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This Week's Teaching Discussion: I'm asking you to, first, pick a popular YA text. My rule of thumb was if a movie had been made out of it, it's probably popular. That's not the only rule, but it's not the worst one. It gives you the choice of any Harry Potter Book, all of Twilight, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson even. There are probably many, many others.
THIS WEEK'S CLASS: You are teaching a 9th grade College Prep English class at Bridgewater/Raynham high school. You are working with a class of 35 students: 34 students are white, 1 student is Cape Verdean, 19 are female, 16 are male, one male student is openly gay. The BR pass rate on the 10th grade MCAS is 84%. Roughly 85% of the students in your class come from a household where at least one parent has some college education. You have two students in your class whose parents are on the faculty at Bridgewater State University. You have limited access to technology in the classroom, but your students have access to computers, phones and the internet at home. You can familiarize yourself with the school here. THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: It's 9th Grade and you know what that means: Wherefore art thou Romeo--and Juliet, of course. R&J is one of those texts you can't get out of teaching if you are teaching 9th Grade English. Shakespeare, of course, always presents challenges in the classroom (for instance, for me, a play where 14 year olds sneak off, get married, and then kill themselves, but that's just me). My challenge to all of you is to consider a popular YA text and think about how you could use that to help students really value and think about Romeo & Juliet. How could the one text serve as a bridge to better, richer, more useful understanding of the other? What cool things could you do? And, as always, what might be the joys of this plan? What might be less joyous?
41 Comments
Savannah Resendes
2/13/2020 10:08:47 am
Romeo and Juliet are the inevitable feat of 9th grade English classes, but it is hard for students to relate to the old timey language and really understand the meaning of this classic. In terms of modern YA literature, you can find the trope of a “forbidden love” in many different stories. The first that comes to mind personally is Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. In this story you get a girl, Maddy, who is forbidden to leave her house for the fear of dying because her mother has convinced her that she is allergic to almost everything. A new boy moves in next door, Olly, and they end up falling in love, as young people do in these types of stories. This new love brings Maddy to the conclusion that she needs to venture outside of her house and finally meet Olly, but her mother will not allow it as she could potentially die. Maddy, being the rebellious teen she is, sneaks away with Olly on a trip to Hawaii where, in fact, she almost dies. Then they get a happily every after as Maddy realizes she wasn’t allergic to the world, but her immune system was severely underdeveloped, and she had caught a cold. This sort of forbidden love can be seen as similar to the forbidden love story that Romeo and Juliet have. The sequence of both stories follows a similar trend: Boy and girl meet, fall in love, are forbidden to see each other, they do it anyways, death (or almost death in Everything Everything). If I were to teach this novel alongside Romeo and Juliet, I would have students make a Venn Diagram to visualize the similarities and difference between the novels as they read. I would then have the students watch the movies side by side and write in notes when Olly is having a total Romeo moment or Maddy is embodying Juliet. I feel it would be interesting to see what the students would have to say about these movies. One thing I am slightly worried about is the female students of the class may totally enjoy these girly love stories, but the male students might not be that into it, but who knows. I also might worry that the books might not be read at all as students now a days read less and less, but one can only hope.
Jailyn Tavares
2/13/2020 01:54:25 pm
Hi Savannah! I have never heard of the book but you really have made me want to read it in the future. This novel can totally help students understand the "forbidden love" aspect that appears in Romeo and Juliet. Both sets characters in the novel have this conflict where they are unable to be with each other for their own reason which as a result, leads death or a potential death. I also would have students compare and contrast the novel I chose as a bridge to Romeo and Juliet. I feel like by doing this they are able to do some close reading in the novels and find what really makes them similar and what makes them different.
