Lizbedy Cruz Rosa

Lesson Plan: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

12th grade
Time: 90 min.
Materials:
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream play
- Video
- Notebook
- Facebook Worksheet on Board
- Matching Words Worksheet

A Confused Reality

Learning a new language for anybody is an interesting experience.

When learning a new language, learners not only have to learn to speak it, but
they also have to learn its grammar rules to write it correctly. They also have
to experience the context to understand where the language comes from and
learn how the language has changed throughout the ages. This experience
can cause new learners to get frustrated at times or lose interest if it only
focuses on the rules. In order to avoid having learners lose interest in learning
English it is important to also include literature when teaching languages. By
including literature and plays, the learners get to appreciate the language from
another viewpoint and also get entertained by the story.
By reading plays, learners not only learn to appreciate the context of
the story, but also its language and the changes it has gone through. By
reading Shakespeare, in particular, students can clearly see the differences
between the language and the eras. It is important that learners understand
how different Shakespeare’s language in plays was to how the English
language is used now. By reading the play and understanding it, they get to
see the differences of how language was spoken and read before. Also, they
can compare old English and modern English to how their first language has
also changed and evolved to its current form.
Reading these plays are important and help learner’s gain more
English skills because it helps them relate it to their lives by talking about
themes that are still relevant today. It also helps because it expands their
vocabulary and lets them participate and improve their speaking skills by
acting out the plays acts and scenes. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is useful
to students learning English because it has themes to which today’s students
can relate to such as: love, reality and dreams. By having these themes
incorporated students can talk more in the class and share their experiences,
which helps to develop their language skills. This play is also good for ESL
students because since it is a comedy they can feel more relaxed and enjoy
the story while listening and reading the play.
 Although reading and experiencing Shakespeare’s plays might be
something completely new and daunting for some ELL students, it is
important that they read his plays. Reading these plays helps them develop
their skills and get to experience knowledge that they might have not wanted
to encounter or had not encountered before.

Introduction: Procedure
Discuss with the students the themes of love, reality and dreams. Also
discuss the different types of love and relationships that they know of.
Examples will be given to the students so they can relate them to their life.
Describe Greek myths and give a short explanation of the story of Theseus to
the students. Later explain how these myths influenced writers in later
generations.
Discuss William Shakespeare and Shakespearean theater:
- Who was William Shakespeare?
- What was his life like in England?
- What were some of his plays?
Vocabulary:
Introduce vocabulary words and their meanings. Synonyms to these words
will be given so they can have an example of what these words mean.
Examples of vocabulary words: amends, slumbered (sleep), wherefore,
perforce (must), morrow.
Activity #1: Shakespeare Game
- Students will be divided in groups depending on the number of students.
Then, the teacher will ask questions about Shakespeare and Shakespearean
theater. There will be 5 questions: 2 about Shakespeare, 2 about the theater
and 1 about the plays.
Examples of questions made:
A. Shakespeare was born in United States or England?
B. Did women perform in Shakespearean theater?
For each right answer a team gives, they will gain a point. At the end, the
team with most points will win the game and receive bonus point on the final
exam of the unit. In case there is a tie then one more question will be made
and the team who answers the question correctly will receive the point.

Play Introduction:
Ask the students what have they heard about the play previously.
Short video summary of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be presented to
the students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1wMfOwlAZ8. Stop the
video at 5:10. The video will be continued at the closing.
Ask the students what they have learned about the play now from the video
they just watched.
The class will start to read Act 1 of the play.

While reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Activity #2: Facebook Profile
- A Facebook profile for each of the main characters will be displayed on the
board with images of the characters. Students will go up to the board and
write what they think the characters facebook biography would say. The
profile will be updated as they continue learning about the characters.
Activity #3: Pronunciation
- Most students are unfamiliar with the pronunciation of words of
Shakespearean language like thee, thou, thy and confuse the /th/ sound for a
/b/ sound. Have them pronounce these one by one emphasizing the initial
consonant and explain their different meanings on the board.
Continuation:
Before demonstrating more of the plays plot to the class, they will say the
different predictions they have for the play. Students will state how they think
the play will end and describe how they think love, reality and dreams are
going to be present in the play.
Activity # 4
- Match words from the play to their modern day translations. On one side of a
paper there will be words from the play and on the other side there will be
modern day translations of how those words would be said today. The
students will match the terms and see how Shakespearean language is
different from modern day language.
Example:
Playfellow So
Therefore Old friend
Activity # 5
- Read excerpt from Act 5 scene 1 lines 425-440. Then discuss how this
relates to what the students said about dreams and reality at the beginning of
the class.
Conclusion:
See the remaining minutes of the video summary. Ask the students if they
liked the ending of the play. Then continue by asking them to write a different
ending to the play. The students will briefly explain this alternate ending.
References:
Vodickova, M. “Stepping into the Shoes of Romeo and Juliet.” In Literature in
Language Teaching and Learning. Ed: Paran. Case Studies in TESOL
Practice Series. 2006. 147-159
Braddock, P. “ A Midsummer Night’s Dream for kids.” TeachingEnglish| British
Council | BBC. Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/a-
midsummer-nights-dream-kids.