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Introduction to my Starter Unit
I love teaching Shakespeare, and I find that it is no more difficult to teach it to my struggling
learners than to my advanced students—in fact, often times it is more enjoyable. Whether you think
Shakespeare should be taught to students reading far below grade level is another discussion, and I
go into that in my blog at www.teach4real.com. But for now, let’s just assume you downloaded this
packet because you expect to teach Shakespeare to your class this year, and you could use some
resources.
Clearly this packet does not contain every single activity I use when I teach Romeo and Juliet. As
you will see from the Final Exam at the end, there are a lot more literary terms my students are
expected to know, and more comprehension and reading skills they should have fostered, than are
taught in this packet. This is a simple starter kit, with awesome lessons, like my Facebook Profiles
for Character Analysis, which have been downloaded hundreds of times through teach4real.com. We
have other goodies too, like Reading Logs and a Final Exam. We’ve thrown in a couple Lesson
Plans that show how I approach the reading of Shakespeare, and how I get inner-city students into
the acting portion of it, before we even start the book. This is by no means a complete Unit, just a
foundation you can build on—especially if you, like me a few years ago, are a new teacher in need
of Handouts, and Exams, and simply don’t have the time to make them yourself this year.
This Packet Includes:
-Student Bookmarks with Reading Schedule on it
-Matt’s Famous Facebook Profiles for
Character Analysis (Newly Updated)
-Reading Log Handout for each Scene
-Inner-City Acting Situations as Anticipatory Set
-Student Participation Log
-Read Aloud Lesson Plan
-Romeo and Juliet Final Exam
-From the Blog: Using Facebook Profiles for
Character Analysis
-From the Blog: Black Boys and Shakespeare
Matt Amaral is a writer and high school English teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his
undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of California at Davis and an MFA in Creative
Writing. Matt is a featured Blogger at EducationNews.org, a leading international website for Education, as
well as a contributor to New America Media, the nation’s leading ethnic news organization. He is the former
Editor-In-Chief of The Gnu Literary Journal. You can also read his work in recent issues of TeachHub,
EmPower Magazine, The Dirty Napkin, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Eclectic Flash, Bird’s Eye ReView,
TravelMag, Escape From America Magazine and InTravel Magazine.
Matt is a fellow of AmeriCorps
TEAMS (Teacher Education for the Advancement of a Multicultural Society), and teaches summer courses at
UC Berkeley’s ATDP Program. He has taught all high school grade levels and abilities, and is known to dive
into fights between students, even though his wife doesn’t want him to.
www.teach4real.com
Student Bookmarks
Go ahead and change the dates below to your schedule. This is a great way to keep
the students accountable for reading even if they miss class. You will see the
Reading Logs are all due the day after we finish the last Scene for that Act. Once you
have changed the first Schedule, copy it into the other ones, make copies, and cut
them out length-wise to handout as bookmarks. (You can even have them design the
back with artwork)
Romeo and Juliet Reading Log Schedule
ACT 1
5-9
1.1
5-12 1.2
5-13 1.3
5-14 1.4
5-15 1.5
Due 5-16
ACT II
5-16 2.0/2.1/2.2
5-19 2.3
5-20 2.4
5-21 2.5/2.6
Due 5-22
ACT III
5-22 3.1
5-23 3.2
5-26 3.3
5-27 3.4
5-28 3.5
Due 5-29
ACT IV
5-30 4.1/4.2
6-2
4.3/4.4
6-3
4.5
ACT V
6-4
5.1/5.2
6-5
5.3
Due 6-4
Due 6-6
ACT IV
5-30 4.1/4.2
6-2
4.3/4.4
6-3
4.5
ACT V
6-4
5.1/5.2
6-5
5.3
Due 6-4
Due 6-6
ACT IV
5-30 4.1/4.2
6-2
4.3/4.4
6-3
4.5
ACT V
6-4
5.1/5.2
6-5
5.3
Due 6-4
Due 6-6
ACT IV
5-30 4.1/4.2
6-2
4.3/4.4
6-3
4.5
ACT V
6-4
5.1/5.2
6-5
5.3
Due 6-4
Due
Romeo and Juliet Reading Log Schedule
ACT 1
5-10 1.1
5-12 1.2
5-13 1.3
5-14 1.4
5-15 1.5
Due 5-16
ACT II
5-16 2.0/2.1/2.2
5-19 2.3
5-20 2.4
5-21 2.5/2.6
Due 5-22
ACT III
5-22 3.1
5-23 3.2
5-26 3.3
5-27 3.4
5-28 3.5
Due 5-29
Romeo and Juliet Reading Log Schedule
ACT 1
5-11 1.1
5-12 1.2
5-13 1.3
5-14 1.4
5-15 1.5
Due 5-16
ACT II
5-16 2.0/2.1/2.2
5-19 2.3
5-20 2.4
5-21 2.5/2.6
Due 5-22
ACT III
5-22 3.1
5-23 3.2
5-26 3.3
5-27 3.4
5-28 3.5
Due 5-29
Romeo and Juliet Reading Log Schedule
ACT 1
5-12 1.1
5-12 1.2
5-13 1.3
5-14 1.4
5-15 1.5
Due 5-16
ACT II
5-16 2.0/2.1/2.2
5-19 2.3
5-20 2.4
5-21 2.5/2.6
Due 5-22
ACT III
5-22 3.1
5-23 3.2
5-26 3.3
5-27 3.4
5-28 3.5
Due 5-29
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_________________
Studied at
Lives in
Profile Page
Friends
About Me:
Contact Information
Username:
Email:
IM Screen Names:
Phones:
Website:
Basic Information
Sex:
Birthday:
Current City:
Hometown:
Cousins:
Uncles/Aunts:
Parents:
Siblings:
Relationship:
Interested in:
Languages:
Political:
Religion:
Likes and Interests
Activities:
Interests:
Sports:
Music:
TV Shows:
Books:
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Romeo Montague’s Wall
Benvolio
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Juliet Capulet
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
___________
___________
_______________(Choose a character)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
___________
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Juliet Capulet’s Wall
Nurse
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Romeo Montague
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
___________
___________
_______________(Choose a character)
______________________________________________________________
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
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Nurse’s Wall
Juliet Capulet
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Mercutio
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
___________
___________
Romeo Montague