Lauren Melchionda
2/14/2020 10:24:48 am
HI Savannah,
Jailyn Tavares
2/13/2020 01:57:41 pm
Romeo and Juliet is a play that I think we can all agree is a bit dramatic. Why would you kill yourself over someone you just met a few days ago, not even knowing if they were actually dead? While the play is extremely iconic and read by almost everyone in 9th grade English, it does have its downfalls in regard to how things would actually be in reality today. The book I would choose to help the students understand this is The Fault in our Stars. In this text, Hazel and Augustus or “Gus”, are the two main characters in the story. Hazel has lung cancer and Gus is a survivor of osteosarcoma. When Hazel ends up in the ICU Gus never leaves her side. She knows she is going to die but Gus refuses to leave her. Unexpectedly, Gus reveals his cancer has come back and has spread everywhere and realizes his life is coming to an end. When Gus dies at the end of the novel, Hazel doesn’t go and kill herself. She simply rejoices in the memories and time she has with him even though it was short. When Gus thought Hazel would die in the ICU he didn’t go killing himself to be with her on the other side. This novel will lead to the discussion of a compare and contrast on Romeo and Juliet ad Hazel and Gus. What are some more reasonable and realistic things Hazel and Gus did that Romeo and Juliet didn’t do? Or how are the two couples alike in their sense of love for one another while having some sort of conflict that jeopardizes their relationships. I would want these students to understand why Romeo and Juliet did what they did, but I would also like them to realize why is isn’t something as realistic as the story of Hazel and Gus.
Shauna Ridley
2/13/2020 02:54:54 pm
Hi Jailyn,
Olivia Leonard
2/16/2020 12:09:47 pm
Hi Jailyn! I really liked your discussion questions. I think comparing Gus and Hazel to Romeo and Juliet would be really engaging for young students. I like how you suggest they pick what is reasonable verses what may not have been. Making them understand what is reasonable verses what may not be is a good exercise for their brains. I think it also would be interesting to consider why reading Romeo and Juliet as a play makes it more reasonable to be dramatic compared to a novel like the Fault in our Stars. Great job!
Olivia Sweeney
2/24/2020 09:58:17 am
HI Jailyn! I too picked this novel before even posting mine and seeing what works everyone picked and I'm so glad you have the same views I do of how great this book would be in a 9th grade ELA class! I truly believe that this novel would be great for students in today's society as the love story in The Fault In Our Stars is more relevant to student's today far more than Romeo & Juliet will ever be.
Shauna Ridley
2/13/2020 03:04:20 pm
Harry Potter is a popular text that could help students to better understand Romeo and Juliet because of its more modern take on a similar problem. Ninth grade is the beginning of students' angsty years and is best to teach these novels for the concept of making reasonable choices/actions and knowing what is right isn’t always easy. At a very young age Harry has lost his parents but it is love that protects him and keeps him safe through the years. Harry, and the other characters he relies on, have realized that love is what they are fighting for and that Voldemort's actions are done out of hatred. Although he is a powerful force to fight against it is the right thing to do. In Romeo and Juliet the two kids recognize that love is more important than hate so they create a plan which shows how wrong it is to fight out of hatred instead of uniting over love. Each event the main characters encounter in the novel prove the journey to be hard but know that they are fighting for what is right. To bridge the two together I’d have students compare events across a timeline. The students would have to explain how each event is similar or different and explain why. Such events might include Harry finding out about his past/what he is in for as opposed to Romeo finding out Juliet is from a rivaling family and what they do. How did each character react? Were their actions appropriate under the circumstances? As a class we would discuss the answers to the questions. Then individually rewrite a part of the story changing the rationality or irrationality and explaining why we changed it. During this exercise students will be able to see how opposing plot lines can have similar features and hopefully will be able to relate the unfamiliar to the familiar in future experiences. I also feel that these books would appeal to both genders in the classroom.
Jessica Rinker
2/13/2020 03:07:44 pm
*Disclaimer: This YA book is not as popular as Harry Potter or Hunger Games, but I feel it has a lot of value and should be more popular!
Olivia Sweeney
2/24/2020 10:01:56 am
I absolutely love that you chose this book! I totally forgot about this book, but when I read your comment I definitely can see how this could be used in a 9th grade ELA classroom. I also love your incorporation of potential journaling and how you would give students certain prompts. What you said about the notion of this being a "hate story" is a very unique approach and spin on your outlook of these works, and definitely would open a great potential to use Beast in an ELA classroom alongside Romeo & Juliet. I really enjoyed your post and how you think this novel would be useful to use in an ELA classroom!
