Unit Plan
Text: King of Shadows/A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Grade: 9th grade-Academic
Big Question: How does the context (Shakespeare’s life) affect the text (his works)?
Rationale: As students entering into the world of high school English, many members of the class will likely be encountering Shakespeare’s works for the first time, a task that can seem quite daunting. In order to ease them into this transition while giving them a background that will allow them to better understand the time and place that the author wrote, I intend to pair a modern young adult novel (King of Shadows) with a lighter Shakespeare play (A Midsummer Night’s dream).
King of Shadows focuses on a young actor, Nat, who is transported into Shakespeare’s time (late 1500’s-1600’s England) and is cast in the role of Puck in the original performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Nat is thrown into many historically authentic experiences and has many interactions with characters that are typical of the time period. Also, Nat (and the reader) learns about the globe theatre and the profession and techniques of acting for Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men. Students will likely relate to Nat as he perseveres through his difficulties and enjoy the rich and shocking details of this light read. In the process, they will also learn about Shakespeare’s theater and society and hopefully gain an interest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is discussed throughout the story. Since King of Shadows is a fictional piece, the class will be examining short non-fiction pieces or websites that will give them basic historical information in order to assist them in tying the novel to the play.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespearian comedy that follows four young lovers who rebel against society and run away into the forest in order to be together. With the help of fairies magic, their relationships fall apart and are comically fixed. The frivolous story line will hopefully encourage students to toil through the early modern English in order to get through the plot. The underlying themes, the rights of women in a patriarchal society, the power of the wilderness vs. civilization, and the conflict between parent and child (all of which are reoccurring Shakespearean themes) permeate the play. Also, the play contains a wealth of literary devises that allow Shakespeare to express these ideas in unique and subtle ways.
Teachers should always account for a diversity in learning styles in a class of students. With this in mind, the unit will help students to connect other texts to the historical periods they study in social studies and future English courses. Also, students will be building on their critical thinking skills and creativity that will be applicable to virtually any situation at school, at their future or current occupations by linking the books to each other and connection the themes to the time period. I would also like to include scenes from the film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream and short clips from other accurate films set in Elizabethan England in order to clarify more abstract concepts for visual learners. Also, this units summative assessment is geared toward both visual and auditory learners. Furthermore, the units will incorporate activities that will be useful to audio, visual, and kinesthetic learners as well as activities that will require students to demonstrate mastery of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. In this way, I plan to allow all students to work to their strongest areas while improving areas that they may need more assistance with.
By using these two texts in unison, students will encounter Shakespeare in a less overwhelming fashion and will gain a context in which to discuss the overarching themes of the play as well as the need for literary devices in order to convey controversial ideas in a fashion that was not seen as too radical. Multiple encounters with Shakespeare are unavoidable for most students. Using King of Shadows to create Shakespeare’s world in a more tangible way will hopefully take away some of the pressure of these encounters and leave students with a more enjoyable and fruitful experience.
Unit Goals:
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Standards: 1.1.9.A: Apply appropriate comprehension strategies to interpret and evaluate an author’s implied or stated purpose using grade level text.
1.1.9.C: Use vocabulary across all academic content areas that demonstrates knowledge of literal and figurative meanings of words, nuances, or connotations of words, and word origins.
1.3.9.C: Analyze the use and effectiveness of literary elements used by one or more authors, including characterization, setting, plot, theme, point of view, tone, mood, and style
1.3.9.D: Analyze the use and effectiveness of literary devices (e.g., personification, simile, alliteration, symbolism, metaphor, hyperbole, imagery, foreshadowing, and flashback) used by one or more authors in a variety of genres.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 1
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students will study the historical background on Elizabethan England and Shakespeare’s life in order to allow students to connect the themes in Shakespeare’s plays to the culture of his day.
2. Students will be introduced to the characters and story line of King of Shadows in order to inspire them to begin the text with excitement and a sense of connection between the text and Shakespearian literature.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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.
Materials
I. Elizabethan pictures
II. Word list
III. Working Computer
IV. Power Point
V. Timeline sheets
VI. Large timeline
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. When students arrive, pictures of various Elizabethan places (the Tower of London, the Globe), events (bear baiting), people (Queen Elizabeth 1, William Shakespeare), and ideas (Gender Roles) will be placed around the room and a few more.
II. Students will be given a list of words that match the pictures and will work in small groups to match the picture to the term.
III. The teacher will have students volunteer answers before explaining to them that the London that contained all of these subjects is the setting for King of Shadows as well as the actual world Shakespeare grew up in.
II. England in the days of Nat and Shakespeare (Power Point) (15 minutes)
I. Show students a PowerPoint that discusses Elizabethan England in more detail (beliefs, changes, literature, social class, imperialism, gender class, understanding of the supernatural, climate issues, etc. ) and a brief synopsis of Shakespeare’s life (education, background), and an explanation of Elizabethan comedy.
II. Ask students to discuss in small groups how their lives might be different if they were born during Shakespeare’s time. Encourage them to think about their entertainment, beliefs, gender, and education.
III. Write down a list of answers volunteered by students.
III. Interactive Timeline (10 minutes)
I. Have students work in groups to write events on a pre-created timeline
II. On a large timeline posted in the front of the classroom, have groups take turns writing events from their timelines and explaining how each event would have influenced either the theatre, publication and distribution of writing, or Shakespeare.
IV. Introduction to the Novel (10 minutes)
I. Read the first couple pages of the novel as a class, having the students volunteer to read certain characters. All other students will read a paragraph as narrator before passing to the next student.
II. Discuss what we know about Nat and the theatre so far based on our reading.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Explain reading journals to students (1 written page that focuses of new details in plot, setting, characters, and a prediction about what will happen next).
II. Tell students to write three new things they learned about the Elizabethan era on a piece of paper, and to give them to you as a class exit pass.
III. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Read the first 5 chapter of King of Shadows
II. Write reading journal entry 1
Assessment
I. Students will correctly identify the Elizabethan pictures and discuss the information in the Power Point to demonstrate and understanding of Shakespeare’s time and influences as well as the setting for King of Shadows.
II. Students will complete the timeline to show an understanding of the world Shakespeare was born into and the events would have impacted him and his writings as well as the events that were happening around the time Nat was transported back to England.
III. Students will participate in a reading/discussion of the opening pages of the novel to show comprehension of the narrator and the theatre
Accommodations
1. Students with vision problems will receive large-print handouts of the Power Point slides as well as any other handouts and will placed toward the front of the classroom.
2. Students with reading disabilities will be provided with print offs of the Power Point slides and will be allowed to tape record discussion rather than take notes.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 2
Instructor: Ms. Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will compare and contrast two characters in order to understand the impact of a culture on its characters.
II. Students will learn about Puck and soliloquy in order to begin understanding important Elizabethan theatre techniques and to become acquainted with a character they will meet in the next text they will read.
Standards
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.1.4.9-10.C: Develop and analyze the topic with relevant, well-chosen, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic; include graphics and multimedia when useful to aiding
Materials
I. A working computer
II. Fairy Handouts
III. Oversized paper
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Walk students through the virtual Globe theatre experience at http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/sound_globe.swf
II. Ask students what it was like to be part of the theatre’s audience. What did they learn? What surprised them?
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Have students break up into groups of four to answer the following discussion questions. Then have each group share their answers with the class. Instruct students to use evidence from the text when formulating their answers.
-Use the quote, “It would be better in London, it would be better in the company; I wouldn't be Nat, I would be Puck,” to answer questions one and two:
1. What does this tell us about the role of the actor?
2. What does this tell us about Nat? Why does he want to escape his own life?
3. Why is the modern Nat in the past? Who is the Nat now in modern time and why is he there?
4. Nat wakes up bewildered in 1599 England. What experiences does he have that are different from modern life?
5. Explain the characters we have met from 1599; how do they differ from or remind you of modern people?
III. Puck vs. Nat (Activity) (25 minutes)
I. Show Students clips of Puck’s monologues from reproductions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58WDPqkteeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhGQmj0MyE
II. Provide each student with a fairy outline in which they describe Puck. Then have them share their ideas with their groups.
III. On a large sheet of paper, have students write and/or draw comparisons and dissimilarities between Nat and Puck. Instruct students to use evidence from the text when defining Nat.
IV. Have students apply their knowledge to explain how the Elizabethan culture might have influenced Shakespeare’s creation of Puck and how Nat is influenced by modern American culture. Ask students to look for cultural similarities that account for the similarities between Nat and Puck, as well.
V. Groups will share and discuss answers with their peers.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Have students move around the classroom, sharing two things they learned today and two interesting points from their reading with a student from another group, focusing on Elizabethan and modern culture or theatre and how affect the characters.
II. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read Chapters 6-9
II. Complete reading Journal number 2
Assessment
I. Students will discuss the theatre tore and discussion questions to show that they can make connections between Elizabethan times and characters as well as compare it to modern times and people.
II. Students will complete the solo and group outlines to show they can compare and contrast two characters created in different time periods and understand the cultural influences on the creation of those characters.
Accommodations
I. Students with poor eye sight (near sighted) will be placed closest to the screen and given a larger copy of the handouts.
II. Students with who are deaf will be given a written transcript of the videos and will also be given a seat toward the front of the classroom, with enough space for a sign language interpreter to interpret their conversations with peers and discussion answers.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58WDPqkteeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhGQmj0MyE
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/sound_globe.swf
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 3
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students will evaluate the aspects of Elizabethan culture to learn how it would affect an author, his writings, and his themes in order to prepare to analyze and understand Shakespeare.
2. Students will study the theatre structure, the role of the actor, and the audience in Elizabethan England in order to understand Shakespeare’s choice of wording, characters, and stage directions in order to understand the play aspect of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to ease engagement with the text.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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.1.5.9-10.E: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.
Materials
1. A working computer
2. Copies of king of shadows
3. Discussion question sheets
4. Simple Elizabethan props (if possible)
5. Map of 1599 London sketch
I. Bell Ringer (10 minutes)
I. Show students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4NJrxu5Xo
II. Discuss aspects of the Elizabethan theatre
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Have students answering the following questions about the previous night’s reading. Instruct students to use evidence from the text to support their answers.
1. What are some difficulties faced by the apprentice actors of Shakespeare’s era?
2. What do we learn about the Elizabethan theatre in these chapters? How does this differ from modern theatre?
3. What do we learn about play rehearsals in these chapters? How does this differ from modern acting?
4. What does Nat experience in these chapters that causes him to feel culture shocked?
5. Think back to what food the boys ate, when they ate, where they bought their food from. How might these factors have been influenced by Elizabethan culture, technology, and/or resources?
III. Mini Theatre Scenes (Activity) (25 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups and have them create mini scene interpretations of a scene from the chapters they read that covered an aspect of Elizabethan culture. Tell them to pretend they are performing the scene in the Globe theatre for a 1599 audience.
II. Give students preparation time before having them perform the scene. The group members will explain afterwards what their performance revealed about Elizabethan culture and about the theatre/patrons.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. On a pre-created sketch map of old London, have students label a character, place, or event from the novel as their exit pass for the day.
II. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read chapters 10-14
II. Complete reading journal 3
Assessment
I. Students will participate in the bell ringer interpretation and group discussion to show an understanding of how Elizabethan and modern culture and theatre affect the authors and their writings.
II. Student will participate in the mini-plays focusing on a scene from The King of Shadows to show the Elizabeth world and theatre influence the authors and their writings.
Accommodations
I. Students in wheelchairs or on crutches will be placed toward the front of the classroom and given extra space.
II. Students with visual needs will be placed toward the front of the classroom and given a copy of the Power Point slide with the activity instructions on it in a larger font.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4NJrxu5Xo
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 4
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 Minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students should gain a background in the language of Shakespeare in order to understand the writing style, important EME variations and how these impact the characters and double meanings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
2. Students should explore variations and similarities between Elizabethan and modern culture in order to understand the why the themes, characters, and settings Shakespeare focuses on in A Midsummer Night’s Dream were applicable to his original audience.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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
Materials
1. Blank paper for bell ringer
2. Overhead projector
3. Working computer
4. Power Point
5. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream scene I
6. Copies of King of Shadows
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students draw a scene from the previous days reading.
II. Instruct students to share the scene with their groups, and to explain how it reflects Elizabethan culture.
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups to answer the following questions based on the reading. New groups will form with one member from each of the original groups to share their answers and discuss (jigsaw)..
1. How would you describe the reactions of the two Nat’s to being thrown into each other’s worlds? Do you see similarities or differences between their handling of the “time” shock? What do think accounts for these?
2. What are some differences Nat has observed/experienced between acting in 1999 and acting in 1599? What social, cultural, technological differences might account for your observations?
3. Describe the preparations made for Queen Elizabeth I trip to the theatre. How might these preparations differ/compare to preparations made for modern Royalty?
4. What is Nat worried about happening after the play is over? How does time/culture variations play into these worries?
5. Describe Nat’s experiences/conversations with Shakespeare. Do you think Cooper’s portrayal of Shakespeare is accurate? Why or why not?
III. Power Point and Activity (20 minutes)
I. Show students a brief Power Point detailing the transition into and marks of Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare.
II. Show students a YouTube clip of the conversation between Theseus and Hippolyta in Scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
III. Provide students with an EME transcript of the scene and have them work in groups to identify differences between EME and Present Day English (PDE). Have students share their answers in the front of class. Then the teacher will explain the meanings of unfamiliar words or language variations after asking students to attempt a guess using the context of the sentence and/or prior knowledge. Also discuss as a class the writing style (prose vs. verse) and how the two are often used to distinguish character traits.
V Closure (10 minutes)
I. Assign students parts and read the first couple pages of chapter 15.
II. Briefly have students discuss what they note about Elizabethan culture or predictions about Nat’s encounter with the Queen.
III. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read Chapters 15-19
II. Assign Journal Entry 4
Assessment
1. Students will identify language variation between EME and PDE and Shakespeare’s writing style and why these differences are important to show the basic skills they will need in order to read and understand A Midsummer Night’s Dream .
2. Students will explore cultural differences/similarities to show an understanding of the concerns of Shakespeare and his audience that are universal or different from our modern concerns.
Accommodations
I. Students with visual impairment will be provided with large font handouts and copies of the PowerPoint slides. These students will also, be seated in the front of the classroom.
II. Students with hearing impairments will be provided with a transcript of the You Tube clip and will also be seated in the front of the classroom.
Cited Works:
http://paulmeier.com/DREAM/script.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6YGOPw-lCE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 5
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students should explore differences and similarities between Elizabethan and modern culture in order to understand Shakespeare’s choices of plot, characters, setting, language, and themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as how the text affects modern vs. Elizabethan audiences.
2. Students should gain knowledge on the performed play and written versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in order to understand variations between the performance and the text; themes such as gender rights and beliefs that differ from modern beliefs and laws; and EME as it varies from PDE.
Standards
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.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
Materials
1. A working computer
2. Venn Diagram sheet
3. Discussion questions
4. Power Point
5. Copies of King of Shadows
6. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Distribute blank Venn Diagrams, instructing students to use what they’ve learned in class and by reading King of Shadows in order to write similarities and differences between Elizabethan England and the modern world.
II. Pick students at random to share their answers with the class.
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups to answer the following questions based on the reading. Groups should share their answers with the class. Encourage them to use textual evidence to prove their point.
1. In what way does the sonnet Shakespeare gave Nat exemplify a universal theme?
2. In what ways is Nat having difficulty in readjusting to his 1999 life? Why?
3. In what ways does the theme of isolation appear throughout the text?
4. Put yourself in Nat’s shoes, how would you feel being thrown into Elizabethan England? Which changes would be most difficult for you? Would any change be easy? Why?
5. Compare and contrast a character from 1599 with one from 1999. How are these characters similar? How are they different?
III. Power Point-A Midsummer Night’s Dream (10 minutes)
I. Create a PowerPoint focusing on the main themes and Characters to give students a general overview of the play.
IV. Play/reading and discussion (15 minutes)
I. Watch all of Act I Scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream while having students follow along with the reading in their books.
II. Ask students what they noticed about the play within their groups. Encourage them to make connections using the information they have learned about Elizabethan culture. Tell them to look for gender differences, language variation, beliefs, and rights of children/parents.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Instruct students to refocus their reading journals, writing about unfamiliar words or references, plot points they could relate to, and/or reminders of Elizabethan culture.
II. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Assign the remainder of Act I
II. Reading Journals
Assessment
1. Students will discuss and create Venn diagrams to show an understanding of similarities and differences between Elizabethan England and modern America.
2. Students will discuss A Midsummer Night’s Dream in class and in their journals to show how the culture, language, and audience affect Shakespeare’s creation of the play (how culture affects art).
Accommodations
I. Students with visual impairment will be provided with large font handouts and copies of the PowerPoint slides. These students will also, be seated in the front of the classroom.
II. Students with hearing impairments will be provided with a transcript of the You Tube clip and will also be seated in the front of the classroom.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDyENtToJ8E
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 6
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will learn about and discuss Elizabethan culture as well as its effects on Shakespeare’s plays in order to learn to understand texts as a product of society.
II. Students will create modern versions of Shakespeare’s scene in order to apply the information they have learned and to contrast Elizabethan and modern culture.
