Teaching Shakespeare at Lower Secondary Level

Task A

For this task I have chosen the Stages 10 (2016) and Crossroads 10A (2010)
extracts to discuss and evaluate regarding teaching and learning in the classroom. The
task will also discuss which kinds of prior knowledge the teacher needs and/or benefits
from to teach Shakespeare to Grade 10 students. Additionally, I will discuss what prior
knowledge teachers may need or benefit from when teaching Shakespeare.

The first thing that stood out to me about Stages 10 (2016) was that there was a
good introduction to Shakespeare to get the students acquainted with Shakespeare and
his works. Furthermore, the extract has a good ‘dictionary’ on the side of the page
which translates the most difficult or new words in each text. This, I would argue,
increases understanding for the students. However, using a quote from an Eminem
song is strange to me, especially since he was not very active in 2016 and was at his
most famous in the early 2000s, and therefore I fear that Grade 10 students in 2021 are
too young to relate to this example. Due to this, I find this extract to be a bit outdated,
even though it was published only five years ago.

There are several different tasks in the extracts. Some more necessary than
others. Some of the tasks are, in my opinion, unnecessary to include, such as the
‘Understanding’ task. Students rarely find tasks like this interesting. Will tasks like
this increase learning, or will they merely be tasks that the students rush to finish
because they are obligated to do them? I feel such tasks usually don’t benefit the
students very much, and I would most likely decide not to use it in my own teaching.
The same goes for the ‘Creative Corner’ task. The ‘Language Lab’ task, however,
seems very beneficial for students. Here, the students learn new idioms and how to use
them correctly, while at the same time learning the history of the idioms. This is
beneficial because the students will learn to incorporate idioms in both their writing
and speaking, making their language more colorful and interesting. There are also two
‘Starting Point’ tasks, one before the introductory text on William Shakespeare and
one before Romeo and Juliet. These tasks are exactly what they say they are, starting
points. They function as great tools for getting the students started on the topics and
prepare them for the text to come. Overall, there are both beneficial and necessary
tasks in the extracts, but also some tasks that could be omitted.

The main text in this extract is ‘Romeo and Juliet’. However, it is a graphic
text, much like a cartoon. By using a graphic text, the extract is very compelling for
youths. It can also be quite beneficial to use images as a way of learning. However, in
this extract there are a lot of information lost from the play. The graphic text only
features certain lines, and therefore the students are not given a proper example of a
Shakespeare play. I also believe the students would benefit from reading more of the
play in its whole, rather than a few selected lines from each scene. There are
definitively both benefits and challenges when using a graphic text like this, however,
this example is not good enough in my opinion.

The second extract, Crossroads 10A (2010), also has a lot of different tasks and
activities, both in the student textbook and the teachers resource book. Similarly to
Stages 10, some of the tasks are more beneficial than others. Especially beneficial are
the tasks where the students must reflect on important topics such as forced marriage
and class. However, in general there are too many tasks involving writing a
play/dialogue and performing it. There will definitively not be enough time in the
schedule to do that many performance tasks. Also, it might be difficult to do if there
are several reluctant speakers in the class. However, the tasks are good for developing
both written and oral skills and give the students a lot of practice with having
conversations and discussions.

There are a few more texts included in Crossroads 10A than in Stages 10.
Overall, the texts provided in Crossroads are very well thought out regarding
Shakespeare. They often touch on Early Modern English contexts and conventions
such as class, gender roles, and forced marriages, and are therefore very much
beneficial for the students. The main text of this extract is also ‘Romeo and Juliet’. It
is good that the original lines are included, but also broken up by ¨narration¨ of the
story. This makes it easier for the students to understand what they are about to read,
even though the words may be difficult to understand. There is also included a section
about important Shakespearian words which increases understanding.
 At the end of the extract, we find the teachers’ resources. The first thing I
noticed was that it was written in Norwegian, which I find strange. The person using
this is an educated English teacher, so why can’t it be written in English? As
mentioned, I found this to be strange. However, most activities included were good,
and a lot of them could be very fun and interesting for the students, and therefore also
beneficial for their learning.

When it comes to prior knowledge that the teacher benefits from when teaching
Shakespeare, there are a few examples I would like to address. Firstly, I argue that it is
important to have a good understanding of the Shakespeare play/text that they will be
working with in the classroom. What are the themes of the text, and what can be
learned from it? Also, how is this text relevant today? To understand several of
Shakespeare’s works, one must also have knowledge about Early Modern English
contexts and conventions such as decorum, respect and politeness, and gender roles.
Additionally, it is important to understand the language used at the time, as it is very
different from the one, we use today. All these points are closely connected to each
other, and it is therefore important to have knowledge about them all. Lastly, I would
argue that the most important knowledge a teacher can have, in any subject or topic, is
how their students respond to different teaching methods, activities and tasks.
Different students respond well to different things, and it is therefore crucial to have a
good understanding of this to tailor ones teaching plan to accommodate the whole
class.  
 Task B

In this task I have made a teaching plan for teaching Shakespeare to Grade 10
students and I have chosen to focus on the Crossroads 10A (2010) extract as the main
source for this plan. The teaching plan is for a three-week period, with two lessons
each week. Since the lower secondary schools I have had teaching practice at define
one lesson as 45 minutes, I have chosen to create a teaching plan where each lesson is
45 minutes to make it as realistic as possible.

