Today I started thinking about what I wanted to give students as we read. My goal is that they don’t trip up over the plot, but can focus on Shakespeare’s language. I also wanted to create something that my struggling readers could refer to while reading (or preview before reading a scene). I still need to chat through all of this with my team teacher, but I’m thinking about giving the following three handouts to my kids as a packet:
(1) Romeo and Juliet Timeline — Using Shakespeare’s Navagator’s Romeo and Juliet Chronology, and various scene-by-scene summaries on-line, I put together a timeline/summary of the play.
(2) Shakespeare Glossary — I created a handout based on this one that I found last night. I’ll most likely add to this before photocopying it for the kids.
(3) Character Map — I’ll be using this character map from CliffsNotes. (I’ve also recreated this as a huge poster that will be hanging up on the wall in our classroom.)
My Year with Shakespeare 