A Creative Take on Romeo and Juliet

Is your Romeo and Juliet unit as dusty as ancient Verona. Spice it up with this creative criminal investigation of the multiple murders that occur in this Shakespearean drama. Your students will become the investigative team as they search for textual evidence to build a criminal case. 

This project allows your students to become intimately familiar with the text and it's characters. They will have so much fun that they will forget they are dissecting the text.

Romeo and Juliet CSI

Explore African Cultural Traditions with a Tragic Hero: Things fall Apart Learning Stations

I have created 10 literacy/learning stations for the Novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This hero is almost Shakespearean in his tragedy, and an archetypal symbol for the human condition. 

The literacy stations explore textual evidence, cultural norms, characterization, and symbolism...just to name a few. 
This is an engaging and entertaining formative assessment. With a little preparation and careful instructions, students can rotate through several novel based activities with simply a “rotate” from the teacher every 9-10 minutes.

Check it out  Things Fall Apart Literacy Stations

I've created eight learning stations for the Holes novel. Holes: Learning Stations

Check out my new Mandala Project:
The Universal Mandala Project


This project combines the universal symbolism of the mandala with a creative way to represent the novel that your students are working on. 
The mandala in this project is divided into ten sections, but mandalas are often divided into eight or four. You can change your divisions to fit your project. Just keep it symmetrical (an even number). I’ve left the project as a word document so that you can alter it to fit your class.

In the same way that the symbol of the mandala is universal, this project is universally applicable to any text. I used it with The Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Teen by: Sean Covey, but it would also work with the hero’s journey in The Odyssey, the parts of the plot in “The Most Dangerous Game”, or the sequence of events in “Casey at the Bat”. The Mandala is the circle of life with a beginning and an end—all pieces of literature have this. 
I’ve included some pictures from our class project, and I would love for you to post some of your mandalas on my blog: http://thecrazyenglishteacher.blogspot.com/

Learning Stations are the way to go

Use learning stations in your final days of school to keep up their energy levels.

This is an engaging and entertaining formative assessment. With a little preparation and careful instructions, students can rotate through several novel based activities with simply a “rotate” from the teacher every 9-10 minutes.

Using stations with older students creates interest and adds engagement to any lesson. A student that was previously listless will sit up and take notice when asked to work as a team to accomplish several tasks in a timely manner. The stations are fast moving and usually produce a product. Upper level students enjoy the fast pace and high interest of station work. This activity takes a little planning, but when in process the educational component becomes a student driven learning experience.

Learning stations require a little preparation. Read the station instructions for the necessary supplies: markers, construction paper, computer paper, scissors, glue sticks, laptop or Smartboard, tape. Each one varies. If a station requires extra items I will note it with an asterisk at the bottom of the page.

Before beginning a session of stations I ask the students to leave any personal items on the outside edges of the room. I tell them that they will rotate in a clockwise direction when I give the call to switch. Walk around to each station and give a brief synopsis of what will go on. Let students know that anything they make should be taken with them to the next station. They should straighten up their current station before moving on.  This learning structure really lets the teachers become the facilitator and the student becomes the creator. It’s that 80% vs. 20% relationship that we all strive for.

Check out some of my learning stations:

Romeo and Juliet Literacy Stations

Poetry Stations for Middle School and High School

Night :Novel Learning Stations

How to survive the end of the year

Well, the end of the school year is fast approaching. My students are getting that glazed look in their eye that tells me they are thinking more about the beach(we live on the coast) than coordinating conjunctions. Excitement is in the air for freshmen, and the seniors have this sad teary eyed look. I can't tell if they are excited to jump out into the world, or if they are scared to death.

It's getting increasing more difficult to harness their attention. We had a full moon last week, and the craziness of the moon--plus spring fever almost did me in. So, it's time to re-evaluate the situation and go back in to battle armed with more than a piece of gum and suspension.

I'm paying closer attention to the length of my assignments and lessons. If I have them in the palm of my hand we will keep on truckin' through that last act of Romeo and Juliet. However, if I notice eyes start to wonder, mouths start to move, and attention start to stray; I'll shift into second gear and we will move swiftly into another highly engaging lesson.

My method of presentation will also stay limber as I work to keep their shifting eyes on the page at hand. I will mix up text with, audio, visual, and tactile exercises. Act I of Romeo and Juliet last week was capped with a video clip from the video, a demonstration of how to age your love letter assignment, and sprinkled with props from my closet for the readers to wear.

Movement will take center stage as we get closer to the end. I had my students stand up with their books to read their  parts in Romeo and Juliet last week. The front of the room became Verona, and they were walking around in it. They need to stay active to stay engaged.

I've have several tricks up my sleeve for next week. A sword fight will take place, we will venture into the capulet tomb, and we will stand on our chairs and play spelling elimination for a finale.

I think we are going to make---scratch that--We will soar above it.

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