Week 1

Lesson 1:

This lesson will start off by introducing the new topic: William Shakespeare
and Early Modern English Society. This will be done by simply telling the students
that this is our new topic, and perhaps write his name on the chalkboard/smartboard
and/or show a picture of him to the class. Starting off, I will ask the students to work
with the person sitting next to them and write down what they know about William
Shakespeare. Such as who he was, what he did for a living, or a famous quote by him.
Anything they come up with is allowed, as long as it’s appropriate. The students will
be given approximately 5-10 minutes to discuss, depending on how efficiently they
work. After they are done, we will create a Mind Map in plenary on the
chalkboard/smartboard, where the students raise their hands to add new ideas to the
map. This will take approximately 10-20 minutes, so there should be about 15-25
minutes left of the lesson. Once the Mind Map is complete, we will move on the read
‘Curriculum Vitae William Shakespeare’ to gain some more knowledge about
Shakespeare and his works. The students will be asked to work in pairs again and read
half of the text each. After they have read, their task is to tell their partner what they
read about William Shakespeare. This is to develop both reading skills and oral skills,
and especially conversations skills.

Lesson 2:
 The second lesson will begin with a brief repetition of what was discussed
during the previous lesson, just to make sure that the students remember it. Then, we
will read text ‘You Are What You Wear’. This is to give the students some knowledge
of how it was like in the 1500-1600s, which also provides them with historical context.
The text will be read in plenary, where students are asked to participate in reading.
This text is important because it focuses on social class in the 1500-1600s, which is
relevant when it comes to ‘Romeo and Juliet’. It is important for the students to have
knowledge about social class at the time in order for them to better understand some of
the aspects of the play, such as Juliet’s marriage arrangement to Paris.When we are
done reading this text, the students will answer task one and two on the next page
individually, before discussing task three in groups of 3-4 students. These tasks are
good for both written and oral skills. Afterwards the students will read part of ‘The
Globe’, specifically page 197 and then the ‘Female Roles’ textbox on page 199. This
reading will be done individually. These are important to read for the students to gain
knowledge on both social classes, but also of gender inequality at the time. Since Juliet
has limited authority of her own life, such as who she wants to marry, it is important
for the students to understand the extent of gender inequality at the time. After reading
the student will answer task three, on page 199, and then answer the following
question; Why do you think it was regarded as unseemly for women to act before
1660? These questions can be discussed with a partner.

Week 2

Lesson 3:

The third lesson is centered around preparing the students for reading the
‘Romeo and Juliet’ extract from Crossroads 10A. Firstly, we will do a brief repetition
of what we did in the previous lesson, especially how clothing can reveal social class,
and how and why social class was important in Shakespeare’s time. Then, we will
look at the box with important Shakespearian words on page 186. Not only will I
explain these words to the students, but I will also explain how these words connect to
politeness and class in Early Modern English. For instance, I will explain that at the
time, one had to carefully choose whether to use thou or you when addressing
someone and show examples of this in the play. This is important in order for the
students to firstly understand the language in Romeo and Juliet, but also to give the
students the tools to explore the play more in-depth by looking at important themes
and topics that may not be obvious to the students. In addition to this, I think it is
important to look at decorum to add depth to their reading and understanding of
Romeo and Juliet and to do so I will make a PowerPoint presentation on decorum to
use in this lesson. This presentation will give them knowledge about social class and
behaviour, especially women’s behaviour. While talking about this, I will also show
them examples from the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ extract in their textbook.

Lesson 4:

This lesson will be all about reading ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Since the text is
conveniently split into sections, it would be fun to try to get students to read out the
lines of the characters, by assigning each scene to different students. However, if the
students feel uncomfortable, we will not do it. Nevertheless, the text will be read in
plenary, either by me, or by the students aloud for the whole class. After each scene,
we will make sure to take a break where we discuss what we just read to make sure the
students paid attention and understood what happened in the scene. Since the extract is
a bit long, we will most likely need the entire lesson to get through it.

Week 3

Lesson 5:

The fifth lesson will begin with a brief repetition on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to
refresh the students’ memory. Then, I want to explain to the students how forced
marriage then and now differ to some extent. In Shakespeare’s time, one could argue
that forced marriage was part of decorum, and an expectation of how women were
supposed to act. At the time, it was uncommon to marry for love. One would marry for
social class, advantage or to secure alliances. This was especially important in the
nobility and for those of a higher social class. Therefore, had it not been for Juliet
falling in love with Romeo, she would have happily agreed to marry Paris, because
that was decorum at the time. Nowadays, however, having one’s father arrange for
someone to marry you is frowned upon, because now most of us marry for love. Since
the textbook extract features tasks that focus on reflecting upon the aspect of forced
marriage in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and today, I think it is important for the students to
know that things were different in Shakespeare’s time than it is today, in order for
them to have a more reflected and accurate answer to these tasks. After we have done
this, the students will work on task six. After discussing for about ten minutes, we will
discuss the task in plenary while also taking notes on the chalkboard/smartboard. After
we have done this, I will use a PowerPoint presentation to give the students some facts
about arranged and forced marriage today, such as statistics and child brides.

Lesson 6:

Firstly, the students will work on task four on page 206 in groups. They will be
given 20 minutes to find facts on the topic, before we will use 10 minutes to discuss
their findings in plenary. Then we will use the remaining 15 minutes to summarize the
different topics we have discussed in relation to ‘Romeo and Juliet’: social class,
decorum, gender and marriage.