_____________________________________________________
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five hours ago
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________________(Choose a character)
_____________________________________________________
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three days ago
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Friar Laurence’s Wall
Friar John
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Romeo Montague
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
___________
___________
_______________(Choose a character)
______________________________________________________________
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twenty minutes ago
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Comments:
___________
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Mercutio’s Wall
Romeo Montague
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Benvolio Montague
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twenty minutes ago
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___________
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Uncle Prince
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_____________________________________________________
five hours ago
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________________(Choose a character)
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three days ago
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Tybalt Capulet’s Wall
Romeo Montague
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Mercutio
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Comments:
___________
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Old Capulet
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five hours ago
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________________(Choose a character)
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three days ago
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Reading Logs for Each Scene (Follow the Bookmark Schedule)
Name_____________
Act___ Scene___
Characters
Notable Quotes
Quote:
Translation:
Quote:
Translation:
Quote:
Translation:
Summary
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Romeo and Juliet Situations
For Inner-City Classes
This is one of the very first activities I do with my students. I get them into Acting Troupes (I
usually have them name their troupe and design a crest), and assign each group one of the scenarios
below. Very quickly, let me just say that our students are surrounded by gangs and violence, and by
pretending it doesn’t exist, we as adults cannot validate the problems our students face. I have a lot
more to say about this, so please read more at my blog at www.teach4real.com.
4-6 actors
Two gang members are walking down the street, talking smack about a rival gang. They say what
they would do to them if they saw their rivals. Just then two or three members of a rival gang
appear. What happens next?
3-4 actors
A young man’s girlfriend just dumped him and he feels horrible. He can’t stop thinking about her
and is always whining about how much he misses her. His friends feel sorry for him but are also
starting to get annoyed with his melancholy. What advice do they give him?
4-6 actors
At a girl’s quinceanera, her parents keep introducing her to boys they think are appropriate for her
daughter to date. She isn’t into any of them when all of a sudden a stranger appears who was not
invited who she thinks is cute. What happens next?
2-5 actors
A young couple is madly in love but the girl’s parents have arranged a marriage for her with a man
she doesn’t love. The couple can’t imagine life without each other. What happens next?
2-4 actors
A boy gets out of juvie, and during the ride home his friend tells him his girlfriend just died. His
friend takes him to a church where her body lies. He finds her body on the altar and is distraught.
What happens next?
Just a reminder: Romeo and Juliet is a VIOLENT play. Most of the main characters die, so if
you have reservations about the above situations, you shouldn’t. The students can’t possibly act
more violent than the Capulets and Montagues.
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Lesson Plan: Reading Shakespeare with Participation
This is how I read in my class, and I’ve attached some standards to get the administrators off your
back. It’s a basic LP, you know, boring. But the Participation Sheet is a great idea, and I have
attached one below the LP.
Standards focus:
2.0 Reading Comprehension
Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They analyze the organizational patterns, arguments, and
positions advanced.
2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external conflicts,
motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot.
3.4 Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic monologue,
and soliloquy.
Objectives:
Students will be able to-Read aloud and understand a dramatic play by William Shakespeare
-Keep a journal of main events for each scene
-Participate verbally showing an understanding of the play
Anticipatory Set:
-Review previous scenes precluding the scene about to be read
-Ask for student volunteers who earn participation credit by participating by reading out of their
journals or responding verbally.
-Refer to character board to facilitate a greater understanding of plot and characters
Activities:
-Assign characters to individual students who will read lines aloud
-Read the selected scene(s) stopping frequently to check for student comprehension and allow
participation credit
-After large chunks, make students pause and write in the Reading Log for that Scene, keeping track
of main events, including quotes to support main ideas and themes
Assessment of student learning:
-Instructor checks for verbal understanding a couple times per page during the reading of each scene,
using a participation sheet to keep track of student participation
-Students turn in Journals at the end of each act
-Were students able to:
Read aloud and understand a dramatic play by William Shakespeare?
