Subject:
English Language Arts
Material Type:
Lesson Plan
Level:
High School
Grade:
11
Provider:
Pearson
Tags:
  • Grade 11 ELA
  • Performance
  • Shakespeare
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English

    Character Chart

    Character Chart

    Overview

    In this lesson, students will finish Much Ado About Nothing and see whether their predictions for how things end are correct. They will also complete their Character Chart and weigh in on what they think the topic and the theme of the play are.

    Preparation

    • Read the lesson and student content.
    • Anticipate student difficulties and identify the differentiation options you will choose for working with your students.

    Final Predictions, Please

    • Establish a time limit for writing to the Quick Write prompt.

    Opening

    The denouement!

    • Predict exactly what you think is going to happen in this last scene of the play.

    Open Notebook

    Act 5, Scene 4 Read Aloud

    • For this final scene, if you have been providing students with summaries up to now, do not do so for this scene. There is no need to spoil the action!
    • Prompt students to share some of their predictions, at least one for each major character or pair, and write them on the board. As the scene unfolds, refer back to the predictions as they are or are not borne out.
    • Cast the roles and begin the reading.
    • Stop only if absolutely necessary. By now, the students should be able to at least get the gist of things and get through the reading without stopping.

    Work Time

    Your teacher will assign the various roles for this scene. Please consider volunteering to read.

    • Begin the scene, with various students reading the roles of the different characters.
    • If you have questions or need clarification, wait until you have finished the scene.

    Act 5, Scene 4 Discussion

    • Allow students a few minutes to share with partners.
    • Facilitate a group discussion of the action of act 5, scene 4.
      • ELL: You can use this discussion to check in with pairs and make sure that everyone understands the resolution of the play.

    Work Time

    Discuss any problems or comments you have about this scene first with your partner and then with your class.

    • As you discuss in pairs, make sure to jot down any questions or comments you have so you can share them with the class.
    • Next, check in with your class. What do you think of the ending? What did your classmates notice? Can you help answer any of their questions?
    • Finally, was your prediction accurate? If not, what did you get wrong? Why do you think that was?

    Open Notebook

    Character Chart Final Edits

    • If necessary, allow students a few minutes to review and edit their Character Charts.

    Work Time

    At this point, your Much Ado About Nothing Character Chart may show that some characters changed over the course of the play. As you head toward your final assignments, think about who they are, how they changed, and why.

    • Return to your Character Chart and edit it for the last time.
    • Make sure you add all the final details about what the last scene in the play revealed.

    Topic and Theme

    • Students’ responses to this Quick Write can help you guide them toward other possible essay prompts.
      • SWD: For any students who may have difficulties with abstract thinking, you can review the definitions of “topic” and “theme” and how to understand and identify them.

    Work Time

    Complete a Quick Write that answers the following two questions.

    • What is a topic of this play?
    • What is the theme of this play?

    Open Notebook

    Submit your Quick Write to your teacher.

    Upcoming Assignments

    • Remind students of the expectations and due dates for these two projects, the line memorization and Prompt Book completion.
    • Make sure they understand that their Prompt Books are due on the day that they present.
    • Remind them that this class is the deadline for choosing a passage to memorize. The scene in which that passage takes place will be their Prompt Book scene.
    • If students are still having a difficult time understanding how a prompt book works, take this opportunity to create a class example. You can even refer to a film clip that aligns with a particular scene and consider what the prompt book that those actors might have used would look like.

    Closing

    Your teacher will re-explain your two upcoming assignments: your line memorization and presentation and your Prompt Book.

    • If you have any questions about these two ongoing assignments, now is the time to ask them.
    • By the end of this lesson, everyone in the class should have chosen a scene to perform.
    • Be sure you understand how the Prompt Book works. You will do a lot of the work for this project at home, so it’s important that you ask your questions in class.

    Dialectical Journal Completion

    • Have students finish their Dialectical Journal entries for homework. Tell them they need to submit them at the beginning of the next lesson.
    • Review the topic and theme Quick Writes. Choose a few really good ones about theme for discussion during the next lesson.

    Homework

    • Finish your Much Ado About Nothing Dialectical Journal entries for act 5. They are due at the beginning of the next lesson.
    • Be sure to take a look at your performance scene. You’ll be practicing it with a partner during the next lesson.