ELA UNIT PLANNING
UNIT: __Subtleties in Hamlet___________________
TIME FRAME: ___5 days__ TEACHER/GR:Jarrell/Honors English IV______
Unit Summary and Rationale:(Outlines the components of the unit and the reasoning for their inclusion):
Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be seen and experienced, not read silently. It is important to view adaptations of Shakespeare’s works to fully
understand the subtleties in his language and character development. While viewing Kenneth Branugh’s version of “Hamlet,” students will
conduct a few close readings of the play in order to discuss the ambiguity and wide interpretation of his language.
UnitConnectionCollege and Career Ready Descriptions: Teachers will select at least one of the following lenses to act as the overlay for the unit. These are the
descriptors that must be included to ensure the unit is fully aligned to the CCSS and relevant to the college and career ready student.
Students will demonstrate independence.
Students will value evidence.
X Students will build strong content knowledge.
 Students will respond to the varying demands of audience, task, and discipline.
X Students will critique as well as comprehend.
 Students will use technology and digital media strategically and capably.
X Students will develop an understanding of other perspectives and cultures.
Unit Standards: Teachers should list the standards to be addressed within the unit.
Reading
Literature _X_ Informational Text___
RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough
textual evidence to support analysis
of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the
text, including determining where
the text leaves matters uncertain.
RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more
themes or central ideas of a text and
analyze their development over the
course of the text, including how
they interact and build on one
another to produce a complex
account; provide an objective
Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
W.11-12.2 Write
informative/explanatory texts to
examine and convey complex
ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the
effective selection, organization,
and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and
participate effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts,
and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
L.11-12.1 Demonstrate command of
the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3
Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, wellchosen details, and wellstructured event sequences.
SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of
information presented in diverse
formats and media (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) in order to make
informed decisions and solve problems,
L.11-12.2 Demonstrate command of
the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
L.11-12.3 Apply knowledge of
language to understand how
language functions in different
contexts, to make effective choices
summary of the text.
RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the
author’s choices regarding how to
develop and relate elements of a
story or drama (e.g., where a story is
set, how the action is ordered, how
the characters are introduced and
developed).
RL.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they are used
in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the
impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including words
with multiple meanings or language
that is particularly fresh, engaging, or
beautiful.
RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s
choices concerning how to structure
specific parts of a text (e.g., the
choice of where to begin or end a
story, the choice to provide a
comedic or tragic resolution)
contribute to its overall structure
and meaning as well as its aesthetic
impact.
RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which
grasping a point of view requires
distinguishing what is directly stated
in a text from what is really meant.
RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple
interpretations of a story, drama, or
poem (e.g., recorded or live
production of a play or recorded
novel or poetry), evaluating how
each version interprets the source
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent
writing in which the development,
organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience. (Grade-specific
expectations for writing types are
defined in standards 1–3 above.)
W.11-12.6 Use technology,
including the Internet, to produce,
publish, and update individual or
shared writing products in
response to ongoing feedback,
including new arguments or
information.
W.11-12.7 Conduct short as well
as more sustained research
projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated
question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry
when appropriate; synthesize
multiple sources on the subject,
demonstrating understanding of
the subject under investigation.
W.11-12.9 Draw evidence from
literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and
research.
W.11-12.10 Write routinely over
extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision)
and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range
of tasks, purposes
evaluating the credibility and accuracy
of each source and noting any
discrepancies among the data.
for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when
reading or listening.
SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital
media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio,
visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding
of findings, reasoning, and evidence and
to add interest.
L.11-12.4 Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiplemeaning words and phrases based
on grades 11–12 reading and
content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
SL.11-12.6 Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and tasks, demonstrating a
command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.
L.11-12.5 Demonstrate
understanding of figurative
language, word relationships, and
nuances in word meanings.
L.11-12.6 Acquire and use accurately
general academic and domainspecific words and phrases, sufficient
for reading, writing, speaking, and
listening at the college and career
readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
text.
RL.11-12.10 By the end of grade 11,
read and comprehend literature,
including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 11–CCR text
complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end
of the range.
Essential Questions: Essential questions center around major issues,
problems, concerns, interests, or themes relevant to the classroom.
Essential questions should lead students to discover the big ideas.
They need to go beyond who, what and where. They need to lead to
the how and why.
How can Shakespeare’s language be read differently depending on
the emotion of the reader and the differing emphasis on specific
words?
How can those who watch “Hamlet” draw inferences into his inner
turmoil?
Big Ideas: These are what students will discover as a result of instruction
and learning activities. They are the main ideas of the learning, the
conclusions, or the generalizations. Big Ideas should be open-ended and
apply to more than one area of study.
The meaning of most lines in Shakespeare’s plays can mean different
things depending on how they’re read. Much meaning is derived from the
director and actor, rather than the original writer.
Much of the action in the play “Hamlet” begins as an inner struggle and
then begins to emerge and hurt other people. This is a subtle change that
happens throughout the play.
How would you change specific scenes in order to convey the best
meaning possible from Shakespeare’s words?
Learning Targets: What should students be able to do by the end of the lesson?
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Students will know the basics of the Elizabethan Period and the life of Shakespeare
Students will become comfortable in reading and analyzing a Shakespearean text
Students will learn the plot line of “Hamlet”
Students will analyze Shakespeare’s subtle language and ambiguity of meaning
Students will create their own scene using Shakepeare’s words with their own spin on them
Learning Tasks: Teachers list the various tasks students will engage in throughout the unit, include use of media/other forms of information.
Reading Tasks
•Assimilate prior knowledge
•Summarize
•Infer
•Analyze story/literary elements
and text structures
•Explain personal connections
•Identify and interpret figurative
language and literary devices
•Analyze author’s purpose
Writing Tasks
•Develop a clear visual aid with use
Standard English
•Use text to support arguments
•Write reflective responses
•Compose compare/contrast
responses
•Edit student work (self and peers)
Discussion Tasks
Language/Vocabulary Tasks
•Work in pairs/small groups to
identify key ideas
•Predict, infer, explain director
choices in other versions/productions
of the work
 Perform scene from Hamlet
•Complete a running vocabulary list of
unknown/confusing words
•Use parallelism in writing
•Employ proper capitalization and
spelling
•Edit student work (self and peers)
Assessments: List types of assessments that will be used throughout the course of the unit.
*If you do not have assessments for this unit, they should be created before moving on to the lesson design*
DIAGNOSTIC
FORMATIVE
SUMMATIVE
Journal Entry on previous knowledge
PowerPoint Presentation on WebQuest
Shakespeare WebQuest
Watch “Hamlet” while taking active notes on
the style of delivery and emphasis in language
Read a few pre-selected scenes and compare
them with the way they were shown in the
movie
Socratic Seminar on ways Branugh did well
and things the class would change in the
production of Hamlet
Create an original scene, using Shakespeare’s
script, and perform it for the class.
Tickets in/out the door
Text(s) Selections/Resources(generated by both teacher and student)
Teachers will list the genres/titles/resources for study and indicate text complexity:
The Shakespeare WebQuest can be found by going to: http://mjarrellenglish.wikispaces.com/Resources
And clicking on “Shakespeare WebQuest”
“Hamlet” can be found in the book room
The movie “Hamlet” with Kenneth Branughcan be found on amazon.com
Worksheets are available upon request