Keep a Log of main events for each scene?
Participate verbally showing an understanding of the play?
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Participation Log (Basic Log, change it to suit yourself, add rows as needed)
- Negative
Name
? = space-out
G = gum P-no pen
paper OT = off task
Class: ______________
+ Positive
T = technology
A = att./profan.
S = sleeping
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
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! = helping out
/ = answer (see cards)
 = cool question/comment
Romeo and Juliet Final Exam
Name_______________________
Date _______________
Period_________
______/52 points
I.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Character Matching- match each character with the correct description (1 point each)
Juliet
1. Is laid to rest next to Juliet
Mercutio
2. Grief of her son’s exile hath stopped her breath
Nurse
3. Has an unfortunate visit with the apothecary
County Paris
4. Forces daughter to marry Paris
Romeo
5. Sends a challenge to Romeo’s house
Friar John
6. Cannot get to Mantua because of disease
Tybalt
7. “Dies” twice
Old Capulet
8. Marries the two young lovers
Lady Montague
9. Is sent to make sure Romeo’s intentions are good
Friar Laurence
10. Puts a curse on both houses
II. Multiple Choice – choose the correct answer for each question (1 points each)
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
In which act does the climax of a Shakespearean tragedy occur?
The first act
The second act
The third act
The fourth act
2.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Which is not a type of figurative language?
Personification
Dialogue
Metaphor
Simile
3. The rhythmic writing Shakespeare uses that alternates 10 stressed and unstressed syllables is called
what?
a) A Sonnet
b) Iambic Pentameter
c) Blank Verse
d) A Quatrain
4.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Which is not a theme in Romeo and Juliet?
Violence as a solution to problems
The effects of Love
The coexistence of good and evil in the individual
The government is not to be trusted
5.
a)
b)
c)
What comes after the climax and shows forces acting against the main characters?
Exposition
Theme
Falling Action
d) Resolution
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6.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Which theatre is most closely associated with Shakespeare?
The Curtain
Century 25
The Rose and the Swan
The Globe
III. Definition- write the definition of each word (2 points each)
Soliloquy-
Foil-
Comic Relief-
Exposition-
Aside-
IV. Quote Identification- 1) Identify who is speaking 2) Explain what is happening in the
story at that point (context), and 3) Explain what they mean, what they are talking
about (4 points each)
1. “How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? There’s a fearful point!
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
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2. “Come, bitter conduct, come unsavory guide,
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark!
Here’s to my love. O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”
3. “Then she is well, and nothing can be ill.
Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument,
And her immortal part with angels lives.
I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vault
And presently took post to tell it you.”
4. “Suspecting that we both were in a house
Where the infectious pestilence did reign,
Sealed up the doors and would not let us forth,
So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed.”
V.
Short Answer- Answer the following questions as completely as you can in 2-3
sentences. (2 points each)
1. In Act I, why has Montague been worried about his son, Romeo?_____________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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2. In Act II, what arrangement do Romeo and Juliet make before Romeo leaves her balcony?
Explain___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. In Act III, explain why the Prince banishes the surviving killer instead of sentencing him to
death?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. What plan does the Friar come up with in Act IV to solve all of Juliet’s problems, explain
thoroughly. _______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain the circumstances of Paris’ death in Act V.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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One From the Blog: Using Facebook
Profiles for Character Analysis
If Romeo Montague had a Facebook profile, who would the last four posts be from? Well,
all of them might be from Juliet, saying things like, “It’s been five minutes since my last
post and I still miss u <3!” Or perhaps Friar Laurence will be trying to contact Romeo in
Mantua, saying, “Friar John left yesterday, you should be hearing from him soon. Good
news! There is strength in men again!” Maybe the last post on Romeo’s profile page will be
a status update from Romeo himself, saying, like one of my students thought up, “I like it
not in Mantua. FML.”
Yes, it is that time of year again when teachers across the country are teaching Romeo and
Juliet to confused 9th graders. Every year we struggle with the best way to teach such a
difficult play to students who are wondering why why why. Introducing them to Middle
English, and having them memorize the meaning of words like “anon,” seem ridiculous at
times seeing as most of them have no idea what the difference is between “there”, “their”, or
“they’re.” Yet every year we invoke the Great Bard for another generation of youth, and try
to convince them Shakespeare is worth reading.
I’ve written a lot about Shakespeare over the last year. Whether it is my introductory
Shakespeare Unit for teachers, available here at Teach4Real, or my post on the beauty of
teaching African-American boys these plays, I always enjoy the end of winter and the
beginning of Romeo and Juliet, or Othello, or Hamlet.