Jess Rinker > Replying to Shauna Ridley
2/13/2020 03:20:40 pm
Shauna, I love that you chose Harry Potter because I don't think I would have ever understood its connection to Romeo and Juliet otherwise! You're right that at their core, both stories are love vs. hate! You mention that Harry Potter would appeal to both genders, which it absolutely does, but I think there's an even greater appeal that you are focusing on a story that is about love amidst families, friends, and the love of doing the right thing. Expanding it beyond just the romantic love makes it so much more accessible and could really help students understand the deeper lesson of love and hatred in Romeo and Juliet. I love that you want students to be able to connect what is familiar and unfamiliar, and a reflective piece of writing or a class discussion could go a long way toward encouraging that.
Lauren Melchionda
2/14/2020 10:18:00 am
Romeo and Juliet was a classic that we all had to read in high school. When reading it, I myself tried to picture a more present day novel to help abetter understand the concept of Romeo and Juliet. Now that I am older, I can easily put a present day popular book to Romeo and Juliet in ways that they are very similar. This book is John Green’s “The Fault In Our Stars.” (By far my favorite book and favorite movie ever). In this book, Hazel Grace is a 16year ld girl who has thyroid cancer and she meets a boy who is 17years old named Augustus Waters. Once she meets him, he totally turns her life around for the better. They fall in love, and both Hazel and Augustus along with Romeo and Juliet share some allusions when it comes to their relationships such as when they first met, Juliet was very hesitant because they had fallen in love in just a few short days, and Hazel was hesitant as well, wondering why this boy was staring at her from across the room at her Support Group. Romeo and Juliet do get married a day after meeting, and Hazel and Augustus do not do that because that would be crazy, but they do something else. Augustus and Hazel get the OK from her doctors to let Hazel travel, and Augustus takes her to Amsterdam, where they realize how in love with each other they are. When teaching this to my classroom of 9th graders, I know the girls would love it, but I would be nervous about how the boys would feel about this book choice. To get them interested in this read, I would obviously show them bit and pieces of entertaining (important) scenes form the movie, hoping that will get them the least bit interested. I could also have them compare and contrast Romeo and Juliet from The Fault in Our Stars as well. This novel is most likely to teach some very good lessons, even when the kids do not realize it. Some of these lessons would be that you illness does not define who you are, sone things may never work out how you imagine them to and that is OK, and most importantly, experience as much as life possible because YOU matter!!
Maddie Butkus
2/14/2020 02:20:54 pm
While there is simply no escape to having to teach 9th grade students Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, there is a way to make this reading a bit easier for students’ to understand. A modern YA text that can similarly relate to Romeo and Juliet is the novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I know this may seem far-fetched at first but hear me out. Romeo and Juliet are apart of a forbidden love affair where at the end of the novel, Juliet kills herself thinking she would rather die and be with Romeo than live in a world without him. Juliet herself made a point to both the Montague and Capulet families that love should prevail all things. In The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss are thrown into an arena with two players from every district to kill one another till only one is left victorious. Towards the end of this novel, Peeta and Katniss both decide to try to die together, ultimately to prove a point to the Capitol that these games need to stop. While they did not end up going through with this plan, since the Capitol decided there could then be two winners from the same district, their point was still in the process of being made. When teaching this novel alongside Romeo and Juliet, I would have students compare the love story betrayed in both as well as the major points they either did or were trying to make. I would also want them to point out how and why love either prevailed in The Hunger Games but ultimately failed in Romeo and Juliet or vice versa. In order to help students get a better understanding of each text, I will not only show clips from each film but also encourage students to look up scenes on their own at home. To keep things organized, I would have students write all of these aspects out in a chart which they would be able to continuously fill out before, during and after reading both works. It is with these charts that I would have students get into groups to discuss their findings and thoughts with one another and thus write down any aspects they might have missed or not picked up on. I would also hold multiple classroom discussions, bringing all of our thoughts together while writing them on the board. I feel as if trying to teach Romeo and Juliet will always be a challenge no matter what you can compare it to, but my hope is that by comparing it to The Hunger Games, it will make it just a little bit easier for my students’ to comprehend. I do believe though that The Hunger Games will make all my students engaged and interested when reading since there is both a love story and battling throughout.