Standards
CC.1.2.9-10.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
CC.1.3.9-10.A: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Materials
1. KWL charts
2. Giant KWL chart
3. Working computer
4. Power Point
5. Internet access
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act I (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Compile a class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Have students work in small groups to answer the following questions. Have groups
discuss their answers with the rest of the class.
1. Examine the relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta. What does this tell us about relationships/marriage/gender relations in Elizabeth England? Why?
2. Examine the relationship between Egeus and his daughter, Hermia. What does this tell us about relationships/marriage/gender relations in Elizabeth England? Why?
3. Based on what you know about Elizabethan theatre, what do you make of the troupe of actors preparing a play for Theseus’s wedding? What is their purpose in the story? Use textural evidence.
4. Explain love as it is portrayed in Helena’s soliloquy (Scene 1). How does this connect with or contradict what we know about gender roles and relationships in Elizabethan England?
5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream also contains the theme of old vs. young (parents vs. children), a common theme in Elizabethan England. This theme can be seen in the conflict between Hermia and her father. How does this reflect what we have learned about rapid change in Elizabethan England?
III. Power Point (15 minutes)
I. Show a Power Point focusing on gender roles and inequalities in Elizabethan England (laws for marriage, rights of women, purpose of marriages) and rapidly changing beliefs (loss of religion, advancements in science, belief in the supernatural) as it relates to the play.
II. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF4Rz09luVA and discuss how the myth (Phyramus and Thisbe) connects to the themes of gender roles and young vs. old in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Elizabethan society.
IV. Acting Scene Revamp (10 minutes)
I. Students will work in small groups to act out a portion of scene I as it would occur in a modern setting with modern character.
II. After acting out the scene for their peers, students will explain how their scene varied from Shakespeare’s and what cultural differences caused the variation.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Assign homework.
II. Have students choose one line from the first two scenes and relate it to both Elizabethan culture and King of Shadows as an exit pass for the day.
Homework
I. Read Act 2
II. Reading Journal
Assessment
I. Students will complete a KWL chart and answer discussion questions on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, to show critical thinking about the reading.
II. Students will watch a Power Point on gender roles and changes in the Elizabethan era to show that they can apply a context to the play.
III. Students will act out and explain modern versions of scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to show the importance of context and an author’s background, and the audience on the play.
Accommodations
I. Students in a wheelchair or on crutches will be given maneuverability space, will be seated close to the door, and will be allowed to act out their scene in a sitting position. Peers will also write any answers they contribute for them.
II. Students with ADHD will be set away from windows and as many distractions as possible. They will be given a copy of the PowerPoint slides and the discussion questions. Teachers will also use proximity control to help keep students on task.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF4Rz09luVA
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 7
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will analyze the characters of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in order to understand how both Elizabethan culture and universal ideas contribute to the creation of Shakespeare’s character.
II. Students will look for differences between a modern performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the text (the original performances) to understand how the modern and Elizabethan audiences would impact the choice of stage direction, costumes, and character actions.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.G: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
CC.1.5.9-10.D: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,
concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning; ensure that the
presentation is appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Giant KLW chart
3. Markers
4. A working computer
5. The internet
6. Scavenger hunt worksheet
7. Discussion questions
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act II (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns suggesting answers.
II. Group Discussion (10 minutes)
I. Have students work in small groups to answer the following questions. Form new groups using one student from each of the original groups to share their answers and discuss with the other groups (Jigsaw).
1. Applying what you know about Elizabethan England, what do you think the forest and the city symbolized for Shakespeare’s original audience? Does it make sense for the young lovers to steal away into the forest?
2. The Elizabethans believed that issues of the supernatural often impacted mortals. Using this information, can you connect the ferry king and queen to any mortal characters? Use evidence from the play to explain your answer.
3. Why do you think Oberon wants Titania’s changeling? How does your answer relate to what we know about Elizabethan culture?
4. What do you make of the young couples? What point do you think Shakespeare was attempting to make about youth and romance? Is this theme applicable to our modern generations?
5. What is Puck’s role in the play thus far? Can you think of any modern characters like Puck? Do you think Nat would make a good Puck? Use evidence from the book and the play to defend your answers.
II. Worksheet (15 minutes)
I. Students will work in groups to fill out A Midsummer Night’s Dream scavenger hunt worksheet http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
II. After writing a character in each block, students will individually write down a sentence relating to the box, connecting it to Elizabethan culture, or relating it to a character in the modern world.
III. Students will share and discuss their answers among their group members.
IV. There may be a few boxes students cannot yet fill in. Encourage students to fill these boxes in as they find their answers in the later sections of the play.
IV. Play Interpretation (10 minutes)
I. Show students a performance of Act II Scene I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPZBbMJRqzk
II. Ask students to analyze in a group discussion differences between this modern performance and what Shakespeare’s performance would have looked like, or what they imagined when reading the text. Encourage students to think about stage directions, costume design, physical movements, and other character related aspects. What cultural differences would lead to this variation?
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Have groups choose a line from act II and write a brief list explaining how the line shows an element of a character and how this is affected by Elizabethan culture, and/or universal theme.
II. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Read Act III
II. Reading Journal
Assessment
I. Students will fill out the KWL chart and participate in group discussion to show critical thinking and close reading about the plot and characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
II. Students will fill out the scavenger hunt and discuss to show the ability to make connections between characters and Elizabethan culture, modern culture, and universal ideas.
III. Students will analyze the differences between a modern performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the text, and what they know about the original performances at the globe to show an understanding of the impact of culture and audience on such theatrical aspects as costumes, stage directions, and physical interactions/movements.
Accommodations
I. Extra space will be made in the corners for the debate in order to accommodate students with mobility issues (in a wheelchair or on crutches). Also, peers will write answers on the class KWL board for them, and their groups for the jigsaw and other activities will move to them.
II. Students how are near sighted will be sat in the front of the room for the video clip and the KWL assignment and will be given large print handouts of the KWL chart and the scavenger hunt.
Cited Works:
http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPZBbMJRqzk
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 8
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will evaluate how a theme is developed through characters, setting, and dialogue for a particular audience in order to understand how Shakespeare developed his themes for his Elizabethan audience.
II. Students will examine key lines from the play as both themselves and as an Elizabethan theatre patron in order to understand how ideas can be accepted or rejected by the two different cultures.
Standards
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.1.3.9-10.A: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Art supplies/Magazine cut outs
4. Laptops
5. Working computer
6. The internet
7. What do you think worksheet
8. Debate signs
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act III (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (10 minutes)
I. Students will work in groups to analyze the following five themes as they appear in act III. Students may touch on how these themes have developed in the first two acts as well. Next, students will consider how and why Shakespeare portrays these themes to his Elizabethan audience.
1. The idleness/ foolishness of love
2. Dreams and sleep
3. Nature and escape
4. Male vs. female
5. Potions and the supernatural
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Students will convert their ideas from the group discussion into a visual (poster, comic, collage, etc.).
II. Tell students to include the theme, the characters/setting that the theme applies to, and a quote that exemplifies the theme. Their audience should be Elizabethan theatre patrons. Students may also work individually or in groups.
III. Tell students that they will have the night and a portion of the next class to finish their project.
IV. Worksheet and Debate (15 minutes)
I. Distribute “What do you think” worksheet (http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf) on page 17 to students, and instruct them to paraphrase the quotes from the play and write if they agree or disagree.
II. Go through each quote. Have students stand in one corner if they agree and another if they disagree. Ask students to explain their answers, debating with their peers of the opposite opinion. Encourage all students to share discussion time equally.
III. Now tell students to put themselves into the mind of an Elizabethan. Ask them to redo the agree/disagree section. Redo the debate from this perspective.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Assign homework.
II. Instruct students to write a short paragraph about one decision that changed when they changed into their “Elizabethan” selves and what factors impacted their decision as an exit pass.
Homework
I. Read Act IV
II. Reading Journal
III. Visual project
Assessment
I. Students will examine their themes in a group and create a visual to show their ability to evaluate how a theme is developed throughout the play (through characters, setting, and dialogue) as well as the ability to evaluate the themes as a result of Elizabethan culture.
II. Students will fill out and debate about the quotation worksheet from the perspectives of both a modern and Elizabethan theatre goer to show an understanding of the difference between the two cultures and how it impacts their beliefs.
Accommodations
I. Extra space will be made in the corners for the debate in order to accommodate students with mobility issues (in a wheelchair or on crutches). Also, peers will write answers on the class KWL board for them, and their group members will bring materials for the project to the desk.
Cited Works: http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 9
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will discuss the characters, events, and themes of the previous night’s reading in order to show critical reading and thinking of the play.
II. Students will participate in activities to evaluate the themes and characters of the play as existing within a cultural context for a specific audience in order to see how audience and the culture an author existed in can shape a text and how this culture and audience compares to our modern one.
Standards
CC.1.5.9-10.E: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.