No matter which play I’m teaching to what grade level, I’ve found some interesting ways of
making Shakespeare relevant to today’s inner-city students. As usual, I didn’t come up with
these strategies myself, but have blatantly stolen them, and changed them to my own liking.
I encourage you to do the same.
A few years ago a colleague came up with the great idea of using blank MySpace profile
sheets as a tool for character analysis. It was a wonderful idea, back when people still used
MySpace and wooly mammoths walked the earth. I used these archaic MySpace dittos and
sat back and watched as my students created “About Me” bios, listed “Favorite Movies”, and
drew profile pics and wrote posts on the characters’ walls. It worked great back then, and
today, it works just as well with one big difference. I now use Facebook.
Using the Facebook template, I have created Profile pages for each of the important
characters in Romeo and Juliet. Keep in mind, I have created the Profile page, not the News
Feed. I encourage each student to think about who the last five or six people to post on that
character’s wall would be and what they would say. Here are some great nuances to this
activity that show just how deep the students can go into character analysis and character
interaction (LRA Standards 3.3 and 3.4 for 9-10th graders, which are essential standards
and some of the most tested types of questions).
-Students can get symbolic with the profile pics, choosing concrete objects that represent a
deeper idea or characteristic.
-Students can earn extra points for using Elizabethan English, or a mixture of text-talk.
Remember, it should still sound like a Facebook page. I encourage them to use this mixture,
as that is when it is the most fun. I’m sorry, but “I like it not here in Mantua. FML” is
freaking hilarious.
-Make sure the students pay attention to the chronology of the posts. On most pages, the
latest posts are from “thirty seconds ago” to “a day ago”. This is important, because if you’re
in Act IV, you could still have Mercutio and Tybalt make a post, because they were still alive
a day ago. The chronology takes them back in the play, and the posts should reflect that.
-This year I had them work in groups, and gave them a group grade. I make sure each
student in the group has a different character, and they have to help each other out. Some
groups actually have the same Profile Pics on each person’s page, so when Juliet posts on
the other pages, visually I can see where Juliet is.
-Other years I have taken this one step further and assigned as many characters as I could
around the room (you won’t have enough in a class of thirty, but that’s okay) and have the
students get up out of their seats and walk around the class making posts on each other’s
walls. So if Juan and Mikey both are assigned Romeo, they walk around the room and write
on other people’s profiles as that character (how awesome is that?). Also, if you do it this
way, you can create a News Feed out of butcher paper and require each student to make a
post at the front of the room.
-On the back of their Profile page, I usually have them write an “About Me” paragraph, and
maybe add boxes for “Favorite Movies” “Music” and other things that are on the Info page.
This forces them to think about the characters deeply. You’ll get some cool answers, like
Friar Laurence’s favorite author will be William Shakespeare. Or Romeo’s favorite actor
might be Leonardo DiCaprio.
When you do this activity I promise you the students will love it. I don’t make many
promises in inner-city education, but this is one of them. My students told me it was fun, it
made them think about the characters, it made them see the characters in a new way, and it
didn’t feel like work. This activity is everything a good lesson should be. So whether you’re
teaching Romeo and Juliet, or any book, novel, short story, play, or epic poem, think about
using Facebook for character analysis. Try using Facebook in the classroom, you use it for
everything else, right?
Matthew Amaral
www.teach4real.com
Black Boys and Shakespeare
QuickTime™ and a
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I once asked my students to write about the cultural differences between them and the
other cultures they see around them. I don’t remember the exact book I was teaching at the
time, but I do remember one student’s response. We’ll call him Aaron. Aaron was a 9th
grade African-American student, and his response sounded almost exactly like this:
We blacks are just hyphier than the others. I guess Mexicans can get wild too, but not like
us. We just hyphier than everybody else.
Aaron was supposed to write a page, and it was obvious he had just written this on his way
to my class from lunch. Even so, I think he makes a good point.
I think there are some important cultural aspects we should recognize in all our students so
that we can better reach them. But I think that when we think about culture and race in
education, we must avoid looking at students of different cultures as deficient — like they
are missing something, or need special help because of what they are lacking. It is human
nature. We look at what people don’t have, and forget to see what is great. Sometimes we
even look at culture in this light. But I don’t look at it like that at all. Instead of focusing on
how culture makes students different, I like to focus on how it makes them stronger. Let’s
focus on the good stuff, or in Aaron’s words, the hyphiness.
Black culture is pretty cool if you ask me. African-Americans are a bold, fearless
people who don’t spend their lives holed up at home crouched over a computer screen. They
are social. They are sophisticated communicators, and they take immense pride in being
black. So when I think about how to effectively teach black students, I try to embrace these
wonderful characteristics. My favorite way to do this is with Shakespeare.
That’s right. Shakespeare.
Now, I am familiar with the ongoing debate on whether or not we should even teach
Shakespeare in middle school and high school. Some claim our low-income, inner-city,
overly-hyphenated students can hardly read and write — wouldn’t it be better if we teach
them how to use a comma before they start analyzing Shakespeare? I mean, 95% of our
adult population doesn’t understand the Old Bard, why do we expect it out of these kids?
