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Section 1: Overview

William Shakespeare

We will be introduced to Shakespeare and his works by viewing a short video and reading the article “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?” by Cindy Tumiel. We will delineate and evaluate the claims made about Shakespeare and his work in the informational text and begin to consider the task question: How can adaptations enhance or detract from the themes of a text? We will also read Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet and begin to determine how literary elements, such as characterization, foreshadowing, and figurative language, are used in this act to develop themes.

  • Lesson 1:

    We will learn about this unit’s topic and Central Question by reviewing the Unit Overview. To determine what we need to do to succeed, we will discuss the Culminating Task. We will watch a short introductory video on Shakespeare and read the article “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?” by Cindy Tumiel and will begin unpacking the claims the article makes about Shakespeare’s work.

  • Lesson 2:

    We will revisit the article “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?” by Cindy Tumiel and use a variety of strategies to determine the meaning of specific words or phrases used in the article. We will also delineate and evaluate the claims made in the text.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will revisit the article “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?” by Cindy Tumiel and examine how the author writes sentences with parallel structure, or parallelism, so we can add parallel structures to our own writing.

  • Lesson 4:

    In preparation for reading Romeo and Juliet, we will use the Theme Reference Guide to familiarize ourselves with the definition of literary themes. We will listen to and annotate the prologue of Romeo and Juliet and use it to determine and summarize the main events of the play.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will revisit the prologue to predict possible themes that may emerge. We will view two film adaptations of the prologue and explore what themes are emphasized in each film adaptation.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will read and annotate Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 1–162 of Romeo and Juliet. We will identify and describe the main characters in this scene—Benvolio, Tybalt, and Romeo—using the Character Note-Taking Tool.

  • Lesson 7:

    We will complete our reading of Act 1, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet and use the Character Note-Taking Tool to deepen our understanding of the characters of Romeo and Benvolio. We will use the Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool to summarize the main events of Act 1, Scene 1 and capture details about the development of emerging themes. We will also read and analyze Act 1, Scene 2 and examine the character of Lord Capulet.

  • Lesson 8:

    We will read and analyze Act 1, Scenes 3 and 4 of Romeo and Juliet and get to know the characters Juliet and Mercutio. We will continue to deepen our understanding of emerging themes in Act 1 and analyze Shakespeare’s use of figurative language.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will read Act 1, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet. We will analyze the further character development of Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, and Lord Capulet. We will examine Shakespeare’s use of metaphors in selected lines and discuss how they deepen our understanding of emerging themes in Act 1.

  • Lesson 10:

    We will write one-paragraph expository responses that identify a theme and how it is developed in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

  • Lesson 11:

    We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 12:

    We will commence an Independent Reading Program in which we choose texts to read independently as we progress through the unit. We will learn how to choose texts, what activities we may complete, about the final task, and about any materials we will use as we read our independent reading texts. We will begin by reading our texts, using tools to help us take notes and analyze important textual elements.