1B Assignment 1 Excerpt

Lesson 2

Outcomes
A student:
 Responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for
understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and
pleasure EN5-1A
Students:
 appreciate, explain and respond to the aesthetic qualities and the power of
language in an increasingly sophisticated range of texts
A student:
 questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and their
effects on meaning EN5-8D
Students:
 explain and evaluate the ways in which modern communication technologies
are used to shape, adapt and re-present past and present cultures, including
popular culture and youth cultures, for particular audiences

Materials

 Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

 Romeo & Juliet (1996) movie trailer & quotes

 Videos: The art of a metaphor, metaphors in popular culture, and Romeo and
Juliet (1996) movie trailer
 Student copies of script
 Google slides

Procedures
Time Organisation Teaching/ learning activities
5 mins Teacher guided discussion Briefly review last lesson & homework– Iambic pentameter
Chairs and tables organised in What did students come up with?
groups of 4-5
5 mins Resources: Warm up activity: What Did Shakespeare call you?!
 Google slides Note how much language has changed from when
Students go around the room Shakespeare was around. (instructions on slide)
introducing themselves with their
Shakespearean “name”
8 mins Resources: Look at Sonnet 18 again, this time focusing on similes and
 Sonnet 18 student copies metaphors (underlining on student copies) – questions on
 Google Slides slide
First work individually, then work
in groups
10 mins Resources: Watch video – The Art of the Metaphor
 Video: Literary value - ask questions from slides
https://www.youtube.co How do we see this language use today?
m/watch? Teacher gives students examples from the slides (pop
v=A0edKgL9EgM culture)
 Google slides Play a short video to show students different metaphors that
Think pair share to brainstorm are used in today’s songs.
sayings in popular culture
 Video:
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg
 Stop at 1.40*
10 mins Resources: Intro to new text:
 Video link: Romeo and Juliet movie trailer – 1996 version. The language
https://www.youtube.co use is the same as the original playwright – but the setting is
m/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg different.
 Google slides Before showing the trailer, preview questions to be thinking
Group discussion, then report about throughout.
back to class guided by questions
on the slide before/after the
trailer
8 mins Resources: Looking at the script of the trailer, students identify the
 Student copies of script iambic pentameter and rhyming pattern used. They apply
Think pair share their new knowledge about metaphors and similes to
interpret the meaning of the quotes from Romeo and Juliet’s
movie trailer.
5 mins Resources: Ask questions from screen – diverting from iambic
 Google Slides pentameter to the setting and what we know about the story
Think pair share from the trailer.
Teacher guiding questions in Ensure that students conclude that the setting was changed
discussion to get the original message across by making it more relevant
to a modern day audience.
8 mins Resources: Students perform a Venn Diagram to compare both texts in
 Venn Diagram worksheet language, structure, and the human condition
 Instructions on slide
Teacher guided instruction;
individual work, then class
discussion
Homework:
Read Sonnet 18 one last time on your own at home. In a few sentences, what do you think is the meaning of
this poem? Why? Demonstrate your comprehension of the poem by providing examples from the poem to
support your interpretation.

Evaluation/ Extension
This lesson combined both texts, focussing on the literary value in its
language. The lesson progression is scaffolded, in that it starts with looking at how
 language has changed over time, then shifting to how our modern language still uses
metaphors, similes, and all sorts of figurative language daily. This falls under
Outcome EN5-8D’s content point suited for this lesson. Students are guided
throughout the lesson, building knowledge step by step until reaching the climax,
which is comparing and contrasting Sonnet 18 and Romeo and Juliet’s (1996) movie
trailer.
. I could have spent more time on the Romeo and Juliet (1996) trailer, to
unpack the story, context, and look at more quotes so that students feel more
confident of their knowledge of the text. I also could have extended learning
opportunities for students to watch the entire movie, rather than just the trailer.

In retrospect:
The lesson had plenty of videos and engaging material for students to stay focussed
and interested in the content. There was, however, a lot to cover and I could have
cut a few things out to have more time to focus on comparing the texts and knowing
them better. Although, I think the students are really understanding iambic
pentameter, and they are realising that it is relevant and useful knowledge.

Resources:

Romeo & Juliet (1996) Movie Trailer quotes:

“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, – for I ne’er saw true beauty till this
night.”
“O gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.”

“My only love sprung from my only hate.”

“[Then plainly know] my heart’s dear love is set

on the fair daughter of Rich Capulet.”