I’m not going to get into that argument right now, but I will say this: I teach Shakespeare
for a variety of reasons, and one of them is because my African-American boys love it.
Let’s talk about another black student of mine. We’ll call him by a nickname: Nay-Nay. (No
I didn’t make that up). I had Nay-Nay in my 9th grade English class two years ago. Nay-Nay
was failing my class. He never did homework, and sat uninterested for the first quarter
while we made our way through The House on Mango Street. Nay-Nay was also very ghetto.
He would come into class wearing the same black beanie every day. For a month I told him
to take it off every single day, and some days he wouldn’t do it. He would sit there without
moving and pretend like he didn’t hear me. Sometimes he would swear at me when I asked
him a second time, saying things like, “Damn man, what the fuck! Why you always talking?”
I would have to send him out. I wrote referrals. It finally got to the point where I had to sit
down with him and the administration and make a deal where he couldn’t have the beanie
in sight in my class, because it was becoming such a sore point. It was like he came into
class every day looking for a fight. I talked with his mom over the phone, and she made
vague promises that never materialized — she didn’t have time to come talk to me.
Despite all of this, my persistence began to pay off. I’m not going to go into all the ways I
tried to work with Nay-Nay, the after-school talks, the calls to his counselor. Let’s just say I
was persistent. I didn’t have a problem with Nay-Nay. I thought he was a pretty cool kid. He
didn’t like school, and had some serious anger problems, but at my school, that describes
almost every male student on campus. After a month of this power struggle, Nay-Nay began
to see I wasn’t out to get him — I just couldn’t have him swearing at me in the first 30
seconds of every class. By the time we got to my Romeo and Juliet Unit, Nay-Nay had put
the beanie away, and was able to sit through class and get some work done (he still never
did homework).
Then we started Shakespeare.
I have this policy with Shakespeare that every student needs to earn a certain amount
of participation points while we read as a class. I assign readers to play each role in each
scene. I have a clipboard with a list of all their names with two columns — one for positive
participation, one for negative (It’s actually in my Romeo and Juliet Starter Packet here on
Teach4Real.com). So if they are messing around, chewing gum, texting, or have a grill in
their mouth, they get negative points. If they answer correctly, or really just give a
thoughtful response and participate in a positive way, they get a positive point. That is how
their participation grade is decided for my R&J unit.
As we made our way to Act III and the Balcony Scene, something really cool began to
happen to Nay-Nay. He had the highest participation grade in the entire class. Almost every
single time I stopped class to ask them what in the heck just came out of Romeo’s mouth,
Nay-Nay was the first to raise his hand. Every difficult stanza, every complicated allusion,
Nay-Nay’s hand was in the air. And he wasn’t just participating in a positive manner in
order to get points (actually, I don’t think he really cared about whether he got points or
not). His answers were right on target. He could analyze a passage like the best of my
accelerated students. In fact, Nay-Nay was so far ahead of everyone else, I had to start
telling him to put his hand down so he could let the rest of the class catch up. I also made it
a point to let the rest of the class know Nay-Nay had the highest grade out of anyone. “Why
can’t you all be more like Nay-Nay?” I would laugh, and he would laugh too.
What was going on with Nay-Nay wasn’t anything new to me. By then I already
had this theory about black boys and Shakespeare, and every year students like Nay-Nay
seem to prove me right. My theory is this: Our African-American boys are so
wrapped up in the intricate, rapid lyrics of hip-hop, it helps them decipher
Shakespeare. All day long groups of black students stand around in circles on the quad
beat-boxing and freestyling. They spit fast phrases with even faster rhymes, and listen to
the professionals do it in their iPods. Yes, a lot of times I don’t agree with what is coming
out of the mouths of some of these rappers (and I’ve written about it here), but if anything,
students who are into hip-hop have a highly developed ear for language, poetry, and
meaning, and it always shows when we read Shakespeare.
And it isn’t just black boys. Any student who is into hip-hop music and fancies himself a
freestyle rapper probably has the same advantage. They hear something once, very quickly,
and they get used to understanding it the first time. I think it is just more indicative of the
African-American community because they are the ones who invented hip-hop, and
therefore it is a more integral part of their culture. So when it comes to Shakespeare, I feel
like teaching his plays is playing to the strengths of my black students. Understanding the
Old Bard is just like trying to figure out what is coming out of the mouth of Ol’ Dirty
Bastard. It might even be easier.
Of course I’m not the only one claiming we need to be aware of the cultural differences in
our students of color. I’ve been to teacher in-services where an African-American speaker
told us that because of the emphasis on being social in the African-American community,
we have to take that into account when dealing with our black students. They advise us to
let them participate more, because they need to talk and socialize in order to learn —
especially African-American boys. I’m not making any of this up, but I am here to remind
you there is nothing wrong with any of it. A black boy needs to ask questions and
participate in order to learn; other students would rather sit quietly and take notes,
whatever. It’s all the same to me. I actually prefer the former.
