TEACHINGLIT
So You Want to Teach Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Well then, fellow teacher, you have come to the right place. I have been teaching English for more than fifteen years, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has long been one of my favorite and most successful units.
Let's get into it!
The Secret to Teaching Romeo and Juliet
The most important thing is to keep your students interested and engaged.
You have to hook them right at the start!
Luckily, this is easy to do with Romeo and Juliet, as it is all about stupid teenagers doing stupid things (which your students will undoubtedly identify with and ridicule simultaneously), and the action starts immediately.
But despite the teenage-relevant themes, dirty jokes, and funny fight scenes, student interest isn't automatic.
If you get up there and drone on about iambic pentameter, Shakespearean language, or soliloquies, you will lose them, and no amount of teenage romance or sword fighting will get them back!
That's not to say you shouldn't teach that stuff - you absolutely should - but make sure you first get them invested in the story and it's characters.
Keep the focus firmly on having fun throughout the entire play. After all, that is what Shakespeare had in mind, and your students will inevitably learn more that way.
I will go into the way I structure my Romeo and Juliet unit plan, the major themes I focus on, the dramatic and literary terms I teach, and the reading and writing skills we practice below...
But first let me share a great lesson plan for introducing Romeo and Juliet to your students.
Your First Romeo and Juliet Lesson Plan
This is how I like to start my Romeo and Juliet unit - this one really gets the energy up and virtually guarantees buy-in from your students as they start the play.
WARNING: This is a high-energy activity! Your students will get loud, animated, and engaged!
I developed this lesson plan for Romeo and Juliet after hearing a colleague describe something similar they were doing in History when teaching about early contact between European settlers and Indigenous Americans.
It focuses on non-verbal communication. The point of the lesson, other than to jazz everyone up and have a lot of fun, is to get students thinking about how they can perceive meaning even when they do not understand the language being used. Shakespearean English can seem inaccessible to students, but this activity will remind them that we comprehend and construct meaning.
The activity involves having students pair up to try to convey secret messages to each other without using any spoken or written words. Instead, they have to communicate with gestures, sounds, and drawings.
To prepare, you will have to print off two sets of secret messages, with enough copies to give each student one. If you have a class of 20, you will need 10 messages for Group A, and 10 messages for Group B.
Print them out with several per page and then cut into strips to handout to students.
The messages will be related to major themes and/or events in the play.
Feel free to make up your own secret messages for each group to use, but here are some examples:
Group A: I just met you, and this is crazy. I hate your cousin. Let's get married!
Group B: I love your tights! You should come to my dad's party, but wear a disguise!
Here's how it goes:
Divide your class into two equal groups.
I usually just walk around designating students as group A or B. After you have the class divided, ask the two groups to go to opposite sides of the class to create as much separation as possible. Then give the students in each group a number, so they can find a partner with the same number in the other group.
Give all the students in Group A their secret message.
Tell the students that it is essential for them to keep the messages secret from the students in Group B.
Sample Message: I just met you, and this is crazy. I hate your cousin. Let's get married!
Students get into pairs with partner from other group.
Tell your students to find their partner in the other group according to the numbers you gave them.
Students take turns trying to convey their messages.
Students can use gestures, sounds, drawings, or even interpretive dance, but NO WORDS!
This will get loud! students should have fun, but tell them to keep it reasonable. They should also be careful not to spoil the activity for others by yelling anything out that gives away the message.
Discuss the communication process and how it might relate to Shakespeare.
Once the students are finished trying to convey their messages, take some time to discuss the process.
What techniques did they rely on? Which part of the message was most difficult to convey? How might this activity relate to watching one of Shakespeare's plays? How do we decipher meaning when we don't understand the language being used? How do we read the thoughts and emotions of characters in ways other than what they say.
Now that your students are all jacked-up and ready to learn, it's time to hit them with some literary content and get started on the play. You got their attention; now get them into the curriculum.
Romeo and Juliet Punning Lesson Plan
When I teach Romeo and Juliet, my unit follows a natural rhythm in which we learn about a dramatic or literary element present in the play, read part of the play, discuss it, then watch a film version of it (then usually discuss it again), and finally write about it.
I like to begin with puns, as Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet is full of bawdy humor that relies on double meanings.
Ask your students what a pun is, and give some examples in the from of bad "dad jokes":
Have your students start a chart for recording Literary and Dramatic Terms and Devices. It should have three columns: Term, Definition, Example.
They can fill in term and definition now, but hold off on the example until you come across one in the play.
Term or Device
pun
Definition
A pun is a play on words in which a word or phrase has a double meaning.
Example
"My naked weapon is out" (1.1, 32)
Let's Start Reading Romeo and Juliet!
Start by reading the prologue aloud. Discuss it.
What does the prologue basically say?
Why do you think Shakespeare included it?
Alright, time to read!
Ask for volunteers to read, and assign parts for Act 1, Scene 1.
You need readers for the following parts:
Tell your readers not to worry about their mistakes in pronunciation - many of the words are used any more, so it's no big deal!
Read scene one together. Stop often, after almost each thing that is said, to make sure the kids get it. This is a great scene in which two guys are making dirty jokes.
It starts off with some stuff about carrying coals etc., but it quickly gets funny (especially for immature teenagers) when the jokes turn a little dirty.
Pause to make sure your students understand that the players are using puns to create humor and insult each other.
Stop reading when the Officer enters to break-up the fight.
Time to Discuss
Hopefully everyone had fun reading Scene 1.
This was their first crack at reading the play, so reassure them that they will get better at it.
Take a moment to check for understanding and get their thoughts about what happened.
Go over examples of puns from Scene 1 (sorry, some of these are pretty crass!), and ask your students to record an example in their Dramatic Devices chart.
Talk about the feud between the two families. Does it resemble anything in modern society (i.e. gangs)?
Watch Scene 1
I always use the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. It is by far the best, and while your students might initially cry out for Leonardo DiCaprio, they will quickly come to appreciate this classic version (and if you watch the DiCaprio version later, they will appreciate the 1968 film even more!).
NOTE: There are two scenes with brief nudity in the film (her breasts and his bum), so be sure to preview it and skip these parts if deem it necessary.
Watch all of Scene 1.
Your students will laugh at the costumes and the actors, and the scene itself. It is just a great way to start the play!
Finally, talk about what you watched. What did they think of the scene, the characters, and the feud between the families?
Claim Your Copy Of...
"The Romeo and Juliet Complete Unit Plan"
The definitive unit plan for Teaching Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Copyright © TeachingLit. All Rights Reserved