Gabrielle Sleeper
2/15/2020 12:36:02 pm
Hi Maddie!
Savannah Resendes
2/15/2020 02:24:17 pm
Hi Maddie! I will admit that upon reading your post this week I was a but skeptical with the comparison to the Hunger Games at first, but after reading your whole post it does make a lot of sense. What I did and what most people think in relation to Romeo and Juliet is the romantic love story, but there is more to the story than just the forbidden love aspect. There is rebellion against the Montague and Capulet households and learning that love is stronger than everything. In the Hunger Games, Katniss is making a big statement in her performance in the Games and she is basically starting a rebellion herself. There is a lot more in common with these books than I originally thought. I really enjoyed your comparison and thinking outside of the box.
Maddie Butkus Replying to Jailyn Tavares
2/14/2020 02:32:58 pm
Hey Jailyn! I truly believe that The Fault in Our Stars is a great YA novel to help 9th grade students better understand Romeo and Juliet. The love that is shown within both texts can easily be compared both with similarities and differences so that students can break down each text even further. I think that it was important that you mentioned that students must realize that what happened in Romeo and Juliet is not as realistic as the story of Hazel and Gus. Going as far as to kill yourself to be with the one you love does not seem like a good trait to teach to young 9th grade students. Additionally, you made a point that I did not even realize myself but I do believe is very helpful. By having such a large class, there will be an abundance of different view points when comparing and contrasting that will develop a wide variety of both classroom and group discussions!
Ethan Child
2/14/2020 08:29:30 pm
Romeo and Juliet is a commonly read play in 9th grade English classes, and, as such, it is many students’ first exposure to Shakespeare. Educators must, therefore, handle this delicately, as they have the potential to either introduce students to some of the best-written literature in the English language or to make them hate it forever. Romeo and Juliet too often gets written off as a silly play due to its depiction of young characters who take their own lives for ostensibly frivolous reasons. Yet students and educators alike are guilty of not taking this play seriously for the same reason that many YA novels are not taken seriously today: people tend to dismiss the validity of young people’s angst. Let’s not forget that Juliet is not only upset because her love for Romeo is forbidden; she is also being forced to marry Paris. In this sense, Shakespeare criticizes the practice of arranged marriages that were the norm in his society. Romeo and Juliet are not foolish lovers but, rather, are rebels who are aware of the social institutions that they are acting against. Moreover, they are victims of a society that governs, dictates, and shames love. For an educator to dismiss these characters as nothing more than naïve is dangerously problematic in the high school English classroom.
Justin Carpender
2/15/2020 03:45:19 am
Hey Ethan!
Justin Carpender
2/15/2020 03:30:17 am
Hey Everyone!
Ethan Child
2/15/2020 07:27:02 am
Justin,
Gabrielle Sleeper
2/15/2020 12:27:53 pm
I think that a book that could pair really well with Romeo and Juliet is Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young. Now, I am cheating just a bit, as this book is very new (released just last year), but Young is a New York Times best selling author, and this novel is already being discussed quite a bit. Of course, the use of this text would have to be done rather carefully, as there are a couple not so school appropriate scenes (although current consensus is that everything is PG-14). However, the novel deals with current gender issues quite well and has such an important message that I think that the challenge of handling less appropriate moments is quite worth it. Romeo and Juliet is often written off as quite silly and the main characters are described as dramatic, but I think it is important to encourage our students to take a step back and look at the big picture. Think about how pressured Romeo and Juliet are to follow whatever it is that their family tells them. Encouraging students to trace various characters’ motivations and consequences is an important assignment to include when teaching this play. This unit would definitely have a lot of character maps and cause and effect diagrams.
