Performances

We will be presenting our scenes from Romeo and Juliet on Friday.

Today, I distributed the information for the Relationship Assignment.  Both parts (A and B) are due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, next week.

Finally, we will be writing a synthesis paragraph next week, to summarize what we have learned about the play, and to demonstrate our formal writing skills.

Your final exam is on Friday June 22nd, at 9:00 am.

Presentations

Last class, I handed out information on presentations.  These will take place on Friday June 8th.

We then spent time watching Act III scene iii, right through to Act IV scene iii, and we discussed all the vital plot elements which occur in these scenes.  We concluded with a discussion about how the relationships affect the decision making of Romeo and Juliet.

Synthesis Paragraph Writing

We spent last class writing synthesis paragraphs for practice, on the topic of Romeo and Mercutio's characters.  Students were asked to compare/contrast their characters, and to write one paragraph, using textual evidence as support.  I read and responded to these paragraphs, highlighting on a Provincial Exam Rubric the feedback appropriate to each paragraph.  Today, we reviewed strengths and areas for improvement on these paragraphs.

We also spent time looking at the poetic devices used in Act III scene ii, in an attempt to review these elements before the exam.

The Balcony Scene

We have spent the past two classes analyzing who is more enthusiastic and eager about the relationship by the end of Act II, scene ii - Romeo or Juliet?  We gathered evidence from the balcony scene, and last class, we created a model synthesis paragraph, together, labeling all the parts of synthesis writing.  We will use this model piece the next time we do synthesis writing, so that students are able to refer to it, to remember all the features.

Act I Summary

Last day, we reviewed the events of Act I, specifically focusing on the relationships that have developed thus far.  We talked about the nature of Romeo and Juliet's relationship, whether we believe Romeo's and Juliet's parents to be supportive of them, and whether we consider Benvolio a good friend to Romeo or not.

I asked students to do a character analysis for either Romeo or Juliet, focusing on the events of Act I, where they were to select three lines/sections from the play to capture the essence of the character's mindset.  Then, I asked students to consider the "modern mindset" of the character, and to create a text message that the character would likely send to describe what has happened to him/her so far.

Students will be given an opportunity to complete this assignment on Thursday in class.

The Dating Scene....

We spent time last class talking about our parents' views on dating.  Students have very different experiences with this... some have never discussed it with their parents, and some have discussed (debated?) it extensively!

Then, we looked at select quotations from Act I scenes ii and iii, which address Juliet's parents' views on marriage.  Students were asked to match the quotations with questions, and then were asked to try to figure out why each quotation was significant.

We ended class by discussing exactly how Benvolio and Romeo are going to "crash" the Capulet feast.  Thank goodness for illiterate servants....

Bill Shakespeare and his Prologue

We spent last class learning about the life and times of William Shakespeare, and then today, we had a competition to see which half of the class could remember the most information about him.  Both teams in both classes did an admirable job of remembering facts about Bill. 

Students then partnered up and tried to piece together a scrambled "Prologue", using hints such as rhyme, punctuation and content to help them figure it out.  After students attempted the "Prologue Puzzle" I handed out a copy of the Prologue, and we went through it as a class, discussing what we believed it meant. 

To end today's class, I reviewed the "Unit Outline," and informed students of the learning objectives for the unit, plus the summative assessment pieces they can expect to complete by the end of the play.