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.1.3.9-10.C: Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Art supplies and magazine cutouts
4. Laptops
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act IV (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Students will each write down answers for the following five questions. Then in a large circle, the class will conduct a discussion about the five questions. Encourage all students to share the speaking time and ask everyone to contribute their thoughts.
1. How does the struggle between Oberon and Titania end? What does this imply about gender relations (husband vs. wife) in Elizabethan culture?
2. How does the confusion with the four young lovers end? Following the Elizabethan belief that the supernatural affects the human plane, how can you connect Oberon and Titania’s resolution to that of the young lovers?
3. As a king, it is commonplace for Theseus to have performances for entertainment after important events? What does this say about theatre in Elizabethan Culture?
4. Think about the characters Shakespeare “casts” to perform after the wedding. What do you think Shakespeare is implying about actors of the Elizabethan culture?
5. Think about the theme of forest vs. civilization prevalent throughout the play. What do you think those two settings represented to Shakespeare’s Elizabethan audience? In what ways is this different or similar for a modern audience?
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Instruct students to finish up their theme projects from the previous class.
II. If students are finished, have them present their projects to their peers who have also completed the assignment. Have them explain the theme, how it is represented visually, and if their project would be better for an Elizabethan or Modern audience and why.
III. Tell students to clean up their area. Collect finished projects and inform any student who still needs more time that the projects are due at the beginning of the next class period.
IV. Acting Time (13 minutes)
I. Students will work in small groups to act out a scene snippet from Act VI that revolved around one of the play’s themes. However, they will change the characters and their actions to reflect a modern beliefs and characters.
II. Students will perform their short skits and explain to their peers their reasons for the changes they made and how they reflect the modern audience and culture.
V Closure (2 minutes)
I. Assign homework
II. Ask for any last minute questions and thank students for their attentiveness.
Homework
I. Read Act 5
II. Final reading journal
III. Visual project
Assessment
I. Students will fill out their KWL charts and participate in the class review discussion to show critical thinking and reading of the play, particularly in understanding the aspects of themes, characters, and settings as a product of their culture.
II. Students will create and present their theme visuals and preform their mini skits to show an understanding of how a theme is developed throughout a play and how interpretations of that theme may vary depending on the audience.
Accommodations
I. Classmates will write the KWL contributions and bring art supplies or Laptops to students in wheel chairs or on crutches. These students will also be given extra room to perform the skit and a clear walkway to maneuver through.
Students with hearing difficulties will be provided with an interpreter for the group discussions, plays, and project presentations who will interpret the discussion for the student.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 10
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will discuss the characters, events, and themes of the previous night’s reading in order to show critical reading and thinking of the play.
II. Students will analyze characteristics of modern and Elizabethan text in order to understand how characters and scenes exemplify these characteristics.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
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.1.5.9-10.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
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Large blank papers
4. Markers
5. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King of Shadows
6. Timers for charades
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act V (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Complete the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers. Discuss any remaining topics in the “W” section that have not been answered with the class.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Have students work in groups to answer the following questions. Then have the groups share their answers with the rest of the class.
1. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe, originally a tragedy, is made comedic by the blundering actors. How is this appropriate for the ending of A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
2. Examine the differences between the lords and ladies watching the play and the commoners performing it. What does this tell us about the different classes in Elizabethan society?
3. Why does Shakespeare feel the need to apologize for his play, calling it just a dream the audience had? Would the same need exist for a modern audience? Why or why not?
4. When the young lovers reenter society, everything is sorted out between them and the kings and queens. What does this suggest about nature vs. society? Would it mean the same thing for both an Elizabethan and modern audience?
5. As with the humorous skit in the epilogue, Shakespeare often incorporated plays within his plays. What might have been Shakespeare’s purpose for this? Would this be something a modern play director would add to their plays? Why or why not?
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Break students into small groups, providing each group with a large piece of paper with a line down the middle.
II. Have students write traits, beliefs, social and gender differences, language variation etc. that they associate with Elizabethan culture on one side and with modern culture on the other side.
III. Instruct students to label at least one character for each of the above items from either A Midsummer Night’s Dream or King of Shadows that exemplifies or relates to the item.
IV. Charades (10 minutes)
I. After giving groups a few minutes to prepare, split the class in half
II. Have each group act out scenes. Have their peers in their half of the class guess both the character that is being acted out and the Elizabethan or modern elements present in the scene.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Hand out assignment sheet for the summative assessment project and instruct students to begin brainstorming.
II. Have students chose a line from the play or the text that exemplifies Elizabethan or modern culture. Tell them to write down the quote and two sentences addressing the prompt as their class exit pass.
Homework
I. Began research for unit assessment project
Assessment
I. Students will fill out their KWL charts and participate in the class review discussion to show critical thinking and reading of the play, particularly in understanding the aspects of themes, characters, and settings as a product of their culture.
II. Students will map out, label with characters, and act out different aspects of Elizabethan and modern culture to show and understanding of how the culture is shown through and impacts the characters.
Accommodations
I. Students in a wheelchair or on crutches will be given the option to perform seated or not to perform. They will be given extra space and a clear path to move through when moving from activity to activity. Also, these students ‘groups will move to them and gather any necessary materials for them.
II. Students with ADHD will be placed in seats that face away from the other groups and any other distractors that would hinder their focus.
Reflection: Working on this unit plan has taught me that teachers must spend a lot of their time planning and making sure that everything from the standards and lessons to the assessment connect to the Big Question. I have learned a lot from attending to feedback as well. With all of the technicalities, it is easy for teachers to lose track of whether an assessment is actually geared toward the student or whether a lesson is actually covering the information I'm aiming to cover in the best way possible. Through my experiences attending to peer feedback and looking for lesson ideas online, I have discovered that bouncing and sharing ideas with other teachers can often generate great ideas for both teachers, improving the overall quality of the lessons and activities.
In order to address the needs of diverse learners, I incorporated different types of activities (plays, art projects, interactive websites) into my lessons. I also created an assessment made up of artistic, visual, and communication parts. Thanks to the group lessons, accommodating learners with special needs was something I began to think about in terms of changes that would work in a real classroom setting and that would not single out the student. I incorporated a lighter novel, movies, and technology based activities as well as questions that put students in the characters' shoes in an attempt to make the lesson more relevant to them and to make the task of reading Shakespeare less daunting. Also, I tried to show students how written works are often related to their surroundings, an idea that is broader than Shakespeare and necessary for most courses in the English discipline. As far as alignment is concerned, my goal was for students to understand the text as part of the context. I assessed for this goal in my final project by having students relate events from Elizabethan England to Shakespeare's works. Everything from my class discussions to my plays focus on making connections between theses elements. My choice of starting out with an easier, more modern book about Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Elizabethan England is defiantly scaffolding because it introduces students to the author and the time period and asks them to make connections before attempting to do so with a more challenging read. As for conventions, all of my lesson plans follow the same format so that a sub could easily read them or so that I could find a detail with little difficulty.
Creating a unit plan individually while participating in a group plan throughout the semester gave me the opportunity to think about what goes into the plan and how it plays out. This project has made me less nervous to student teach next semester.
Summative Assessment:
Nat’s Summer Dream: A Tour through Elizabethan England Pretend you are Nat. After returning to your own time period, you must explain your experiences in Shakespeare’s time to your classmates.
Provide 10 visuals, enough to get a sense of the varying components of Elizabethan life, with a short paragraph for each item explaining how it relates to your trip.
These may be presented (but are not limited to) in the form of a collage, a scrapbook, a shoebox of items, or a mobile. Be creative.
Be sure to discuss Nat’s experiences with both the theatre troupe and the city.
Also, discuss how these experiences impacted the main themes of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Where did Shakespeare draw his ideas from and how might he have tailored the play to his audience?
Use at least one source (reputable website, book, journal, etc.) to delve further into one of the topics. Be sure to sight it with MLA format.
v At the end of the unit, you will present your project, taking on the role of Nat, Puck, or yourself to explain your journey to your classmates.
A preliminary list of 10 topics with brief explanations will be due 1 week prior to the completed project due date.
Be sure to have fun with the assignment!
Grade: 9th grade-Academic
Big Question: How does the context (Shakespeare’s life) affect the text (his works)?
Rationale: As students entering into the world of high school English, many members of the class will likely be encountering Shakespeare’s works for the first time, a task that can seem quite daunting. In order to ease them into this transition while giving them a background that will allow them to better understand the time and place that the author wrote, I intend to pair a modern young adult novel (King of Shadows) with a lighter Shakespeare play (A Midsummer Night’s dream).
