some of the examples they came up with. One of the questions was about where people see prejudice situations occurring today. One student replied: "I see prejudice in grocery stores, shopping malls and auto part stores." I never would have thought of these as examples. I was thinking more globally, but my students were thinking more on a local level. The big activity the students did during the reading of the play was to take on the role of one of the characters and write journal entries from that character's point of view during critical times of the story. For example, if a student was writing from Juliet's point of view, she would have written an entry after first meeting Romeo and discovering that he was her enemy and that she loved him. Another entry from Juliet would come after the balcony scene, after Tybalt's death, after Romeo's banishment, and when she finds Romeo dead in the tomb. This activity is a way for the students to really express their feelings in a very creative way. I was amazed at the amount of thought and emotion they put into their journals. Some of the entries looked just like something Juliet or one of the other characters would have written. Below is a sample journal of one of my students who took on the role of Juliet. The student is writing after hearing about Romeo's banishment and her parent's decision that she will marry Paris. It's not fair! Romeo, my beloved, was banished! He is in Mantua now. Mother and Father want me to marry Count Paris. I do not love him. I do not see why they want me to marry HIM. Oh, how I wish my family were not fighting Romeo's family. If father found out I was married to Romeo, one of his enemies, he would get into a fit. I wonder how I can escape from marrying Paris. I shall pay Friar Laurence a visit. Too many bad things are happening to me! One activity I am extremely proud of and which I think the students learned the most from, was examining the different situations in the play and discussing how the events could have been handled differently. My theory going into this activity was that these two young adults did not need to die to be together. They could have taken different actions along the way to get people to listen to them. They could have tried other things. Throughout the reading of the scenes and the viewing of the movie, we discussed the different events that transpired. Then on chart paper, we brainstormed different steps they could have taken to change an event so they would be were heard and not forced to take such drastic measures. One last activity we did before our post activity, the test over the play, was to write a paper about whom was to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. The students had to reflect on the reading, their journals, and the chart we filled out, and then tell whom they thought was to blame with reasons why. Along with these more creative activities, the students were required to take quizzes over each act and to take a test over the whole play at the end.
Post ActivityAt the end of our reading of the play, I introduced the final activity to the class. I came into class on the day after the test and gave the students a handout telling them that I was a famous movie producer and that I was looking for a talented director to write and direct a new version of "Romeo and Juliet." I then went on to describe the requirements for my movie. The students needed to create a movie poster, a list of actors and actresses who would star in the movie and a storyboard over every act and scene that would appear in the movie. The students spent about a week on this project, in and out of class. They created some of the most amazing work I have ever seen. Through their storyboards, they were able to demonstrate to me their knowledge of the play more effectively then any test could. They seemed to really enjoy the activity as well, and wanted to share their work with anyone who would look at it.
ReflectionsLooking back on this unit, now I would say that this is one of the best units I did with my students during my first year of teaching. It introduced the students to a new genre and involved them in very sophisticated activities. They felt proud of the fact that they were doing what would be considered high school, and that they understood the activities and the readings amazingly well. They pointed out some things in the reading I did not notice as I was reading it. This activity was also great for the students because it was something they were interested in and they could relate with during different scenes. We talked about the fighting scene between Romeo and Tybalt and how that scene could be seen as a fight on a playground, and how a crowd can force a situation to escalate to a higher degree than was intended. It became obvious that once an action has been done, it can never be taken back. As the student's quote below shows, they learned that a person has to live with the consequences of their actions. I don't think it is sensible to fight someone else's battle. For one, you could get injured, or worse, just like Mercutio did. A person should just stay out of it as much as possible if they know that it could create a threat to themselves or others. I think it is foolish to get involved because once something happens, it cannot be reversed. It was somewhat heroic on Mercutio's part to defend Romeo's honor, but it was also very foolish because of the tragic outcome. I feel that the students learned a lot about life and themselves through this play and the different activities we did for comprehension. I know that I now have a better understanding of the play, as well as the students in my class, through reading this with them.
Sources UsedBooks:Broadbent, S. & Henderson, E. (1994). Romeo and Juliet: Classroom materials. London: The English & Media Center. Movie:Zeffirelli, F., Director. (1986). Romeo and Juliet. With Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Milo O'Shea, Michael York, John McEnery, Pat Heywood, Natasha Parry and Robert Stephens. Paramount. Websites:Shakespeare for Teachers and Students: http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramsey/shakes.htm. (This was a link to everything anyone would want to know about Shakespeare and the materials that he wrote. It was filled with information about his life, the globe theater, his different plays, and the different people who lived during his time. It was very helpful in giving background to the students over him.)
|