Understanding By Design: OTHELLO UNIT
Title of Unit
Curriculum Area
Developed By
Othello
MYP Honors English
Stephanie A. Griffin and Lisa M. Garcia
Grade Level
Time Frame
10th
22 days (3/6/2012 – 4/19/2012)
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Standards (GLETs)
1.e. – Summarize, synthesize, and evaluate literary, expository, and technical texts
1.g. (f) – Analyze form, function, and definition of words in given context
1.g. (f) – Develop vocab power aligned with reading
2.a. – Speak for a specific purpose and audience
2.g. (d) – Interpret the prompt and construct an appropriate response
3.b. Use standard English usage in writing, including subject/verb agreement, agreement of pronoun and its antecedent, parallel structure, and correct
modifiers
3.c. Write in complete sentences (varying the types of sentences using appropriate patterns/transitions and punctuation)
3.d. Punctuate correctly, including apostrophes, commas, semi-colons, colons, and dashes
4.b. – Uses higher-level questioning skills as an approach to understanding texts
4.d. – Evaluate the language, content, structure, meaning, and significance of both familiar and previously unseen oral, written, and visual texts
4.d. – Express an informed, independent, and unique response to texts
5.a. – Establishes a purpose for reading
5.c. – Understands how to paraphrase text
5.c. – Synthesizes and organizes information for a final written/spoken product
5.d. – Selects and locates information appropriate for a specific purpose or audience and justifies the selection
6.c. – Read and determine theme (the message the author is conveying about life or people in relation to the topic)
Understandings
Overarching Understanding
 Major themes and symbols associated with Shakespeare’s Othello.
 Relevance of concepts and themes in modern life.
 Significance of form, function, definition, and usage of language in
Othello.
 Improvised dramatization can significantly increase our understanding of
challenging texts such as Othello.
Related Misconceptions
Essential Questions
Overarching
 How does Othello connect to
our world today?
Topical
 What is the significance of
appearance vs. reality and
truth vs. falsehood in Othello?
 What role does race play in
Othello?
 What role does jealousy play in
Othello?
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 How does Othello explore the
themes of nature vs. society
and good vs. evil?
 Shakespeare’s plays are written in Old English.
 Shakespeare’s plays were written back in the 16th/17th century—they
aren’t applicable to our lives today.
Knowledge
Skills
Students will know…
Students will be able to…
 The major themes and symbols in Othello.
 That the concepts and themes in Othello are still relevant to our lives
today.





Paraphrase passages and scenes in Othello.
Read the language in Othello and construct meaning from it.
Answer high-level thinking questions about Othello.
Elaborate on the themes and symbols in Othello.
Explain how the concepts and themes in Othello are relevant to our
lives today.
 Improvise performances together with their classmates in order to
construct meaning from Othello.
 Rewrite passages and scenes in Othello in modernized language.
 Write a literary analysis essay exploring race in Huckleberry Finn and
Othello
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description (#1)
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performance
Standards (Rubric)
Rewrite a scene and perform it.
Directors, Actors, Actresses
Playgoers (classmates & teachers)
In groups of 4-5, students will rewrite a scene in Act 3 or Act 4 using modern language; they will then perform the scene for
the class.
1) modernized script and 2) live performance
Rubric categories: language translation; analysis/constructing deeper meaning; performance; etc.
Performance Task Description (#2)
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performance
Standards (Rubric)
Write a literary analysis essay exploring race in Huckleberry Finn and Othello
Literary critic
Academic readers of Huckleberry Finn and/or Othello; teachers
Students have just finished reading both Huckleberry Finn and Othello and were focused on the concept of race in both texts.
They are now expected to write a literary analysis essay comparing and contrasting the concept of race in both texts.
8-10 page literary analysis essay
Rubric categories: 6 traits; thesis; supporting details; ICE
Other Evidence
2
Various daily writing assignments in Othello logs; choral reading; group reading; group discussions; class discussions; daily informal observations by the
teacher.
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students headed? Where have
they been? How will you make sure the
students know where they are going?
How will you hook students at the beginning of
the unit?
What events will help students experience and
explore the big idea and questions in the unit?
How will you equip them with needed skills and
knowledge?
How will you cause students to reflect and
rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing,
revising, and refining their work?
How will you help students to exhibit and selfevaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and
understanding throughout the unit?
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize
the learning plan to optimize the engagement
and effectiveness of ALL students, without
compromising the goals of the unit?
How will you organize and sequence the
learning activities to optimize the engagement
and achievement of ALL students?
They just finished reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They are about to start the
Othello unit. After they finish reading Othello, they will begin writing a literary analysis essay in
which they will explore race in both of these texts.
On the first day of the Othello unit, we will do some small, improvised performances about the
dynamics between men and women in relationships and what happens when jealousy and other
people become part of the picture. By doing this, the students (10th grade adolescents) will be
able to connect their own life experiences with major themes and occurrences in Othello.
See Othello unit calendar for a detailed view/list.
Almost daily homework assignments in their Othello logs where they reflect about and respond
to material we discussed/explored in class that day. Class discussions will also allow them to
rehearse/try-on their thinking as well as continually synthesize and revise their thinking based
on what their classmates share/discuss. Finally, students will have four full days to write, revise,
and rehearse their translated scripts that they’ll be performing (performance assessment #1).
Almost daily homework assignments in their Othello logs as well as class and group discussions.
ADD
See Othello unit calendar for exact sequence of activities and lessons.
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)
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