King of Shadows focuses on a young actor, Nat, who is transported into Shakespeare’s time (late 1500’s-1600’s England) and is cast in the role of Puck in the original performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Nat is thrown into many historically authentic experiences and has many interactions with characters that are typical of the time period. Also, Nat (and the reader) learns about the globe theatre and the profession and techniques of acting for Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men. Students will likely relate to Nat as he perseveres through his difficulties and enjoy the rich and shocking details of this light read. In the process, they will also learn about Shakespeare’s theater and society and hopefully gain an interest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is discussed throughout the story. Since King of Shadows is a fictional piece, the class will be examining short non-fiction pieces or websites that will give them basic historical information in order to assist them in tying the novel to the play.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Shakespearian comedy that follows four young lovers who rebel against society and run away into the forest in order to be together. With the help of fairies magic, their relationships fall apart and are comically fixed. The frivolous story line will hopefully encourage students to toil through the early modern English in order to get through the plot. The underlying themes, the rights of women in a patriarchal society, the power of the wilderness vs. civilization, and the conflict between parent and child (all of which are reoccurring Shakespearean themes) permeate the play. Also, the play contains a wealth of literary devises that allow Shakespeare to express these ideas in unique and subtle ways.
Teachers should always account for a diversity in learning styles in a class of students. With this in mind, the unit will help students to connect other texts to the historical periods they study in social studies and future English courses. Also, students will be building on their critical thinking skills and creativity that will be applicable to virtually any situation at school, at their future or current occupations by linking the books to each other and connection the themes to the time period. I would also like to include scenes from the film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream and short clips from other accurate films set in Elizabethan England in order to clarify more abstract concepts for visual learners. Also, this units summative assessment is geared toward both visual and auditory learners. Furthermore, the units will incorporate activities that will be useful to audio, visual, and kinesthetic learners as well as activities that will require students to demonstrate mastery of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. In this way, I plan to allow all students to work to their strongest areas while improving areas that they may need more assistance with.
By using these two texts in unison, students will encounter Shakespeare in a less overwhelming fashion and will gain a context in which to discuss the overarching themes of the play as well as the need for literary devices in order to convey controversial ideas in a fashion that was not seen as too radical. Multiple encounters with Shakespeare are unavoidable for most students. Using King of Shadows to create Shakespeare’s world in a more tangible way will hopefully take away some of the pressure of these encounters and leave students with a more enjoyable and fruitful experience.
Unit Goals:
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Standards: 1.1.9.A: Apply appropriate comprehension strategies to interpret and evaluate an author’s implied or stated purpose using grade level text.
1.1.9.C: Use vocabulary across all academic content areas that demonstrates knowledge of literal and figurative meanings of words, nuances, or connotations of words, and word origins.
1.3.9.C: Analyze the use and effectiveness of literary elements used by one or more authors, including characterization, setting, plot, theme, point of view, tone, mood, and style
1.3.9.D: Analyze the use and effectiveness of literary devices (e.g., personification, simile, alliteration, symbolism, metaphor, hyperbole, imagery, foreshadowing, and flashback) used by one or more authors in a variety of genres.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 1
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students will study the historical background on Elizabethan England and Shakespeare’s life in order to allow students to connect the themes in Shakespeare’s plays to the culture of his day.
2. Students will be introduced to the characters and story line of King of Shadows in order to inspire them to begin the text with excitement and a sense of connection between the text and Shakespearian literature.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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.
Materials
I. Elizabethan pictures
II. Word list
III. Working Computer
IV. Power Point
V. Timeline sheets
VI. Large timeline
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. When students arrive, pictures of various Elizabethan places (the Tower of London, the Globe), events (bear baiting), people (Queen Elizabeth 1, William Shakespeare), and ideas (Gender Roles) will be placed around the room and a few more.
II. Students will be given a list of words that match the pictures and will work in small groups to match the picture to the term.
III. The teacher will have students volunteer answers before explaining to them that the London that contained all of these subjects is the setting for King of Shadows as well as the actual world Shakespeare grew up in.
II. England in the days of Nat and Shakespeare (Power Point) (15 minutes)
I. Show students a PowerPoint that discusses Elizabethan England in more detail (beliefs, changes, literature, social class, imperialism, gender class, understanding of the supernatural, climate issues, etc. ) and a brief synopsis of Shakespeare’s life (education, background), and an explanation of Elizabethan comedy.
II. Ask students to discuss in small groups how their lives might be different if they were born during Shakespeare’s time. Encourage them to think about their entertainment, beliefs, gender, and education.
III. Write down a list of answers volunteered by students.
III. Interactive Timeline (10 minutes)
I. Have students work in groups to write events on a pre-created timeline
II. On a large timeline posted in the front of the classroom, have groups take turns writing events from their timelines and explaining how each event would have influenced either the theatre, publication and distribution of writing, or Shakespeare.
IV. Introduction to the Novel (10 minutes)
I. Read the first couple pages of the novel as a class, having the students volunteer to read certain characters. All other students will read a paragraph as narrator before passing to the next student.
II. Discuss what we know about Nat and the theatre so far based on our reading.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Explain reading journals to students (1 written page that focuses of new details in plot, setting, characters, and a prediction about what will happen next).
II. Tell students to write three new things they learned about the Elizabethan era on a piece of paper, and to give them to you as a class exit pass.
III. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Read the first 5 chapter of King of Shadows
II. Write reading journal entry 1
Assessment
I. Students will correctly identify the Elizabethan pictures and discuss the information in the Power Point to demonstrate and understanding of Shakespeare’s time and influences as well as the setting for King of Shadows.
II. Students will complete the timeline to show an understanding of the world Shakespeare was born into and the events would have impacted him and his writings as well as the events that were happening around the time Nat was transported back to England.
III. Students will participate in a reading/discussion of the opening pages of the novel to show comprehension of the narrator and the theatre
Accommodations
1. Students with vision problems will receive large-print handouts of the Power Point slides as well as any other handouts and will placed toward the front of the classroom.
2. Students with reading disabilities will be provided with print offs of the Power Point slides and will be allowed to tape record discussion rather than take notes.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 2
Instructor: Ms. Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will compare and contrast two characters in order to understand the impact of a culture on its characters.
II. Students will learn about Puck and soliloquy in order to begin understanding important Elizabethan theatre techniques and to become acquainted with a character they will meet in the next text they will read.
Standards
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.1.4.9-10.C: Develop and analyze the topic with relevant, well-chosen, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic; include graphics and multimedia when useful to aiding
Materials
I. A working computer
II. Fairy Handouts
III. Oversized paper
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Walk students through the virtual Globe theatre experience at http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/sound_globe.swf
II. Ask students what it was like to be part of the theatre’s audience. What did they learn? What surprised them?
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Have students break up into groups of four to answer the following discussion questions. Then have each group share their answers with the class. Instruct students to use evidence from the text when formulating their answers.
-Use the quote, “It would be better in London, it would be better in the company; I wouldn't be Nat, I would be Puck,” to answer questions one and two:
1. What does this tell us about the role of the actor?
2. What does this tell us about Nat? Why does he want to escape his own life?
3. Why is the modern Nat in the past? Who is the Nat now in modern time and why is he there?
4. Nat wakes up bewildered in 1599 England. What experiences does he have that are different from modern life?
5. Explain the characters we have met from 1599; how do they differ from or remind you of modern people?
III. Puck vs. Nat (Activity) (25 minutes)
I. Show Students clips of Puck’s monologues from reproductions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58WDPqkteeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhGQmj0MyE
II. Provide each student with a fairy outline in which they describe Puck. Then have them share their ideas with their groups.
III. On a large sheet of paper, have students write and/or draw comparisons and dissimilarities between Nat and Puck. Instruct students to use evidence from the text when defining Nat.
IV. Have students apply their knowledge to explain how the Elizabethan culture might have influenced Shakespeare’s creation of Puck and how Nat is influenced by modern American culture. Ask students to look for cultural similarities that account for the similarities between Nat and Puck, as well.
V. Groups will share and discuss answers with their peers.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Have students move around the classroom, sharing two things they learned today and two interesting points from their reading with a student from another group, focusing on Elizabethan and modern culture or theatre and how affect the characters.
II. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read Chapters 6-9
II. Complete reading Journal number 2
Assessment
I. Students will discuss the theatre tore and discussion questions to show that they can make connections between Elizabethan times and characters as well as compare it to modern times and people.
II. Students will complete the solo and group outlines to show they can compare and contrast two characters created in different time periods and understand the cultural influences on the creation of those characters.
Accommodations
I. Students with poor eye sight (near sighted) will be placed closest to the screen and given a larger copy of the handouts.
II. Students with who are deaf will be given a written transcript of the videos and will also be given a seat toward the front of the classroom, with enough space for a sign language interpreter to interpret their conversations with peers and discussion answers.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58WDPqkteeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhGQmj0MyE
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/movies/sound_globe.swf
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 3
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students will evaluate the aspects of Elizabethan culture to learn how it would affect an author, his writings, and his themes in order to prepare to analyze and understand Shakespeare.