So instead of looking at these differences as a model of deficiency, lets embrace it and do
some real teaching. Like Aaron said, black boys in the ghetto are a little bit hyphier. They
want to be a part of what’s going on, so I say we let them. Nay-Nay got to be Romeo almost
every day for a month, and when he wasn’t speaking Romeo’s lines, he was expounding the
meaning of them to the rest of the class. And Nay-Nay wasn’t the only black student who
has shined while reading Shakespeare. Whether it is a sophomore as Julius Cesar, a junior
as Othello, or a senior reciting Hamlet, I don’t teach too many black boys who disappear
during a Shakespeare Unit. Usually they become the main character.
Nay-Nay still failed my class, or got a D, I don’t remember exactly, but I do know he
had to go to summer school. He still didn’t do any homework, and aside from his
participation grade, the rest of his work wasn’t done well enough to lift him up very far. This
is normal. This is the real world. With a kid like Nay-Nay, sometimes we have to be happy
with the fact that he took a vested interest in what was going on in class. He found
Shakespeare interesting, and if you asked him about Romeo and Juliet, he would have
something to say. Maybe that was the first time he found English class interesting, maybe
not. I try to be truthful above anything. There might be some of you out there who scoff
when I say I still failed him despite how far he had come. But you have to remember,
whether he shows a natural ability and tremendous improvement, he has got to have the
willingness to put in the work. He’s got to sit and write. He’s got to study at some point.
Nay-Nay failed because he was a horrible student. But he did make strides, no matter how
small. He made it to sophomore year, which was not a guarantee at the beginning of the
year when he was coming in every day with his beanie, looking for a fight.
Nay-Nay found school interesting, and did a heck of a job reading Romeo and Juliet. And
for the rest of the year, he began to take a little bit more interest in the rest of the books we
read. That is how it works in the real world — we don’t change them in a day or a week, but
if we keep chipping away at it, maybe a year or two later it begins to take effect. Nay-Nay
certainly never gave me any more trouble, which made my job easier as a teacher and his
job easier as a student. I honestly think I can attribute all this to Shakespeare, and my
Romeo and Juliet Unit.
And Nay-Nay did the class and me a favor too. He injected some much-needed hyphiness
into what can sometimes be dry reading.
Matthew Amaral
www.teach4real.com
If you liked my Romeo and Juliet Starter Packet, you should check out my full
unit “Teaching House on Mango Street.” At over 90 pages, it is the
defining unit on teaching Autobiographical Narratives and Literary Analysis
with Sandra Cisneros’ classic. With a focus on culture-based writing, you can
pick it up at www.teach4real.com for less than you pay for frappaccinos at
Starbucks!
Below is a sneak preview of my full unit “Teaching House on Mango Street.”
As opposed to everything else out there, this is a unit made for teachers by
teachers who are still working full time. In fact, Dan and I are teaching this
unit right now!
for real teachers
What did you say? You just got hired at a high school yesterday, and you start teaching tomorrow? It’s your
first time teaching 9th grade English (or your first time teaching ever) and you’re looking for something to start
with?
Don’t worry, we got you.
It is with YOU in mind that Dan and I here at Teach4Real have created our House on Mango Street Unit.
We’re going to give you a little breathing room. A little time to decorate your room, get organized, find out where
the bathrooms are—so you know where to go at 4 pm when you finally have time to use them. We’re going to let
you get settled. Calm down. Sit tight. And leave the planning and curriculum to us for your first week, and then
your first month.
And guess what? You are going to absolutely tear it up.
Because Dan and I are still both in the classroom teaching full-time (and overtime), we understand the myriad
of problems faced by new teachers teaching new books. We know what it feels like to be reading a book for the
first time WITH your class. This begs the question: How am I supposed to plan curriculum for a book I haven’t
even read yet? Even if you are only a couple chapters ahead of your class, this still means you are flying by the seat
of your pants, designing lessons that will take place the very next day—forget about long-term goals, right?
Well, Dan and I have been at this teaching thing a long time and we know we can help, not just with some
general lesson plans, but with a Unit that works in every kind of classroom—especially a low-income urban one—
because this is where Dan and I have taught our entire careers, and we have to say—we know what works.
Matt Amaral is a writer and high school English teacher
from the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his
undergraduate degree in English Literature from the
University of California at Davis and an MFA in Creative
Writing. Matt is a featured Blogger at EducationNews.org, a
leading international website for Education, as well as a
contributor to New America Media, the nation’s leading
ethnic news organization. He is the former Editor-In-Chief
of The Gnu Literary Journal. You can also read his work in
the 2010 issues of TeachHub, EmPower Magazine, The
Dirty Napkin, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Eclectic Flash,
Bird’s Eye ReView, TravelMag, Escape From America
Magazine and InTravel Magazine.
Matt is a fellow of
AmeriCorps TEAMS (Teacher Education for the
Advancement of a Multicultural Society), and teaches
summer courses at UC Berkeley’s ATDP Program. He has
taught all high school grade levels and abilities, and is
known to dive into fights between students, even though his
wife doesn’t want him to.
