English Language Arts 6-9: Sample Unit: Love and Loyalty

Sample Unit
Exploring Love and Loyalty: Romeo and Juliet (Grade 9)

Contexts: Personal, Social, Literary, Philosophical
Time Line: approximately 4-5 weeks

Objectives

All of the foundational objectives are developed gradually and continuously throughout the Middle Level. The following learning objectives have been selected as the focus for this grade 9 sample unit.

Speaking

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that talk is an important tool for communicating, thinking, and learning.

use talk to explore own and others' ideas and to express understanding
use talk to share feelings and opinions.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective speakers.

adjust volume, tone, pitch, and pace of speech to create effect and enhance communication
connect, describe, and compare own ideas with those of others.

Students will extend their abilities to speak fluently in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences.

recite literature selections such as poetry or excerpts from longer works
participate in a variety of dramatic speaking experiences
participate effectively in group discussions.

Listening

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that listening is an active, constructive process.

demonstrate willingness to be active listeners
value listening as a means of learning and enjoyment.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective, active listeners.

access prior knowledge and experiences deliberately to construct meaning in listening situations
compare own values with those identified in the speaker's message.

Students will extend their abilities to listen effectively in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes.

listen in order to participate in a discussion, form an opinion, analyze information received, and appreciate or enjoy.

Writing

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that writing is a constructive and recursive process.

recognize that writing is a process of constructing meaning.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective writers.

reflect upon own writing and revise for clarity of meaning and appropriate detail by adding, rearranging, or deleting ideas
proofread to ensure that sentences in a paragraph are complete, interesting, and connected to each other.

Students will extend their abilities to write fluently and confidently for a variety of purposes and audiences, employing appropriate formats.

write to express feelings, ideas, and opinions; to explore ideas; and to describe.

Reading

Students will extend their abilities to recognize that reading is an active, constructive process.

recognize that reading is an active process in which readers interact with the text to construct meaning within the context of their own understanding and experiences.

Students will extend their abilities to practise the behaviours of effective, strategic readers.

draw on prior knowledge and experiences independently when constructing meaning and responding to text
select and use appropriate strategies for constructing meaning from text
paraphrase what is read and express a supported opinion about the topic or writer's craft
consider others' responses in reshaping and extending their own responses.

Students will extend their abilities to read fluently and confidently a variety of texts for a variety of purposes.

know and appreciate how literature can contribute to their understanding of themselves, their roles in the family and community, and their relationships with others
read avidly for a variety of self-initiated and assigned purposes
make thoughtful and critical responses to the content and writer's craft in a wide variety of material, and clearly support personal and critical responses with reference to the text.

Integrated Language Study

Students will extend their abilities to:

recognize that English is constantly changing
identify words that have become obsolete
use various sentence patterns
recognize and use a variety of literary devices (e.g., oxymoron, pun, allusion)
use language to persuade (e.g., informal debate).

Common Essential Learnings

Many of the objectives for English language arts also develop knowledge, skills, and processes related to the C.E.L.s of Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Values and Skills, and Independent Learning. In addition, other C.E.L.s may be emphasized, depending upon the unit topic or theme. Objectives related to the C.E.L.s for this sample unit are stated below to provide direction for teachers. However, emphasis on particular C.E.L.s within a unit does not preclude the development of other C.E.L.s.

The following objectives related to the C.E.L.s were selected for this sample unit:

summarize ideas (C)
provide reasons (arguments related to principles and to evidence) for their answers, ideas, responses, or choices (CCT)
apply generalizations and conclusions to different situations (CCT)
act upon their capacity for empathy, fairness, co-operation, and patience for self and others (PSVS)
exercise choice with respect to assignment, group processes, and format for presentation (IL).

Unit Focus and Direction

It is understandable that some students express apprehension when told that they will study one of Shakespeare's works. They may react negatively because they fear not being able to comprehend the text or they believe that the play was written so long ago that nothing about it relates to them. Therefore, this unit is designed to make reading Romeo and Juliet an exciting learning experience for students and to create in them a receptivity toward further study of Shakespeare.

Successful comprehension and appreciation of ideas and information in text depends upon the reader's ability to relate prior knowledge and experiences to the ideas and information in the reading selection. Activities in this unit are designed to help students make connections between their own lives and the ideas, situations, and action in the play. Activities are also designed to help students develop a greater depth of understanding of what they read.

The unit focuses on two basic themes, love and loyalty. Students will explore these in Romeo and Juliet and in their own lives. While grade 9 students may know little about Elizabethan language or Renaissance Italy, they will discover that they have more in common with Romeo and Juliet than they may at first realize. They have experienced many of the same pains of growing up that the two main characters in the play do. They know what it is to be loyal to a friend, to get into fights, to care for someone who does not return that affection, to hold a grudge, to feel infatuation and first love, to tease or be teased about a girlfriend or boyfriend, and to have their parents forbid them to spend time with certain friends. Providing opportunities for students to recall and connect their own experiences and prior knowledge to what they read encourages them to find the relevance of the play.

It is not necessary for students to read every single line of the play in order to understand and explore the themes of love and loyalty, and to be effectively introduced to Shakespeare's works. In fact, changing the media through which they experience each act or scene offers variety and provides for successful learning opportunities for all students' learning styles. As the play is actually a script that was written to be performed, students need to experience the play by performing and interacting as much as possible, and seeing at least parts of it performed as live theatre or on video. Video and audio recordings help students get a flavour for the Elizabethan language as well as for the setting, characters, and action of the play. Video and audio recordings also help students to comprehend and interpret what they read.

