S+Steinhagen,Kelly+Michele

**Office: 210** **Office Phone: 207-699-8111** **Office Hours: 1:00-2:00** ** E-mail: kelly.steinhagen@maine.edu **
 * Teacher: Ms. Steinhagen**

=Summary of Unit= Welcome to the Globe, for we are going to begin delving into the world of Shakespeare by reading his play //Hamlet//. In this unit we will be studying Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Students will understand various aspects of the play and how they tie together to create themes. Throughout the unit, we will focus on three questions: Why is this an example of a tragedy? How do characters, symbols, and motifs affect theme? How do the characters relate to each other? Through focused readings, creative writing, role-playing, and multimedia projects students will have a deep understanding of the meaning of Hamlet. There will be a final project that asks students to finalize their interpretation of a characters and create a podcast as if they were interviewing the character and relating him or her to a specific theme.

=Establish Goals= Maine Learning Results: English Language Arts A2- Reading Literary Texts. "Hamlet". Grade 9-Diploma Students read text, within grade appropriate span of text complexity, and present analysis of fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry, using excerpts from text to defend their assertions.

= = =Students will understand that= •Shakespeare is modern English. •characters, symbols, and motifs affect the theme. •Shakespeare uses a variety of literary devices.

= = =Essential Questions= •Why is this an example of a tragedy? •How do characters and symbols add to the theme? •How do the characters relate to each other?

= = =Students will know= •Vocabulary; soliloquy, iambic pentameter, aside, tragedy. •Terminology; motifs, symbols, dramatic irony, comic relief, fatal flaw. •Critical details; The time-line of the play, how characters relate to each other, all the literary devices used.

= = =Students will be able to= •describe the types of literary devices used. •make sense of the character's inner/external conflicts. •adapt the language so that it is even more "modern". •analyze what the symbols are/analyze characters. •can role-play with accurate character portrayal and understanding. •recognize the similarities between the language of then and now.

**Performance Task Overview** The world famous Shakespeare Globe's touring company is looking for new employees to join the crew on their tours around the world. The next major play is //Hamlet//, which is a tricky play but luckily you are an expert on its themes! They are willing to pay an expert on the play's characters and themes $60,000 plus traveling expenses, and its a chance to see the world! Your task is to create a podcast where you interview two to three characters about a specific event/situation that happens in the play, and have them respond according to how you interpret the characters. The podcast must represent thorough understanding of the characters involved and solid evidence of a theme.

=Expectations=
 * Things must be turned in on time**: Since this is a senior class and you are preparing to go to college or into the military or to work, I expect that you will be timely and efficent with your work. Homework assignments and small projects must be done by the due date, unless there is an extenuating circumstance. As for essays and longer projects, you must make an appointment with me if you need more time. You must be able to explain why it is not going to be complete on time and how you plan to have it done by the date we decide.
 * Classroom attidue:** Please come to class with a positive attitude. I understand that everyone has bad days, so feel free to tell me that it is just not a good day and I will understand. I will still expect respect and attention to the class.
 * Extenuating Cicumstances**: If something occurs and you unexpectedly miss one or multiple days of school, then you need to email me and let me know if there is some sort of emergency and how long you will be out of class. Also include in the email the amount of work you have left and if it is feasible for you to complete it prior to returning to school. If not, we can make an appointment to make a plan for accomplishing work.
 * Academic Expectations:** The school has a defined code of conduct and what constitutes plagarism. If I find plagarism in your work, I will report it to the school and follow the schools handbook.
 * Absent/Late:** The class will have assigned partners that they can communicate with outside of class to be informed of the missed work. They can also make an appointment to see me if they need more help. Students are given two days to complete the missed work, or an additional day on projects that may have been assigned that day. Late; Student must turn to table partner and be filled in on what has already happened in class. If they need more information, they can see me at lunch or during office hours.

=Benchmarks=

Total points possible: 190

• Online character journals. (30) ---Students will choose a character from the play. They will then complete five journal entries. The journal entries are to be creative interpretations of the characters within appropriate details and must mention important events that the character experiences. These writings will then be posted on the students' blog. In groups, students will share their writings along the process. • Xtra-normal movie of a scene. (25) ---Students will be working in pairs and they will choose a scene from these choices: Act 1, scene 5, Act 3, scene 1, or Act 3, scene 4. Then, the pairs will depict the key factors of the play, whether is it a conflict between characters, events that occur like a death, or an important conversation. After creating a script or a graphic organizer of what they will say, students will create the actual Xtra-normal video. • Creative writing involving literary devices and posted on blogs. (30) ---Students will work in groups to identify the different literary devices with specific examples that Shakespeare uses. Following this in-class assignment, students will creatively write their own examples of using the literary devices and figurative language. They will need to represent five different literary devices, but they can choose to write one short story using all of them, or multiple poems to specify one, etc. Students can also choose to write a song or any other creative writing format that would allow the student to depict the literary devices. After this is done, they will be required to do video blogs and read or sing what they wrote. • Comic life of a dramatic scene. (25) ---Students will know how to use their interpretations of characters, symbols and motifs and come up with major themes of the play. They will use a flow-chart to map their ideas out. Students will then brainstorm in groups the pivotal scenes in the play. Individually, students will create a Comic Life that depicts a particular scene of their choice. •iMovie of a modernized conversation between two characters. (30) ---Students will know how to read Shakespeare as easily as modern texts. They will use a goal-design graphic organizer to distinguish the characters in the scene they choose to use. Students will work in groups, depending on the size of the class and the scene choices/how many characters the scene includes. Students will transform the scene into modern English, and possibly condense the scene to key points, and then make an iMovie of their re-written scene. • Reading Quizzes (10) Students will complete reading quizzes that demonstrate comprehension. These quizzes will be created online at quizlet.com, and even though the quizzes will be receive an online grade, it will not be recorded for grades. For homework after finishing the quiz, students will go to the class wiki and post one-three questions that they got wrong. They will also be required to post on another student's question that they got right and explain their though process. ---Students will be given a task that brings the entirety of the unit into the real world. The students will create a podcast where they interview one character about his or her role in the play, including specific events that he or she is involved in, and have them respond according to how you interpret the characters. The podcast must represent thorough understanding of the characters involved and solid evidence of a theme.
 * Final Product: Podcast interview with a character. (40)

=Grading Scale= **A** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76), **C-** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59).