Multimedia Lesson Plan: Romeo + Juliet

Mr. Simon-Joseph Querimit
9th grade English
Literature: William Shakespeare plays
Lesson Time: 5 weeks (50 minute classes)

Analyze Learners

Number of Students: 25
Gender: 14 females, 11 males
Age Range: 14-17 years old
A majority of students are visual learners, and respond better with hands-on activities.
Two students, one male and one female, are labeled as SPED students.


State Objectives

1. Students will read the final act of Romeo and Juliet together in class.
2. Students will take part in a class discussion on how to modernize the story of Romeo and Juliet.
3. Students will watch the modern and latest film update of the play, Romeo + Juliet (dir. Baz Luhrman, 1998).
4. Students will be divided into groups of five, and together, they will write a modern version of the final act.
5. Students will film their scripts using digital cameras or camcorders.
6. Students will use the classroom computers to upload their footage onto the hard drive as well as a flash drive for storage.
7. Students will edit their footage into a short film using the Windows Movie Maker program.
8. Students will show their short films using a laptop and an overhead projector.
9. Students will present their short films in class.


Select Media, Materials, and Methods

1. Glencoe Literature text with Romeo and Juliet
2. DVD: Romeo + Juliet (dir. Baz Luhrman, 1998)
3. Television set
4. DVD player
5. Computers with internet capabilities, Microsoft Movie Maker, and Microsoft Word
6. Digital cameras or camcorders
7. Flash/ USB drive
8. Laptop (provided by teacher)
9. Overhead projector


Utilize Media, Materials, and Methods

1. Students will use the text to read the final act of Romeo and Juliet.
2. Students will watch the modern film version of Romeo and Juliet using the DVD, the DVD player, and the television set.
3. Students will use Microsoft Word to transcribe the final draft of their script.
4. Students will use the digital camera and/or digital camcorder to record their footage from their script.
5. Students will use Microsoft Movie Maker or any other film editing programs to create a short film.
6. Students will store the footage and the short film itself on the hard drive of the computer as well as a flash or USB drive.
7. Students will present their short films using the laptop and overhead projector.


Require Learner Participation


Week 1

1. Students will read the final act of Romeo and Juliet in class.
2. Students will watch the modern film version of Romeo and Juliet.
3. Students will discuss the different ways to modernize the final act of Romeo and Juliet.


Week 2

1. Students will be divided into five groups of five students.
2. Students will write a rough draft of their modern interpretation on the final scene.
3. Students will write and type out their final draft of the final scene using Microsoft Word.

Week 3 and 4

1. Students will film their modern version of the final act using a digital camera or camcorder.
2. Students will edit their footage using Microsoft Movie Maker or any other film editing program on their computer.
3. Students will transfer their short film onto a flash or USB drive.
4. Students will save the short film onto the hard drive of the computer.

Week 5

1. Students will present their short films using the teacher’s laptop and an overhead projector.
2. Students will turn in the rough draft and the final draft of their short film.


Evaluate and Revise

Student Performance

The lesson will help students understand the changes that have occurred in society from the era of Shakespeare to modern times of today. The students will learn to apply technology in their assignments to better enhance their learning experience of Romeo and Juliet.

At the same time, students will sharpen their reading and writing skills as they put their final project together. The assignment will help students tap into their creative and thus, imaginative side.

Teacher Performance

The lesson will help the teacher evaluate whether or not the students understood how society has changed over the years despite the play’s timeless theme of forbidden love and inevitable tragedy. The teacher will be able to distinguish what worked and what didn’t, and modify the lesson if it is carried out the following school year.


Media Effectiveness

Using the DVD player and TV to show the modern version of Romeo and Juliet is meant to give student ideas on how to give Romeo and Juliet a modern ending, i.e. guns instead of swords. Students will learn to use digital cameras and camcorders to film footage. They will sharpen their skills in filming and editing using Microsoft Movie Maker. Students will become proficient in using the computer since they will be using programs such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Movie Maker, as well as the hard drive and flash/USB drive to store data.

Modern Times Call for Modern Romeos and Juliets

As a second-year emergency certified teacher, it’s refreshing to discover a lesson plan format as detailed and organized as the ASSURE lesson plan. Because emergency certified teachers don’t actually get any real formal training in the field of education, we are often thrown into the job, learning everything about the job on our own.

There are many things that you end up learning on your own: how to record attendance, how to issue admit slips, how to manage your classroom, etc. However, no one ever tells you how to read an IEP report, how to make a syllabus, or how to effectively construct an amazing lesson plan. Those things require much research as well as seeking guidance from teachers who possess years of teaching experience under their belts.

Fortunately, if you’re willing to go the extra mile to learn all these things, you can succeed. The first year may have been difficult, but the mistakes and experiences acquired have shaped me into an ever-improving educator. As I entered my second year of teaching, things became more fluid as I learned how to navigate through the world of teaching. Yet, I am far from knowing everything; I am far from being the best teacher in the world.

Apparently, lesson planning with these strict guidelines isn’t easy. A lot of thought goes into planning the lesson, especially when you have to incorporate technological aspects into your lesson. The assignment does, however, coincide with the NETS*T standards: “Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teachers design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners” (NETS*T standards, para 2).

The assignment was something new to me and a bit challenging because I had never heard of the ASSURE lesson plan before, and I knew nothing about the format. However, what really made the assignment difficult was trying to incorporate a lesson in my content area (English) with the Microsoft Excel program. I decided to stick to my original idea: analyzing what themes were dominant in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and comparing it to five films that share similar themes and story lines.

The general public is most definitely familiar with Romeo and Juliet (there are four American film versions alone), but many truly do not understand how modern and relevant the story continues to be over the past few decades despite its old-English prose. I decide to bring that to light with the lesson that I had planned. Using modern technology as instructional tools in is a true testament to a teacher’s commitment in enhancing curriculum in today’s classroom. Better put, scholars such as David Wizer and Patricia Ryan see great potential in the up rise of technology: “We see these future teachers as conversant with a robust range of technology and media that will enhance teaching and learning of content and communications with future students.”





Works Cited.


NETS*T Standards 2008. Alta Vista. Retreived April 17, 2009, from http://www.iste.org


A Standards-Based Technology Integration Path at Towson University. Dogpile. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from
http://www.citejournal.org/vol4/iss1/general/article4.cfm

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