Gabrielle Boutin
2/15/2020 03:04:53 pm
Hi Gabrielle! I really like your discussion post. I really liked how you focused more on the characterization than the actual plot of Romeo and Juliet. Melodrama is a huge aspect of YA literature and exploring that in a lesson related to Girls with Sharp Sticks (I love Suzanne Young by the way) would be a great idea. I think the emotions that Romeo and Juliet go through when trying to hide their love and the emotions that the girls go through when trying to behave in a certain way would be similar. I think trying to be something other than true to yourself is an emotion that many young adults go through and struggle to understand. Both of these texts would do an amazing job of helping the readers understand this feeling. On the other side of things, I think that young adults are exposed to a lot more than people think and I think that young adults would benefit from talking about it. So I think that pushing the boundaries on what they read (obviously within reason) wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Gabrielle Boutin
2/15/2020 02:06:35 pm
Hey everyone! The YA novel I would choose is called Beastly and it is written by Alex Finn. I loved reading this novel because I am a sucker for fairytales and it is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I think one of the pros of teaching this novel is that it is a modern version of a classic story. Everyone knows the story of Beauty and the Beast, just like everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet. I think that could be a cool play on the lesson: writing down everything the students know before reading it. The other reason I would use this novel to build a bridge to a better understanding of Romeo and Juliet, is because in Beastly, the main characters are from two different worlds (the boy is a handsome, popular, and rich snob who was put under a spell by a witch that made him ugly and the only way to break the spell was for someone to fall in love with him) and the girl is from a poor neighborhood who was very shy in school. I think this novel would be incredibly relatable to 9th graders because it is filled with cliques and high school stereotypes. However, the two main characters fall in love despite being from different social circles or financial backgrounds. Romeo and Juliet fall in love despite being from different social circles. I think one of the biggest challenges when teaching high schoolers is keeping the reading material relevant. I remember being a student and always asking the question, “Why are we reading this? What is the point?”. So I think that it is important to always try and make connections between the text and the readers, especially young adult readers. When reading classic texts, it is important to make connections and to show young readers that the problems, plots, characterizations, etc. are timeless.
Natasha Cardin
2/16/2020 04:17:28 am
Hi Gabrielle! I really liked that you addressed the "What's the point of reading this" question. I think that that's a common question when it comes to students reading in high school. Especially when students might struggle to understand the text. By drawing parallels between Beastly and Romeo and Juliet might help them better understand why we read the classic literature. Also, I too love Beauty and the Beast stories!
Caroline Keenan
2/15/2020 03:41:53 pm
A popular YA text that I would have students read to help them value Romeo and Juliet before or after would be The Fault in Our Stars. I know that when I was in ninth grade this book and movie was so popular and I never really thought how it could be connected to Romeo and Juliet until now. Some similarities between The Fault in Our Stars and Romeo and Juliet is that when Augustus and Hazel first met there was no love at first sight. Similarly in Romeo and Juliet their love was not at first sight either especially for Juliet, she was very hesitant at first to even kiss Romeo. Hazel and Juliet are presented with some of the same feelings throughout, they both feel isolated and helpless. Augustus really helps hazel to not feel alone and down about herself, he makes her feel beautiful every day even with all the changes her physical appearance has gone through since dealing with cancer. Romeo also makes Juliet feel very happy and helps her to not feel lonely. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet realizes that her relationship with Romeo is going to get very difficult when she is told that he has banished and she may never see him again. In The Fault in Our Stars Hazel realizes that her relationship with Augustus would get a lot harder once he told her that his cancer had spread and was back and stronger than before. Both of these stories end in tragedy but I think they are both important because it shows how people deal with tragedy. Romeo hears about Juliets suicide and kills himself, once she finds him dead she kills herself. In The Fault in Our Stars when Augustus dies Hazel grieves differently. She is thankful for the amount of time she got to spend with Augustus even when fighting cancer and she was also thankful and grateful to have got to spend so much time with Augustus while cancer was fighting in her body. The Fault in Our Stars would be a great story to see some of the same parallels, yet different emotions and types of grieving. These stories would give lessons about love, tragedy, and grief, it would also help to inform students about certain health conditions. If you wanted to give another viewpoint and make it fun the teacher could also present the students with both movies and see the similarities and differences throughout.
