Virtual Curriculum Planning- Romeo and Juliet

Our eighth-graders are about to begin the Love and Friendship unit, but they will do it at home. This unit is anchored around Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. A classic text that is also in the public domain...this is a no-brainer, right? Wrong.

This would have been my first time teaching Romeo and Juliet, and I was looking forward to it when it was going to be taught in a classroom with my students. Now that we are learning virtually, it feels very different. It feels overwhelming (sensing a theme in my recent posts?). It feels like I won't do the text justice (because there is no way I could). So does that mean we don't attempt it?

My content partner and I have been on video planning sessions for the past few days, and we have been grappling with this decision. Here's where we landed- we will do the iconic balcony scene and a couple of sonnets. Let me tell you our thinking, and as always, you can share your thoughts!

We are pushing work out to our students on a virtual platform on Mondays at 9 a.m. We can utilize a flipped model and provide videos and readings for instruction. Then we have one Google Meet session per class each week. The Google Meets are not mandatory. Students are to be given no more than 1.5 to 2 hours of work per class. In two hours a week of at-home, independent work, we think covering a scene and some sonnets is logical. I do NOT want my eighth-graders to leave middle school without experiencing Shakespeare. However, I also do NOT want to turn my students off by requiring that they tackle too much without in-person support. Shakespeare is intimidating, and we want to create a positive first experience. We know that they will get more exposure in high school, so we are seeing this as a way to generate some excitement.

I am getting ready to plan the first lessons in a four (or five) week mini-unit. The idea is to give a bit of background information about Shakespeare, The Globe Theatre, and any other pertinent context to appreciate and understand the text and time-period. The good news is that there are lots of virtual tools available. My first exciting find is the virtual tour of The Globe. And I'm sure that is just the beginning of a long list of resources that students can utilize.

Remember, our students need to be engaged now more than ever. A great way to engage is by offering choice. Create some parameters, but then let the students go down whatever rabbit hole they find most interesting. Let them become experts and come to the virtual sessions with information to share. It will be infectious and exciting. I hope it all works out the way it looks in my head, with rainbows and unicorns! Just kidding, I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, and I plan on updating you as I continue to experience them.

Stay well and comment below!