Prologue, 1-8
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal lion of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

Google slides link: http://bit.ly/sonnetandromeo

 Metaphors and Similes
What is a metaphor? What is a simile?

How do we see this language today? Examples of metaphors in

poems quoted in video…

“It’s raining cats and dogs.” Why do we not

just say, “It is raining hard outside”?
 Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________________________ Class: _____

Sonnet 18 Both Romeo & Juliet (1996) movie trailer

RATIONALE (excerpt):

These three lesson plans have been designed and planned for stage 5 students in

year 9, with the hope that they see the value, relevancy, and beauty in the language of

Shakespeare. Not all students will view this as “timeless,” but the goal is for all students to

see the literacy value, one of the English Textual Concepts (English Conceptual Learning,

2019). This is a concept-based curriculum, balancing textual concepts and theories in

hierarchal form, a tool that helps teachers to implement and synthesise curriculum content

with textual concepts (Boas & Gazis, 2016). These lessons were created with the NSW

syllabus, English textual concepts, and resourceful and engaging activities in mind for

students to enjoy and learn a quality flavour of Shakespearean language.

The aim of these lessons is for students to learn, identify, appreciate, and respond to

the layers and depth that encompass the language Shakespeare used to breathe life into

what he wanted to say and the message he wanted to get across. Sonnet 18 and the movie

trailer of Romeo and Juliet (1996) were simply tools in helping students get to know the

language, structure, and literary devices Shakespeare used, and how it still affects our

language today. This is the key in helping students to not only learn, but to engage them

enough to want to learn the content due to how meaningful and relevant to their lives

(Ediger, 2011). In the beginning stage of getting familiar with a text, students were asked to

read it first by themselves, and then look at it again in pairs or in a group. Peer assistance or

collaboration (Ediger, 2011) and discussion is helpful for students who are struggling in

comprehension so that they do not have to solely rely on their teacher for support (Harris &

Graham, 2006). Providing an opportunity for them to list the similarities and differences of

the two texts using a Venn Diagram help students approach and compare the texts more

easily and creatively, rather than restricting them to a generic table or chart. For example,
they are able to draw images or symbols alongside written words to help them later recall

the content (Boas & Gazis, 2016; Peskin, Allen & Wells-Jopling, 2010).

… Conclusion:
Lastly, as it is a professional teaching standard (AISTL, 2017) and a tool for student

engagement (Johns, 2015), I included ICT elements throughout my lessons with videos,

Google slides, a Kahoot assessment quiz, and an Instagram post template for their writing

task that goes into their learning portfolios. Changing up the lesson with stimulating

activities will help cater to those who find it difficult staying focussed and attentive (Johns,

2015), and combining various tools and resources to help accommodate different learning

abilities is a standard for teachers (AISTL, 2017) that I must implement and practise. These

three lessons embody timeless and valuable literature, engaging and challenging learning

activities and tasks, various ICT activities and elements to help more students participate,

and outcomes and content that is required from the syllabus (NESA). Poetry practice is

important in regards to the craft and the heart, and Shakespeare himself knew how to speak

the language for both (Dymoke, Lambirth & Wilson, 2013).

 References

AISTL (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

https://www.aistl.edu.au/teach/standards

Boas, E. & Gazis, S (2016). The Artful English Teacher. Australian Association for the Teaching of

English.

Dymoke, S., Lambirth, A., & Wilson, A. (Eds.). (2013). Making poetry matter : International research

on poetry pedagogy. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Why textual concepts?. (2019). Retrieved from http://englishtextualconcepts.nsw.edu.au/

Ediger, Marlow. (2011). Collaboration versus individual endeavors in the curriculum. Education,

132(1), 217-220. Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/apps/doc/A269228811/AONE?

u=uwsydney&sid=AONE&xid=c8869385

Harris, K., Graham, S., & Mason, L. (2006). Improving the Writing, Knowledge, and Motivation of

Struggling Young Writers: Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development With and Without

Peer Support. American Educational Research Journal, 43(2), 295-340. doi:

10.3102/00028312043002295

Johns, K. (2015). Engaging and Assessing Students with Technology: A Review of Kahoot! Delta

Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 8(4), 89-91. doi: 10.1177/2042753017751517

NSW Education Standards. (2019). Retrieved from

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/home

Peskin, J., Allen, G., & Wells-Jopling, R. (2010). “The Educated Imagination”: Applying Instructional

Research to the Teaching of Symbolic Interpretation of Poetry. Journal Of Adolescent &

Adult Literacy, 53(6), 498-507. doi: 10.1598/jaal.53.6.6