Molly Drain
2/16/2020 07:40:30 am
Hi Caroline,
Natasha Cardin
2/16/2020 04:10:46 am
Teaching Romeo and Juliet to a classroom full of 9th graders is going to be tricky. However, connecting it to a novel they are familiar with can make it a bit easier. The Twilight trilogy might be able to bridge the gap for the students. I think that in teaching Romeo and Juliet, you could draw parallels between the two texts. Both texts have at the center, a forbidden love. The first Twilight novel revolves around a normal girl, Bella Swan, and a vampire, Edward Cullen. The two are not meant to be together, even though they grow to love one another. As the trilogy continues, there are outside forces telling them that they should not be together; Bella believes that Edward has died, and the werewolves are determined to keep them separate. The majority of the class is female, but Twilight was such a popular YA novel, that most of the students have likely had some exposure to it. In class, we could read Romeo and Juliet together, discussing the key ideas and making sure that the students understand what is happening in the text. While reading Romeo and Juliet, for homework the students could read Twilight and then in class we could discuss the two, how they are alike- the forbidden love, how they are different- mythical characters, etc.
Caroline Keenan
2/16/2020 06:26:03 am
Hi Natasha!
Molly Drain
2/16/2020 07:34:46 am
Romeo and Juliet for a ninth-grade class could present its own challenges, especially since it seems to be from a world so different from our own. I would pair the text with a more recent tragic love story perhaps The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This story equally rips your heart out and stomps on your every hope and dream, but at least its set in a time period that kids these days can feel a connection to. Both are stories that end in the death of one of the characters, one by killing themselves and the other through sickness. However, there is a lot to cover here on the topic of love and all of the questions you as the teacher will get. It might be important to introduce these texts at the same time, perhaps use The Fault in Our Stars as a “light” or “fun” read for the class as opposed to Romeo and Juliet which might be a harder read specifically just for the language. I feel as though you could build off of each story some charts to show theme development and character development which would allow for comparisons between the texts. I wouldn’t say that technology not being available would be a big issue, I would say that if the teacher has a computer that can project I would show little clips perhaps of each story as you go along just so the students have something they can connect a name to, sometimes it makes it easier to understand as well. I think without the digital viewing of at least Romeo and Juliet, it will be hard for the students to understand the time period and what it was like to perhaps be in love when there was no other form of communication than letters or real-life interactions. I feel like the no technology aspect is something that would be hard for high schoolers to understand since they are often surrounded by it every day.
Becky Tynan
2/16/2020 07:46:06 am
My bridge text to Romeo and Juliet is called Evolution, Me and other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande. The American Library Association chose Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature as one of the Best Books for Young Adults 2008. Kirkus Reviews chose the novel as one of its recommendations for Young Adult Reading Groups. The novel was also nominated for the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award,] the Connecticut Nutmeg Awards for 2013, and is a Utah Beehive Young Adult nominee. I read this novel pretty close to when it was released. I understand that it is 11 years old but R&J is much older than that and so…
Colby Nilsen
2/16/2020 08:09:30 am
Two books that I would consider teaching in parallels to each other are The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. The reason I would teach these as a pair is due to their tropes of love and racial tension. I believe it is important to learn about race and how black people were treated, it is especially important in this racially charged climate to understand the history of P.O.C in correlation to their encounters with Europeans. The Tempest is said to be located somewhere in the Caribbean and William Shakespeare wrote this around 1610, which when slave trading was becoming prominent.