2. Students will study the theatre structure, the role of the actor, and the audience in Elizabethan England in order to understand Shakespeare’s choice of wording, characters, and stage directions in order to understand the play aspect of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to ease engagement with the text.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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.1.5.9-10.E: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.
Materials
1. A working computer
2. Copies of king of shadows
3. Discussion question sheets
4. Simple Elizabethan props (if possible)
5. Map of 1599 London sketch
I. Bell Ringer (10 minutes)
I. Show students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4NJrxu5Xo
II. Discuss aspects of the Elizabethan theatre
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Have students answering the following questions about the previous night’s reading. Instruct students to use evidence from the text to support their answers.
1. What are some difficulties faced by the apprentice actors of Shakespeare’s era?
2. What do we learn about the Elizabethan theatre in these chapters? How does this differ from modern theatre?
3. What do we learn about play rehearsals in these chapters? How does this differ from modern acting?
4. What does Nat experience in these chapters that causes him to feel culture shocked?
5. Think back to what food the boys ate, when they ate, where they bought their food from. How might these factors have been influenced by Elizabethan culture, technology, and/or resources?
III. Mini Theatre Scenes (Activity) (25 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups and have them create mini scene interpretations of a scene from the chapters they read that covered an aspect of Elizabethan culture. Tell them to pretend they are performing the scene in the Globe theatre for a 1599 audience.
II. Give students preparation time before having them perform the scene. The group members will explain afterwards what their performance revealed about Elizabethan culture and about the theatre/patrons.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. On a pre-created sketch map of old London, have students label a character, place, or event from the novel as their exit pass for the day.
II. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read chapters 10-14
II. Complete reading journal 3
Assessment
I. Students will participate in the bell ringer interpretation and group discussion to show an understanding of how Elizabethan and modern culture and theatre affect the authors and their writings.
II. Student will participate in the mini-plays focusing on a scene from The King of Shadows to show the Elizabeth world and theatre influence the authors and their writings.
Accommodations
I. Students in wheelchairs or on crutches will be placed toward the front of the classroom and given extra space.
II. Students with visual needs will be placed toward the front of the classroom and given a copy of the Power Point slide with the activity instructions on it in a larger font.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4NJrxu5Xo
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 4
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 Minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students should gain a background in the language of Shakespeare in order to understand the writing style, important EME variations and how these impact the characters and double meanings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
2. Students should explore variations and similarities between Elizabethan and modern culture in order to understand the why the themes, characters, and settings Shakespeare focuses on in A Midsummer Night’s Dream were applicable to his original audience.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
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
Materials
1. Blank paper for bell ringer
2. Overhead projector
3. Working computer
4. Power Point
5. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream scene I
6. Copies of King of Shadows
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students draw a scene from the previous days reading.
II. Instruct students to share the scene with their groups, and to explain how it reflects Elizabethan culture.
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups to answer the following questions based on the reading. New groups will form with one member from each of the original groups to share their answers and discuss (jigsaw)..
1. How would you describe the reactions of the two Nat’s to being thrown into each other’s worlds? Do you see similarities or differences between their handling of the “time” shock? What do think accounts for these?
2. What are some differences Nat has observed/experienced between acting in 1999 and acting in 1599? What social, cultural, technological differences might account for your observations?
3. Describe the preparations made for Queen Elizabeth I trip to the theatre. How might these preparations differ/compare to preparations made for modern Royalty?
4. What is Nat worried about happening after the play is over? How does time/culture variations play into these worries?
5. Describe Nat’s experiences/conversations with Shakespeare. Do you think Cooper’s portrayal of Shakespeare is accurate? Why or why not?
III. Power Point and Activity (20 minutes)
I. Show students a brief Power Point detailing the transition into and marks of Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare.
II. Show students a YouTube clip of the conversation between Theseus and Hippolyta in Scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
III. Provide students with an EME transcript of the scene and have them work in groups to identify differences between EME and Present Day English (PDE). Have students share their answers in the front of class. Then the teacher will explain the meanings of unfamiliar words or language variations after asking students to attempt a guess using the context of the sentence and/or prior knowledge. Also discuss as a class the writing style (prose vs. verse) and how the two are often used to distinguish character traits.
V Closure (10 minutes)
I. Assign students parts and read the first couple pages of chapter 15.
II. Briefly have students discuss what they note about Elizabethan culture or predictions about Nat’s encounter with the Queen.
III. Assign Homework.
Homework
I. Read Chapters 15-19
II. Assign Journal Entry 4
Assessment
1. Students will identify language variation between EME and PDE and Shakespeare’s writing style and why these differences are important to show the basic skills they will need in order to read and understand A Midsummer Night’s Dream .
2. Students will explore cultural differences/similarities to show an understanding of the concerns of Shakespeare and his audience that are universal or different from our modern concerns.
Accommodations
I. Students with visual impairment will be provided with large font handouts and copies of the PowerPoint slides. These students will also, be seated in the front of the classroom.
II. Students with hearing impairments will be provided with a transcript of the You Tube clip and will also be seated in the front of the classroom.
Cited Works:
http://paulmeier.com/DREAM/script.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6YGOPw-lCE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 5
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
1. Students should explore differences and similarities between Elizabethan and modern culture in order to understand Shakespeare’s choices of plot, characters, setting, language, and themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as how the text affects modern vs. Elizabethan audiences.
2. Students should gain knowledge on the performed play and written versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in order to understand variations between the performance and the text; themes such as gender rights and beliefs that differ from modern beliefs and laws; and EME as it varies from PDE.
Standards
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.H: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.
Materials
1. A working computer
2. Venn Diagram sheet
3. Discussion questions
4. Power Point
5. Copies of King of Shadows
6. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I. Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Distribute blank Venn Diagrams, instructing students to use what they’ve learned in class and by reading King of Shadows in order to write similarities and differences between Elizabethan England and the modern world.
II. Pick students at random to share their answers with the class.
II. Group Discussion of Reading (Review) (10 minutes)
I. Split students into small groups to answer the following questions based on the reading. Groups should share their answers with the class. Encourage them to use textual evidence to prove their point.
1. In what way does the sonnet Shakespeare gave Nat exemplify a universal theme?
2. In what ways is Nat having difficulty in readjusting to his 1999 life? Why?
3. In what ways does the theme of isolation appear throughout the text?
4. Put yourself in Nat’s shoes, how would you feel being thrown into Elizabethan England? Which changes would be most difficult for you? Would any change be easy? Why?
5. Compare and contrast a character from 1599 with one from 1999. How are these characters similar? How are they different?
III. Power Point-A Midsummer Night’s Dream (10 minutes)
I. Create a PowerPoint focusing on the main themes and Characters to give students a general overview of the play.
IV. Play/reading and discussion (15 minutes)
I. Watch all of Act I Scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream while having students follow along with the reading in their books.
II. Ask students what they noticed about the play within their groups. Encourage them to make connections using the information they have learned about Elizabethan culture. Tell them to look for gender differences, language variation, beliefs, and rights of children/parents.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Instruct students to refocus their reading journals, writing about unfamiliar words or references, plot points they could relate to, and/or reminders of Elizabethan culture.
II. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Assign the remainder of Act I
II. Reading Journals
Assessment
1. Students will discuss and create Venn diagrams to show an understanding of similarities and differences between Elizabethan England and modern America.
2. Students will discuss A Midsummer Night’s Dream in class and in their journals to show how the culture, language, and audience affect Shakespeare’s creation of the play (how culture affects art).
Accommodations
I. Students with visual impairment will be provided with large font handouts and copies of the PowerPoint slides. These students will also, be seated in the front of the classroom.
II. Students with hearing impairments will be provided with a transcript of the You Tube clip and will also be seated in the front of the classroom.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDyENtToJ8E
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 6
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will learn about and discuss Elizabethan culture as well as its effects on Shakespeare’s plays in order to learn to understand texts as a product of society.
II. Students will create modern versions of Shakespeare’s scene in order to apply the information they have learned and to contrast Elizabethan and modern culture.
Standards
CC.1.2.9-10.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
CC.1.3.9-10.A: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Materials
1. KWL charts
2. Giant KWL chart
3. Working computer
4. Power Point
5. Internet access
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act I (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Compile a class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Have students work in small groups to answer the following questions. Have groups
discuss their answers with the rest of the class.
1. Examine the relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta. What does this tell us about relationships/marriage/gender relations in Elizabeth England? Why?
2. Examine the relationship between Egeus and his daughter, Hermia. What does this tell us about relationships/marriage/gender relations in Elizabeth England? Why?
3. Based on what you know about Elizabethan theatre, what do you make of the troupe of actors preparing a play for Theseus’s wedding? What is their purpose in the story? Use textural evidence.