Daniel Guerrero is a teacher and lecturer in the San Francisco
Bay Area. He received his B.A. in Philosophy at California State
University, Hayward, his M.A. in Education and teaching
credential from the University of California at Berkeley's,
Graduate School of Education in the Multicultural Urban
Secondary English Program (MUSE). Daniel teaches 9th and 10th
grade English, as well as, 11th grade AP English Language and
Composition. He also presents workshops at the Puente
Program’s semi-annual statewide conferences, which regularly
features the nation’s top educators. Puente is a statewide
program, funded by the University of California, designed to
provide low-income, underrepresented students with a rigorous
pre-AP English Language Arts curriculum. Daniel is also a
summer writing instructor at UC Berkeley’s Academic Talent
Development Program (ATDP) in the GSE. In addition, Daniel is
a part-time lecturer at the Bay Area Teacher Center (BATC) at
Lick-Wilmerding H.S., (accredited through San Francisco State
University) where he prepares new teachers to enter the
profession.
www.teach4real.com
table of contents
-Pedagogical Philosophy for teaching Autobiographical Narratives with House on Mango Street by Matt Amaral
-Pedagogical Philosophy for teaching Literary Analysis with House on Mango Street by Dan Guerrero
Introduction to our Pacing Guide
-6-week Unit Pacing Guide/Scope and Sequence
Autobiographical Narratives
-Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting and Prompts by Chapter
-Autobiographical Narrative Lesson Plans and Corresponding Handouts
-Lesson Plan: My House
+Prewriting Handout
-Lesson Plan: Hairs
+Prewriting Handout
-Lesson Plan: My Name
+Prewriting Handout
-Lesson Plan: My Neighbor
+Prewriting Handout
-2 Day Lesson Plan: Avoiding Cliches/ Simile Battle
+Handout: Writing Devices
Extra Lesson Plans
-Lesson Plan: Sally
-Lesson Plan: My Street Says Goodbye
Literary Analysis
-Literary Analysis Lesson Plans and Corresponding Handouts
-Lesson Plan: Marking It Up
+Example
-Lesson Plan: Inference Tables
+Handouts/Examples
+Components of a Literary Analysis Paragraph
+Handout Writing a Literary Analysis Paragraph Using Your Inference Tables
-Lesson Plan: LitMaps
+Handout
+Student Examples
-Protocols for Editing/ Workshops/Project/Essay/Exam
-Vignette Project
-Lesson Plan: Editing Narratives
+Editing Guide for Students and Teacher
-Lesson Plan: Writing Workshops
+Handout
www.teach4real.com
-Literary Analysis Essay
+Handout: Writing Paragraphs
+Peer Editing Rubric
-HOMS Final Exam
-Vocabulary Warmup/ Cooldown/ Filler
-Lesson Plan: Vocab Cheat Sheet
+Handout
+Teacher Participation Log
-Emergency Lesson Plan/ Filler for Ghetto Students
-Lesson Plan: Balancing Your Ghetto
-Teaching Tips from Matt’s Blog:
A Lesson on Urban Identity
Working the Rows
www.teach4real.com
Pedagogical Philosophy for Teaching Autobiographical Narratives with House on Mango Street
by Matthew Amaral
I want to invoke Flossie Lewis whose words capture the essence of autobiographical writing at the high school
level. “Autobiographical writing needs to be from the heart, and if it isn’t from the heart, it won’t be good writing.” It
is this idea that is the basis of our HOMS unit.
Beginning the year with Autobiographical Narratives is necessary for many, many reasons. The first is that it is
the easiest genre of writing students encounter in high school—this is not to say Auto-Bio writing is easy, it is just
easier for high school students to get something on paper because it is about their favorite subject—themselves. I
honestly believe you can’t start 9th grade any other way.
9th graders are at a crossroads in their lives, and it is NOW, right now on the first day of school, that you are
going to set them on the path to being a curious, thoughtful, analytical, descriptive writer; or—they may become
someone whom, as the students say, hates writing essays. Because to them, everything is an essay, even
Autobiographical Narratives. We feel that it is in Auto-Bio writing that we can effectively bridge the gap of
engagement, make writing relevant by basing it on their lives and cultures, and get students to think of writing as
more than just writing essays.
Writing Autobiographical Narratives is essentially Creative Writing. We want students to use all the writing
techniques real writers and storytellers use when narrating important events. As teachers, we can go on forever about
how to write a story, but in this unit, we are going to focus on a couple of avenues in which to enhance their
storytelling abilities. The first is that we are going to get them Writing from the Heart, because culture-based
writing is an immediate way of building community and getting buy-in (this is why you should start the year with
Mango). Then we will get them to begin thinking about the balance between Summary and Scene. Finally, we want
them to put their Figurative Language on steroids. At the end of their Vignette Project, which is the integral
summative assessment of this unit, if they can tell the story of their life balancing narration, their own thoughts,
narrating anecdotes in a “play by play” fashion, and using similes and metaphors that are not clichés, then we are
going to be stoked. That is why we love HOMS, there is no better book to show them figurative language and
balancing summary and scene.
