Overview


 * Connecting with Characters using Shakespeare’s texts //Macbeth// and //Much Ado about Nothing.// **

Grades 7 and 10.


 * Overview: ** For each unit students will be exploring a Shakespeare play: //Macbeth// and //Much Ado about Nothing.// For each class the lessons are built around students connecting with Shakespeare’s characters. Many students are quick to think that Shakespeare has nothing to do with them. However, the main reason that Shakespeare has lasted this long is because the emotions and motivations of the characters are the very same as the emotions and motivations of people today. Helping students see commonalities between themselves and the characters will help them to appreciate and buy into the rest of the process of studying Shakespeare.


 * 7th and 10th Lesson Comparison: ** The similarities for these lessons include the use of Shakespeare, the common theme: The Power of Suggestion and connecting with Shakespeare's characters. 7th grade students will be using a graphic novel or comic book style of //Macbeth//. There are multiple graphic versions of //Macbeth,// the one we use is //Macbeth The Folio Addition// by Workman Publishing, New York. This text uses direct quotes from the original Shakespearean text, but not //all// of the original text. Dialogue “bubbles” are used along with pictures to help give students a visual representation of the story. The sophomore class will use the No Fear Shakespeare version of //Much Ado//. This version offers a side by side “translation” with both the modern text and the original text. There are also helpful foot notes to help students along the way. Whereas, both final assessments have the same product the assessment expectations will be adjusted to fit the maturity and academic ability level of each class.

Overall, these lessons could be taught entirely with-in one teacher's classroom. However, there are opportunities for modification and collaboration here too. Some teachers may need assistance using power point, Youtube, bubbl.us, -- necessary especially for the 10th Grade lesson. These would be areas where a librarian's assistance could be helpful to a general education teacher. Another possibility would be combining the valentine lesson with other Valentine's Day, Macbeth or Shakespeare related activities in the library where there is additional space for supplies and work space. These valentines could then be displayed as part of a library display case/area.
 * Collaboration: **

When my 10th grade class had the introduction lesson to __Much Ado About Nothing__ it also happened to be the day that my supervisor, the English department chair came to observe my classroom. He was very pleased with my lesson that day. He appreciated the multi-media effects that I provided (video clip, power point, use of bubbl.us) he also felt that the students were interested because from the get go I made the lesson about them -- not just about Shakespeare. My observation is that this lesson was a great way to start of this unit. Also, I have left the "character posters" up with all the post-it notes -- as a small reminder of the character associations and personal connections the students made. The students also enjoyed seeing which students from other classes also had post-it notes hanging in the same (or other) areas.
 * Feedback: **

====I haven't had the opportunity try out the lesson for __Macbeth**,**__ yet. However, I am looking forward to using it with a different level of class (not 7th grade -- I do not actually teach 7th grade) next semester. I did have a chance to talk through this lesson and other unit ideas for Macbeth with another English teacher who has been teaching __Macbeth__ for many years and she was positive in her feedback for my idea of the Valentine lesson. She specifically suggested the importance of having examples-- whether they are from previous years or examples that I make just for that class.====