4. Explain love as it is portrayed in Helena’s soliloquy (Scene 1). How does this connect with or contradict what we know about gender roles and relationships in Elizabethan England?
5. A Midsummer Night’s Dream also contains the theme of old vs. young (parents vs. children), a common theme in Elizabethan England. This theme can be seen in the conflict between Hermia and her father. How does this reflect what we have learned about rapid change in Elizabethan England?
III. Power Point (15 minutes)
I. Show a Power Point focusing on gender roles and inequalities in Elizabethan England (laws for marriage, rights of women, purpose of marriages) and rapidly changing beliefs (loss of religion, advancements in science, belief in the supernatural) as it relates to the play.
II. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF4Rz09luVA and discuss how the myth (Phyramus and Thisbe) connects to the themes of gender roles and young vs. old in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Elizabethan society.
IV. Acting Scene Revamp (10 minutes)
I. Students will work in small groups to act out a portion of scene I as it would occur in a modern setting with modern character.
II. After acting out the scene for their peers, students will explain how their scene varied from Shakespeare’s and what cultural differences caused the variation.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Assign homework.
II. Have students choose one line from the first two scenes and relate it to both Elizabethan culture and King of Shadows as an exit pass for the day.
Homework
I. Read Act 2
II. Reading Journal
Assessment
I. Students will complete a KWL chart and answer discussion questions on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, to show critical thinking about the reading.
II. Students will watch a Power Point on gender roles and changes in the Elizabethan era to show that they can apply a context to the play.
III. Students will act out and explain modern versions of scene I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to show the importance of context and an author’s background, and the audience on the play.
Accommodations
I. Students in a wheelchair or on crutches will be given maneuverability space, will be seated close to the door, and will be allowed to act out their scene in a sitting position. Peers will also write any answers they contribute for them.
II. Students with ADHD will be set away from windows and as many distractions as possible. They will be given a copy of the PowerPoint slides and the discussion questions. Teachers will also use proximity control to help keep students on task.
Cited Works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF4Rz09luVA
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 7
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will analyze the characters of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in order to understand how both Elizabethan culture and universal ideas contribute to the creation of Shakespeare’s character.
II. Students will look for differences between a modern performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the text (the original performances) to understand how the modern and Elizabethan audiences would impact the choice of stage direction, costumes, and character actions.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.G: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
CC.1.5.9-10.D: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly,
concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning; ensure that the
presentation is appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Giant KLW chart
3. Markers
4. A working computer
5. The internet
6. Scavenger hunt worksheet
7. Discussion questions
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act II (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns suggesting answers.
II. Group Discussion (10 minutes)
I. Have students work in small groups to answer the following questions. Form new groups using one student from each of the original groups to share their answers and discuss with the other groups (Jigsaw).
1. Applying what you know about Elizabethan England, what do you think the forest and the city symbolized for Shakespeare’s original audience? Does it make sense for the young lovers to steal away into the forest?
2. The Elizabethans believed that issues of the supernatural often impacted mortals. Using this information, can you connect the ferry king and queen to any mortal characters? Use evidence from the play to explain your answer.
3. Why do you think Oberon wants Titania’s changeling? How does your answer relate to what we know about Elizabethan culture?
4. What do you make of the young couples? What point do you think Shakespeare was attempting to make about youth and romance? Is this theme applicable to our modern generations?
5. What is Puck’s role in the play thus far? Can you think of any modern characters like Puck? Do you think Nat would make a good Puck? Use evidence from the book and the play to defend your answers.
II. Worksheet (15 minutes)
I. Students will work in groups to fill out A Midsummer Night’s Dream scavenger hunt worksheet http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
II. After writing a character in each block, students will individually write down a sentence relating to the box, connecting it to Elizabethan culture, or relating it to a character in the modern world.
III. Students will share and discuss their answers among their group members.
IV. There may be a few boxes students cannot yet fill in. Encourage students to fill these boxes in as they find their answers in the later sections of the play.
IV. Play Interpretation (10 minutes)
I. Show students a performance of Act II Scene I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPZBbMJRqzk
II. Ask students to analyze in a group discussion differences between this modern performance and what Shakespeare’s performance would have looked like, or what they imagined when reading the text. Encourage students to think about stage directions, costume design, physical movements, and other character related aspects. What cultural differences would lead to this variation?
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Have groups choose a line from act II and write a brief list explaining how the line shows an element of a character and how this is affected by Elizabethan culture, and/or universal theme.
II. Assign homework.
Homework
I. Read Act III
II. Reading Journal
Assessment
I. Students will fill out the KWL chart and participate in group discussion to show critical thinking and close reading about the plot and characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
II. Students will fill out the scavenger hunt and discuss to show the ability to make connections between characters and Elizabethan culture, modern culture, and universal ideas.
III. Students will analyze the differences between a modern performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the text, and what they know about the original performances at the globe to show an understanding of the impact of culture and audience on such theatrical aspects as costumes, stage directions, and physical interactions/movements.
Accommodations
I. Extra space will be made in the corners for the debate in order to accommodate students with mobility issues (in a wheelchair or on crutches). Also, peers will write answers on the class KWL board for them, and their groups for the jigsaw and other activities will move to them.
II. Students how are near sighted will be sat in the front of the room for the video clip and the KWL assignment and will be given large print handouts of the KWL chart and the scavenger hunt.
Cited Works:
http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPZBbMJRqzk
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 8
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will evaluate how a theme is developed through characters, setting, and dialogue for a particular audience in order to understand how Shakespeare developed his themes for his Elizabethan audience.
II. Students will examine key lines from the play as both themselves and as an Elizabethan theatre patron in order to understand how ideas can be accepted or rejected by the two different cultures.
Standards
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.1.3.9-10.A: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail 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.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Art supplies/Magazine cut outs
4. Laptops
5. Working computer
6. The internet
7. What do you think worksheet
8. Debate signs
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act III (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (10 minutes)
I. Students will work in groups to analyze the following five themes as they appear in act III. Students may touch on how these themes have developed in the first two acts as well. Next, students will consider how and why Shakespeare portrays these themes to his Elizabethan audience.
1. The idleness/ foolishness of love
2. Dreams and sleep
3. Nature and escape
4. Male vs. female
5. Potions and the supernatural
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Students will convert their ideas from the group discussion into a visual (poster, comic, collage, etc.).
II. Tell students to include the theme, the characters/setting that the theme applies to, and a quote that exemplifies the theme. Their audience should be Elizabethan theatre patrons. Students may also work individually or in groups.
III. Tell students that they will have the night and a portion of the next class to finish their project.
IV. Worksheet and Debate (15 minutes)
I. Distribute “What do you think” worksheet (http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf) on page 17 to students, and instruct them to paraphrase the quotes from the play and write if they agree or disagree.
II. Go through each quote. Have students stand in one corner if they agree and another if they disagree. Ask students to explain their answers, debating with their peers of the opposite opinion. Encourage all students to share discussion time equally.
III. Now tell students to put themselves into the mind of an Elizabethan. Ask them to redo the agree/disagree section. Redo the debate from this perspective.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Assign homework.
II. Instruct students to write a short paragraph about one decision that changed when they changed into their “Elizabethan” selves and what factors impacted their decision as an exit pass.
Homework
I. Read Act IV
II. Reading Journal
III. Visual project
Assessment
I. Students will examine their themes in a group and create a visual to show their ability to evaluate how a theme is developed throughout the play (through characters, setting, and dialogue) as well as the ability to evaluate the themes as a result of Elizabethan culture.
II. Students will fill out and debate about the quotation worksheet from the perspectives of both a modern and Elizabethan theatre goer to show an understanding of the difference between the two cultures and how it impacts their beliefs.
Accommodations
I. Extra space will be made in the corners for the debate in order to accommodate students with mobility issues (in a wheelchair or on crutches). Also, peers will write answers on the class KWL board for them, and their group members will bring materials for the project to the desk.
Cited Works: http://www.swshakespeare.org/phocadownload/Midsummer_teacherguide.pdf
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 9
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will discuss the characters, events, and themes of the previous night’s reading in order to show critical reading and thinking of the play.
II. Students will participate in activities to evaluate the themes and characters of the play as existing within a cultural context for a specific audience in order to see how audience and the culture an author existed in can shape a text and how this culture and audience compares to our modern one.
Standards
CC.1.5.9-10.E: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.
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.1.3.9-10.C: Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Art supplies and magazine cutouts
4. Laptops
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act IV (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Add to the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Students will each write down answers for the following five questions. Then in a large circle, the class will conduct a discussion about the five questions. Encourage all students to share the speaking time and ask everyone to contribute their thoughts.
1. How does the struggle between Oberon and Titania end? What does this imply about gender relations (husband vs. wife) in Elizabethan culture?
