My ninth-grade honors student are reading “Romeo and Juliet” and so this is the only drama we use in ninth-grade English. We talk a lot about a lot of different things like vocabulary, drama terms and what the differences are between a drama in reading and watching a drama versus a traditional type of text.

Dramas are meant to be watched or performed, and not just read in a book, so it’s really important to me to try to give students an opportunity to actually act things out. When I was in high school, my “Romeo and Juliet” unit was a little bit boring. We did watch the (Franco) Zeffirelli version from the 1960s and I use some clips from that version, but there are more updated ones that also use the text that the lines are pretty closely related. I like to use the version that has Hailee Steinfeld and (Ed) Westwick, because the kids recognize those actors, and that brings a little bit of an element of excitement. I think, too, that Shakespeare is really hard, and a lot of the time when you say, “we’re going to read ‘Romeo and Juliet’” – that because it’s a traditional ninth-grade coming-of-age text that fits with our curriculum – kids kind of get disheartened and say, “it’s too hard, it’s too difficult, I can’t do it.” I think trying to bring in as many ways to make it fun and exciting, and still a challenge for them is a really good way for them to grow and feel more confident because they can do something hard.

One of my favorite things we normally do is make them memorize the prologue, so that on the first day of reading, we can read together and analyze the prologue and figure out what it actually means, and that gives them a little bit of confidence right at the start of the play.

Like today, we’re focusing on Act 3, Scene 1, which is the major fight scene of the play and the climax of the play, so I brought out some foam swords and let them act out that scene in particular. Anytime you give ninth graders foam swords, they are always going to be super excited about it and you get a lot more volunteers to read parts, and so I think that makes it a little bit fun for them. I think, too, in the beginning of the unit I gave a (presentation) about the renaissance and Shakespeare himself and the time in which he was writing. It’s a very different time period and I think some of them get interested in some of the things we talked about in that presentation. I tell them that Shakespeare was writing about things that are still relevant today. We still talk about the same themes and feel the same emotions – jealousy, anger, revenge, love – and all of those things that are present are valid human emotions we go through as part of the human experience. I think once you approach it in that way, the kids have a little more buy-in and recognize there is something they can connect with.

It probably helps, too, that I make it weird or fun by trying to introduce some costumes. This year I dressed up as Shakespeare for that presentation, and last year we were on block schedule and dressed up in three different costumes … so that also gets them a little excited and realize that it doesn’t have to be all serious.