Lasting about four weeks, the second Unit I designed also followed the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for English I and primarily focused on William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, a work commonly taught in English I. At the beginning of this unit, Honors students were working on their digital portfolios and finishing their short stories, samples of which can be found on the Student Work page. As students and I began to read Romeo and Juliet, we discussed the context of Shakespeare's time, the British Renaissance or the Elizabethan Era. We also discussed the various conventions of the Shakespearean theater. The theatricality of the play we tried to capture while we read; students volunteered for each of the roles in the play, and with props like fake swords and capes, we acted out the play as we read it. We also watched two different movie interpretations of the play, 1968 and the 1996 film adaptations. Students compared and contrasted the two films with each other and with the movie. To finish Romeo and Juliet, students got into small groups and assessed the roles of each character within the story, assigning degrees of responsibility and participation in the plot of the play.
2 & 6 Period Honors; 3 & 4 Period College Prep
2 & 6 Period Honors; 3 & 4 Period College Prep