Colby Nilsen (part 2)
2/16/2020 08:36:10 am
I believe the themes of being stuck due to one's familial situation is a good one to relate to in correlation Harry is forced to be locked under a stairwell when he is not at school, and Romeo and Juliet are forced to not go and see each other. This theme of families dictating ones life and the young adult breaking free from that is a prominent theme in each that holds weight and can be very liberating or hopeful for children who may feel trapped at home in a way of sorts. Young Adulthood can be quite oppressive, especially in a household that is not the most stable, or perhaps to controlling or opinioned over their child’s decisions. . For an opening exercise I would have them think of a time they felt like they were oppressed and what they wish they had could have done instead
Nicole Costa
2/16/2020 08:39:23 am
The text I would choose for a bridge text for Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet in a 9th grade classroom would be The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. For one, both the stories follow the love story of young lovers but in completely different time periods. As a way to help students understand the textual or literary plot of Romeo and Juliet, I would use the connecting point of time in the novels (yes, that’s Crowley's teaching in the back of my mind). Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of what I learned about Shakespeare in high school other than pure confusion on the paper. I wish I had more teachers like Crowley in high school so I could have understood and appreciated the material. Therefore, if I was teaching Romeo in Juliet in high school I would have to utilize his teaching methods. First, I would have a lesson on how time works against the characters in this tragedy and compare them to how time works (for a little while) in favor of Hazel and Gus's relationship, but eventually against it. For this lesson we could compare and contrast how the medium of drama differs from the novel.
Olivia Leonard
2/16/2020 12:04:10 pm
While I have come to love and appreciate William Shakespeare’s work, Romeo and Juliet was definitely a challenging read in my early years of high school. If I had to connect it to a more recent Young Adult novel I would probably choose American Royals. American Royals is about what America would look like if we had a royal family. However, what makes it a great bridge to Romeo and Juliet is the multiple forbidden love stories within in. The most scandalous is the budding relationship between the future queen and her bodyguard. Like Juliet, Beatrice’s parents expect so much of her (she too is expected to be a part of an arranged marriage) however, she develops feelings for a man who is not an “appropriate match”. Like Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and her bodyguard defy odds and try to pursue a relationship together. Yet, also like Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice is still expected to marry the man her parents have chosen which is where this first novel ends. If I had a class reading these two novels I would do a compare and contrast activity where they point out the key similarities and differences between the novels. I would also have them do a “what would you do activity” in terms of what Beatrice should do. Should she pursue this forbidden love like Juliet or follow her families expectations and marry who they have chosen for her?
Megan Shaughnessy
2/17/2020 11:40:09 am
Hi Olivia,
Samantha Colon
2/16/2020 06:48:21 pm
Teaching Romeo and Juliet to a class of 9th graders is going to be quite interesting. In high school, we never read Romeo and Juliet but making a connection with another popular text would probably be quite beneficial for students to better understand. A popular text that I would have the students read to help them better understand and bridge the gap for students would be the Twilight series, the first novel specifically. Even thought the class is mainly girls over guys and not as diverse the text is pretty popular and well known even if you haven’t read the book so it should not be a problem. Because Twilight was such a popular movie and book I am sure the class has seen or heard of the book and will be able to better understand the Romeo and Juliet because of it. In Twilight, Bella, a normal human falls for a vampire named Edward. The two come from different worlds and there love is forbidden and everyone is against the two being together because of the lives they live. This is just like Romeo and Juliet with the idea of a forbidden love that everyone around them is against. In class we could start with Romeo and Juliet and after discussing and reading the play together the students could watch Romeo and Juliet in class or parts of it to get a better understanding of both the time period and the characters. After for homework the students can watch or read twilight and prepare themselves to compare the themes and characters in both works in the next class period. In class we could talk in a circle or divide into groups to discuss the similarities and differences all together to confirm our understandings of the text.
Hannah Brodeur
2/17/2020 10:54:18 pm
Hi Samantha! I had never thought about including a text such as Twilight, but it could be very beneficial. The characters in both texts seem to go through similar issues and face many challenges. I also thought including both the text and play is very helpful. In many cases students might struggle reading Shakespeare as it is difficult. Also, by including other medias to present the text will also help students who might be English Language Learners. However, it might be helpful to include Twilight in the discussion a little more. Many students dislike reading Romeo and Juliet but if they already have Twilight in their mind while reading it, it might help them make connections and better understand the love story.
