One way of doing this is with close reading. In such cases, it’s easiest to focus on and analyze key scenes and acts while summarizing the rest. Unfortunately (fortunately?) today’s busy schedules don’t often allow time to teach the entire play. Throw in a song or two some early Taylor Swift is always a good option, even if she does get the ending wrong (could lead to some good discussions on artistic license?)īam! “Analyzing various mediums” – check.
Time permitting, watch both and compare and contrast the way both directors tackle the play. But by the end, they’re all yelling at the screen as Juliet wakes up just as Romeo drinks the poison. My students always laugh at the graphics and somewhat over-the-top theatrics and pretend they’re too cool for it. Plus, a young Paul Rudd (Ant Man to any Marvel fanatics) as Paris and Harold Perrineau as a carefree, cross-dressing Mercutio? Sign me up. The modern setting mixed with the original language makes for an entertaining mashup. (She also fast-forwarded through the wedding night scene, which, looking back, I can’t entirely fault her for). I still remember watching it in my 9th grade English class, and the outrage we felt when our teacher turned it off right as Juliet realized Romeo was dead. My personal favorite is the 1996 version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the titular characters. There are countless adaptations of this timeless love story (although, should it really be held as the paragon of romance? Food for thought.)Ī quick Google search will reveal a plethora of options. Besides, Shakespeare was meant to be seen, not just read. We also know that many students are visual learners. Pointing out the side notes in the No Fear version and watching the light bulb go off as students realize just WHAT was being said between Sampson and Gregory in the first scene is always interesting. (Side note: They also have No Fear Versions of pretty much every Shakespeare play).Īlso, let’s be honest. Teaching Romeo and Juliet online? Just share the link. I do still hit some of the highlights in the original (the balcony scene just loses something in “translation”) but use the No Fear version for much of the play. If you’re not familiar with this series, it has the original on one side and the modern on the other. Perhaps the easiest way to hook and engage your students is through modern adaptations – whether written or visual. So what do we do? Keep reading for Romeo and Juliet lessons to use with low-level readers. Many of them struggle with reading comprehension to begin with, so tackling every scene of every act in the original English would be torturous for us all. Much of my experience has been in the special education resource classroom. With the wide variety of learners in most of our classrooms, that method wouldn’t work anyway. We all know, however, that students aren’t interested in just sitting through a reading – especially of something as potentially heavy as Shakespeare. 2 seconds to process WHY Juliet’s still warm? Plus, they love to call out Romeo on his fickleness and stupidity. And because many of my students have at least some knowledge of the basics, they don’t get lost in the plot – meaning we have more time to dig into the good stuff. While it’s not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays (I’m more of a comedies gal), its universal themes make it a good introduction to Shakespeare. After years of teaching it, I basically have my Romeo and Juliet lessons on lock.
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