Learning Activity 1- Agree/Disagree
For the very first day of the Romeo and Juliet unit and my takeover, I ran an anticipatory activity where I projected statements related to love and relationships that were reminiscent of dynamics in Romeo and Juliet such as “If my parents didn’t like my partner, I would break up with them.” Students indicated whether they agreed or disagreed by moving to the corresponding side of the room. In some classes the conversations were very civil while in others they teetered on a full out debate, but overall kids had a lot of fun and by the end of the activity most could guess that we would be starting Romeo and Juliet. After the activity, students had 15- 20 minutes to choose a statement they felt strongly about and write a paragraph either defending or refuting it.
Learning Activity 2- Glee Project
A major goal of this unit was for students to improve their ability to pick quotes that would support claims they made and then incorporate evidence into analysis effectively. For this activity, I was inspired by my students’ love for the TV show Glee, and I asked the question, “If there was a Glee episode about Romeo and Juliet, what song would each character sing?” Students picked a song for 4 characters of their choosing, and wrote 2-3 sentences explaining why.
Learning Activity 3- Character Autopsy
Students drew a character from the play- either Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, Lady Capulet, Capulet, the Nurse or Montague to keep with the theme of mentors and role models. There were prompts for many body parts- head, feet, torso, and hands- to draw objects that represented multiple aspects of the subject’s characterization. Along with the drawing, students wrote a short paragraph for each additional symbol that explained how they picked it using evidence from the text.
Learning Activity 4- Textual Evidence Workshop
To practice using evidence from the text successfully, students completed an assignment where they had to revise paragraphs that attempted to answer questions about Romeo and Juliet. Students were given a worksheet featuring 3 paragraphs riddled with mistakes such as not using complete sentences, using “I think,” providing a quote as an answer without explaining it, etc. I modeled the revision of the first paragraph while students followed along on their worksheets. We completed the second paragraph as a class, and students worked in pairs to complete the last paragraph.
Learning Activity 5- Escape Room Review
Before the Romeo and Juliet test, we used the common room to play a R&J themed “escape room.” Students traveled between 4 stations and raced to complete tasks such as matching quotes to characters, putting plot events in order, identifying figurative language examples and more. At the end their answer sheet revealed a hidden code and the winning teams got to pick a prize from the prize bag!