2. How does the confusion with the four young lovers end? Following the Elizabethan belief that the supernatural affects the human plane, how can you connect Oberon and Titania’s resolution to that of the young lovers?
3. As a king, it is commonplace for Theseus to have performances for entertainment after important events? What does this say about theatre in Elizabethan Culture?
4. Think about the characters Shakespeare “casts” to perform after the wedding. What do you think Shakespeare is implying about actors of the Elizabethan culture?
5. Think about the theme of forest vs. civilization prevalent throughout the play. What do you think those two settings represented to Shakespeare’s Elizabethan audience? In what ways is this different or similar for a modern audience?
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Instruct students to finish up their theme projects from the previous class.
II. If students are finished, have them present their projects to their peers who have also completed the assignment. Have them explain the theme, how it is represented visually, and if their project would be better for an Elizabethan or Modern audience and why.
III. Tell students to clean up their area. Collect finished projects and inform any student who still needs more time that the projects are due at the beginning of the next class period.
IV. Acting Time (13 minutes)
I. Students will work in small groups to act out a scene snippet from Act VI that revolved around one of the play’s themes. However, they will change the characters and their actions to reflect a modern beliefs and characters.
II. Students will perform their short skits and explain to their peers their reasons for the changes they made and how they reflect the modern audience and culture.
V Closure (2 minutes)
I. Assign homework
II. Ask for any last minute questions and thank students for their attentiveness.
Homework
I. Read Act 5
II. Final reading journal
III. Visual project
Assessment
I. Students will fill out their KWL charts and participate in the class review discussion to show critical thinking and reading of the play, particularly in understanding the aspects of themes, characters, and settings as a product of their culture.
II. Students will create and present their theme visuals and preform their mini skits to show an understanding of how a theme is developed throughout a play and how interpretations of that theme may vary depending on the audience.
Accommodations
I. Classmates will write the KWL contributions and bring art supplies or Laptops to students in wheel chairs or on crutches. These students will also be given extra room to perform the skit and a clear walkway to maneuver through.
Students with hearing difficulties will be provided with an interpreter for the group discussions, plays, and project presentations who will interpret the discussion for the student.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream/King of Shadows-Lesson 10
Instructor: Amanda Nudo
Lesson: 50 minutes
Conceptual Goals
1. Students should understand the environment in which William Shakespeare lived and wrote in order to understand the context for the plays as well as the audience he wrote for.
2. Students should understand Elizabethan theatre in its similarities and differences from modern theatre in order to understand the way in which Shakespeare composed his plays and his plays within plays.
3. Students should use the King of Shadows to compare the rights and beliefs of Elizabethan society to those of our modern world in order to compare and contrast themes and the purpose of art as a means of change in both societies.
Lesson Objectives
I. Students will discuss the characters, events, and themes of the previous night’s reading in order to show critical reading and thinking of the play.
II. Students will analyze characteristics of modern and Elizabethan text in order to understand how characters and scenes exemplify these characteristics.
Standards
CC.1.3.9-10.B: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
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.1.5.9-10.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
Materials
1. KWL handouts
2. Class KWL chart
3. Large blank papers
4. Markers
5. Copies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King of Shadows
6. Timers for charades
I. “Bell Ringer-” (10 minutes)
I. Have students create KWL charts in groups for act V (K-what the student already know about the play; W-what students want to know; L-what students learned from the previous night’s reading).
II. Complete the class KWL chart on a large piece of paper. Have groups take turns adding answers. Discuss any remaining topics in the “W” section that have not been answered with the class.
II. Group Discussion (15 minutes)
I. Have students work in groups to answer the following questions. Then have the groups share their answers with the rest of the class.
1. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe, originally a tragedy, is made comedic by the blundering actors. How is this appropriate for the ending of A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
2. Examine the differences between the lords and ladies watching the play and the commoners performing it. What does this tell us about the different classes in Elizabethan society?
3. Why does Shakespeare feel the need to apologize for his play, calling it just a dream the audience had? Would the same need exist for a modern audience? Why or why not?
4. When the young lovers reenter society, everything is sorted out between them and the kings and queens. What does this suggest about nature vs. society? Would it mean the same thing for both an Elizabethan and modern audience?
5. As with the humorous skit in the epilogue, Shakespeare often incorporated plays within his plays. What might have been Shakespeare’s purpose for this? Would this be something a modern play director would add to their plays? Why or why not?
III. Activity (10 minutes)
I. Break students into small groups, providing each group with a large piece of paper with a line down the middle.
II. Have students write traits, beliefs, social and gender differences, language variation etc. that they associate with Elizabethan culture on one side and with modern culture on the other side.
III. Instruct students to label at least one character for each of the above items from either A Midsummer Night’s Dream or King of Shadows that exemplifies or relates to the item.
IV. Charades (10 minutes)
I. After giving groups a few minutes to prepare, split the class in half
II. Have each group act out scenes. Have their peers in their half of the class guess both the character that is being acted out and the Elizabethan or modern elements present in the scene.
V Closure (5 minutes)
I. Hand out assignment sheet for the summative assessment project and instruct students to begin brainstorming.
II. Have students chose a line from the play or the text that exemplifies Elizabethan or modern culture. Tell them to write down the quote and two sentences addressing the prompt as their class exit pass.
Homework
I. Began research for unit assessment project
Assessment
I. Students will fill out their KWL charts and participate in the class review discussion to show critical thinking and reading of the play, particularly in understanding the aspects of themes, characters, and settings as a product of their culture.
II. Students will map out, label with characters, and act out different aspects of Elizabethan and modern culture to show and understanding of how the culture is shown through and impacts the characters.
Accommodations
I. Students in a wheelchair or on crutches will be given the option to perform seated or not to perform. They will be given extra space and a clear path to move through when moving from activity to activity. Also, these students ‘groups will move to them and gather any necessary materials for them.
II. Students with ADHD will be placed in seats that face away from the other groups and any other distractors that would hinder their focus.
Reflection: Working on this unit plan has taught me that teachers must spend a lot of their time planning and making sure that everything from the standards and lessons to the assessment connect to the Big Question. I have learned a lot from attending to feedback as well. With all of the technicalities, it is easy for teachers to lose track of whether an assessment is actually geared toward the student or whether a lesson is actually covering the information I'm aiming to cover in the best way possible. Through my experiences attending to peer feedback and looking for lesson ideas online, I have discovered that bouncing and sharing ideas with other teachers can often generate great ideas for both teachers, improving the overall quality of the lessons and activities.
In order to address the needs of diverse learners, I incorporated different types of activities (plays, art projects, interactive websites) into my lessons. I also created an assessment made up of artistic, visual, and communication parts. Thanks to the group lessons, accommodating learners with special needs was something I began to think about in terms of changes that would work in a real classroom setting and that would not single out the student. I incorporated a lighter novel, movies, and technology based activities as well as questions that put students in the characters' shoes in an attempt to make the lesson more relevant to them and to make the task of reading Shakespeare less daunting. Also, I tried to show students how written works are often related to their surroundings, an idea that is broader than Shakespeare and necessary for most courses in the English discipline. As far as alignment is concerned, my goal was for students to understand the text as part of the context. I assessed for this goal in my final project by having students relate events from Elizabethan England to Shakespeare's works. Everything from my class discussions to my plays focus on making connections between theses elements. My choice of starting out with an easier, more modern book about Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Elizabethan England is defiantly scaffolding because it introduces students to the author and the time period and asks them to make connections before attempting to do so with a more challenging read. As for conventions, all of my lesson plans follow the same format so that a sub could easily read them or so that I could find a detail with little difficulty.
Creating a unit plan individually while participating in a group plan throughout the semester gave me the opportunity to think about what goes into the plan and how it plays out. This project has made me less nervous to student teach next semester.
Summative Assessment:
Nat’s Summer Dream: A Tour through Elizabethan England Pretend you are Nat. After returning to your own time period, you must explain your experiences in Shakespeare’s time to your classmates.
Provide 10 visuals, enough to get a sense of the varying components of Elizabethan life, with a short paragraph for each item explaining how it relates to your trip.
These may be presented (but are not limited to) in the form of a collage, a scrapbook, a shoebox of items, or a mobile. Be creative.
Be sure to discuss Nat’s experiences with both the theatre troupe and the city.
Also, discuss how these experiences impacted the main themes of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Where did Shakespeare draw his ideas from and how might he have tailored the play to his audience?
Use at least one source (reputable website, book, journal, etc.) to delve further into one of the topics. Be sure to sight it with MLA format.
v At the end of the unit, you will present your project, taking on the role of Nat, Puck, or yourself to explain your journey to your classmates.
A preliminary list of 10 topics with brief explanations will be due 1 week prior to the completed project due date.
Be sure to have fun with the assignment!