From a pedagogical point of view, we’re going to throw you some strategies to put in your art of teaching
arsenal. We’re very big on Teacher Modeling, so beginning with the Hairs Lesson Plan, you will be writing in front
of your class. We encourage this practice, and while we may not have you model in more than one or two lesson
plans, we feel you should be writing in front of your students constantly, because they need to see how the best writer
in the room writes—and yes, that is YOU!
Let’s forget about the flowery aspirations for a second and get real. If you want your students to become better
readers and writers, there are only two ways to do it—they need to do a lot of reading and a lot of writing. HOMS
isn’t too much reading to start with, which is good for 9th graders who are more interested in the looks and smells of
the kids packed so close to them in your tiny classroom. It isn’t too intimidating a text with which to start the year.
But you are going to have to get them to sit quietly and write if you want this to work. Every day they should have an
expectation of coming in, settling down, and getting some writing done. I can’t say that enough. You need them to
know your room is a place where they come to WRITE, and you need to do it right away. So from day one we are
going to have them writing and we are not going to stop. And if you can do it right, this pattern shouldn’t end until
June. So bear with us, because we believe in what we’re doing, we believe in what we’re teaching, and we believe
that if you want tough kids in urban classrooms to buy into writing, you need to make sure it is from the heart.
Matthew Amaral
Founder of www.teach4real.com
A Blog for Real Teachers in our Toughest Schools
Pedagogical Philosophy for Teaching Literary Analysis with House on Mango Street
by Dan Guerrero
My entire pedagogical, philosophical, educational and social justice outlook in regards to teaching and learning
in public schools boils down to one thing: College! I use the word college to mean more than simply ‘the university;’
it represents an academic disposition and way of being in the classroom and in the world. It means pride, integrity,
perseverance, struggle, hope, love and, ultimately, success…academic success! However, even if we use the general
understanding of the word, in order to get our students to successfully realize their ‘college’ dreams, they need to be
able to read challenging, complex texts and write in an academic manner that approximates college writing; I loosely
refer to that style of writing as literary analysis.
Literary analysis writing essentially synthesizes the information deduced from close reading analysis and uses
evidence from a text to illustrate a theme. Ok…that’s the academic pretentiousness of the little voices in my mind
talking…lets get to the meat of the matter: Literary analysis is about reading, analyzing, understanding and making a
claim about a text’s meaning; in order to do that, a writer must be able to make inferences and provide evidence from
the text to prove their interpretation!
This is why House On Mango Street is the perfect the novel to use to teach the two essential genres that 9th
grade students must know by the time they walk outside of our doors to summer at the end of the year! After starting
the year with auto-bio, and assuming your students are already used to reading and writing everyday about
themselves, the next step is to write about other people and the ideas of others! The most important part of teaching
literary analysis, just as in autobiographical writing, is giving students the tools to analyze literature without merely
summarizing.
Since House On Mango Street lends itself to both genres so well, the expectation is that teachers will read many
of the chapters with their students analyzing for both components of autobiographical writing (i.e., figurative
language devices, sensory details, etc.) and literary analysis (character, subject, setting, theme, tone/mood, conflict
and symbol). So, integral to this unit, is our focus on three different aspects of literary analysis writing that will
improve our students academic writing: The first is using Literary Terminology to Mark-Up a text. Then we are
going to get them Analyze and Synthesize texts using Litmaps and Inference Tables, rather than simply
summarizing a text as they did in middle school! Writing relevant interpretations of the texts is an essential skill and
we use inference tables, a graphic organizer to combine concrete details (CS) & commentary (CM). In this respect,
litmaps and inference tables are designed to help students learn to read and annotate for both genres simultaneously in
preparation for portfolio writing, which is addressed specifically in this unit. Finally, if our students can recognize the
difference between Autobiographical writing and Literary Analysis writing (aka, Response to Literature) then
they will be prepared for the Rigorous Expectations of AP classes.
Literary analysis writing is about evaluating literature and creating an argument based on inquiry and
exploration of the significance of a character, theme, symbols (effectively representations of themes themselves) and
conflict.
Teaching literary analysis writing to 9th graders may be the first step in the academic path of many of our
students. In this sense, it is an inherently scholastic skill in regards to both form and function; literary analysis is
usually considered rather mechanistic and formulaic in nature and is an illustration of a writers’ ability to analyze and
synthesize the ideas of other writers. Yet, when the instruction of literary analysis is combined with the development
of a student’s auto-biographical and figurative writing skills, then our students will begin to write beyond the cold,
robotic style of typical five-paragraph writing lore that so many teachers loathe …Our students will write well on
their way to college!
Dan Guerrero
Contributor to www.teach4real.com
A Blog for Real Teachers in our Toughest School
Get “Teaching House on Mango Street” here, or go to:
www.teach4real.com.