Adaptive Dimension

The Adaptive Dimension empowers teachers to make adjustments in a variety of areas in order to meet individual student needs. Throughout this unit, teachers will make adjustments as required in learning environment, instruction, curriculum topics, resources, or assessment and evaluation. The duration of the adaptation may range from five minutes of individual assistance to an extended time frame for the whole class. See the introductory section of this curriculum guide for more information about the Adaptive Dimension.

Instructional Strategies

Throughout this unit, teachers will use a variety of instructional strategies. Each lesson includes some methods from each of the following strategies: direct instruction, indirect instruction, independent study, and interactive instruction. Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice (Saskatchewan Education, 1991) provides detailed information about each of these strategies and describes methods of instruction that fit into each strategy.

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies

This unit provides opportunities for the use of the following strategies:

self-assessment, peer assessment, teacher assessment

observation checklists

anecdotal notes

rating scales

Reader Response Journals

oral presentations.

Teachers should monitor and record student progress by using a variety of assessment tools on a daily basis. Regularly collected data provides information upon which to base instructional decisions and student reports. Sample assessment tools are included in this curriculum guide. These may be used as printed or adapted to accommodate observation of specific lesson objectives and student needs. Teachers should make students aware of the criteria for their assessment and evaluation early in the unit. Whenever possible and appropriate, students should be involved in establishing these criteria.

Resources

The Middle Level bibliography lists resources that are suitable for this unit; however, teachers may find it necessary to select other resources that are more appropriate to their students' needs and interests, that are already known by the teacher, or that are more readily available at the time.

Note: The bibliography that accompanies this guide will be updated regularly to include suitable new releases. Teachers are encouraged to select resources from the bibliography and from their own repertoire of literature, considering the needs and interests of their students.

Teacher Preparation

Establish a tentative time line that accommodates writing, oral presentations and interactions, and viewing video recordings in conjunction with reading and listening to audio recordings. It is important to be flexible in providing the necessary time for students to become involved and to allow for discussion, reflection, and synthesis to take place.
Review and select an annotated print version of Romeo and Juliet (acquire one copy for each student).
Review and select a suitable audio recording of Romeo and Juliet.
Preview several video recordings of Romeo and Juliet and select those that you believe are the most effective productions. Focus on the scenes you intend to have students study.
Preview the video recordings of Same Differences and West Side Story.
Review the unit activities and select those that are appropriate to the students' needs and interests, keeping in mind that they need not read the entire play to get a sense of the story and to develop an appreciation for Shakespeare's works.
If it is necessary to arrive at a letter or number grade for reporting purposes, determine the end-of-unit evaluation criteria (e.g., percentages for speaking, listening, writing, and reading processes and products).

Some possible mini-lesson topics and assessment suggestions are included in the unit; however, it is important that teachers identify and develop others depending upon students' needs and interests. As the unit progresses, gauge students' interest levels and add, delete, or adapt activities as necessary.

Teacher as Reflective Practitioner

Observations made during daily classroom instruction and learning help teachers to question and reflect upon their practice. When teachers ask questions about such things as the effects of their instruction, student engagement in activities, and students' progress, they find ways to improve their practice and make learning more rewarding for their students. Often, teachers record their observations, questions, and reflection in journals or notebooks as a means of maintaining continuous records of decisions that have helped shape their practice.

Unit Introduction

Pre-viewing: Opinionnaire

The purpose of this pre-viewing activity is to help students access, reflect upon, and focus their prior knowledge before viewing the video Same Differences. The Opinionnaire may be completed the day of or the day prior to viewing the video.

Have students individually complete the Opinionnaire on the following page. Emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers and that everyone's opinion is valid.
Instruct students to meet in pairs or groups of three to discuss their responses. Alternatively, lead a whole class discussion, focusing on one statement at a time and helping students to make connections between the statements and their responses to each statement. Encourage students to express their opinions and appropriately challenge the views of their peers.
Explain to students that the statements they have discussed deal with aspects of love and loyalty that they will encounter throughout the unit.

Viewing: Same Differences

As they view the video, have students jot notes to record names of the main characters and the major conflicts they encounter. (An annotation about this video is provided in the Middle Level bibliography.)

Post-viewing: Discussion

Have students meet in groups of three to five in order to discuss their responses to the story. Encourage them to discuss the characters and the plot and to identify connections to the themes of love and loyalty.
Instruct students to return to their Opinionnaires and compare their responses with the actions of the characters in the story. (E.g., Would the characters have agreed or disagreed with each of the statements? Why or why not?) Allow students time to revise their own responses to the statements in the Opinionnaire if they have changed their minds following discussion.
Discuss "happy endings" and how students feel about the ending of the story. Does it seem realistic that it would end so well? (The purpose of this post-viewing activity is to help students come to an understanding of the story, and to extend that understanding by making connections to and reflecting upon their own responses and opinions.)

Possible Mini-lesson Topics

Review strategies used by effective listeners/viewers.
Instruct students in setting purposes for their listening/viewing experience. (See the Speaking and Listening section of this curriculum guide for information about listening/viewing.)

Assessment Suggestions

Record anecdotal notes while observing students' listening/viewing abilities (e.g., abilities to focus attention on the task and demonstrate interest).
Develop a set of 10 to 12 key story events and have students sequence them according to their understanding of the story as a means of assessing their abilities to comprehend the storyline.
Use a checklist of pre-established criteria to observe and record data regarding students' discussion abilities.

Opinionnaire: Love and Loyalty

Sample Unit Exploring Love and Loyalty: Romeo and Juliet (Grade 9)