Samantha Colon
2/16/2020 06:57:15 pm
Hi Natasha,
Megan Shaughnessy
2/17/2020 11:32:19 am
Hi Everyone,
Hannah Brodeur
2/17/2020 10:53:50 pm
"Romeo and Juliet" is a text every high schooler has to read, however that does not mean they are always necessarily happy about it. Many times, when I have entered into classrooms to observe students, I see that they are not very interested in reading the text. However, if another text was brought in to bridge Romeo and Juliet, I believe it would be thoroughly helpful. The text I would bring in would be “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. This novel presents many themes and issues that relate to Romeo and Juliet. There are many characters who are experiencing difficulties with love, family, as well as death. Not only that but the text also displays really what it means to be a Young Adult novel. There are so many situations discussed through the text that individuals could relate to. I believe this novel could be used in many different contexts through lessons. For instance, one activity I could do with the novel would be small group discussions. I would have students pair up with about three students and discuss their thoughts on the themes just discussed. This novel could bring up many emotions for students, so I believe it would be best to not push full group discussions. Another activity I would do with students would be to have them research on their phones the culture surrounded around the main character Lydia. It would be beneficial for students to understand the context around what occurs in the novel. An activity I would do after this would be to ask students to think about their own cultures. If what they do on an everyday basis somehow stems from their culture. I believe this text would be very beneficial to bridge the gap in the classroom because it would be more relatable for students. At times Romeo and Juliet feel so far away for students because they cannot feel the emotions. However, if a text such as “Everything I Never Told You” was there to compare it would help tremendously.
Olivia Sweeney
2/24/2020 09:54:02 am
If I were a 9th grade ELA teacher at Bridgewater-Raynham High School about to teach Romeo & Juliet, I know exactly which modern day YA literature novel I would incorporate in my lesson plan for my student’s to understand the overall concept of Romeo & Juliet in a more modern sense. The novel I would choose is John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, specifically as this novel is a modern day young adult love story in which the characters truly have to overcome difficulties in their lives. This novel would be a more modern work of YA lit that the majority of the students would definitely have a great understanding of. For the class that I would have in this scenario, it will be a great novel for all of them to read and take away several key concepts from. This novel faces the difficulties these two young teens are faced with as they both have cancer, and life is by no means easy for either of them. Similar to Romeo & Juliet, these two young lovers also face a big difficulty as their families simply despise one another and do not approve of their relationship. Although Hazel and Augustus, the main characters in John Green’s novel are close and their parents have no issue with it, it is a great example of a present day situation that is difficult for two teens. They both are experiencing a difficult challenge in life with their illnesses, but they do not let that hold them back from experiencing the true meaning of life and their relationship with each other. A cool activity students could do with this novel after reading Romeo & Juliet is to simply read the novel as a part of class, if time allows it, and simply have great class discussions and a relaxation day in which students watch the film adaptation of John Green’s novel. This novel is great for today’s society, as Romeo & Juliet is clearly extremely outdated and does not accurately portray a teen relationship in today’s current society. Although Romeo and Juliet both do not have an illness, they have to both overcome a humongous adversity with their families to be with one another, as Hazel and Augustus simply try to just enjoy one another’s company and not let their illness get in their way. It is such a bittersweet and heart breaking young adult love story, but it is far more relevant to today’s present time that students would relate to far more than they would to Romeo & Juliet. This will definitely be a more exciting work for students to read than Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet that so many high school students dread. This will also allow for several class discussions on this novel to compare and contrast in class hw similar and/or different these two works of literature are. Students could simply access the novel online through a virtual library that has the book available for free access, as well as copies the school would provide for each student. This will also open up room for a class discussion on which work of literature they preferred and why. Overall, this book truly opened my eyes as a young teen in high school and I think it would be a great work of literature to go alongside learning Romeo & Juliet. Leave a Reply. |
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