University of North Alabama Lesson Plan Template

Lesson Performing Shakespeare Through Comics Grade: English 9

Title: Date: TBD
CCRS Standard(s):
4. Analyze how authors use characterization, connotation, denotation, figurative language, literary elements,
and point of view to create and convey meaning in a variety of texts

Individual Education Plan/504 Goal(s) and Benchmarks specific to this lesson (as directly indicated on
the plan):
For students with physical impairments, students
This template will serve as the official lesson planning document for the college. The categories within the template
represent the minimum requirements of a lesson plan and the rubric score will be based off those categories. Additional
categories may be added by faculty, staff, or the cooperating teachers.
Strategies
Daily Lesson By the end of the lesson, students will be able to construct a comic to analyze how
Objective(s) Shakespeare uses language to create and convey meaning in Romeo and Juliet.
Objectives are
measurable and
aligned with the
standard.

Introduction to After completing an act of Romeo and Juliet, to introduce students to the activity,
Lesson/ students will be asked what the purpose of a comic is. Students will then be shown
Activating Thinking an example of a comic and will be asked to identify specific elements that contribute
***Use knowledge of to the interpretation and overall meaning. Out of the elements, students identify
students’ academic, (expressions/gestures, coloring, word choice, bubbles, panel borders, letter font,
social, and cultural etc.), students will be asked to discuss what elements are shared with a
characteristics to meet performance (Think-Pair-Share). The purpose of the discussion is to have students
diverse needs. draw on their prior knowledge of the strategies an author uses to convey meaning in
a text, while also explaining how comics can be used as a tool to aid them in
interpreting a text by translating the author's meaning.
Body of Procedures:
Lesson/Teaching Transition into Groups (3 min). Students should be organized into groups of 3-4
Strategies by a numbering system. Each group should be instructed to choose a different key
Body of Lesson/ moment from the act. Have one student from each group indicate the section they
Teaching Strategies choose on the board.

Group Work (20 min). Instruct students to work in their groups to identify and select
a key moment/section of dialogue from the act that they think is important and to
create a comic. Each student is expected to make one panel of the comic on a
half-sheet of paper, and, at the end, all the panels should work together to
collectively translate their chosen section. Each panel must have an illustration and
at least 2 lines of dialogue.

Share (10 min). Ask each group to present their completed comic strip and have
each group member explain the decisions that went into creating their comic panel.
Students should be prompted to explore the following questions while presenting:
● Which key moment/dialogue did you choose to adapt, and why?
● What are some of the interpretive choices you made in your performance?
● What insights does your comic offer/suggest about the original text?
● What was your process for creating the comic?
 Prompt the rest of the class to discuss their interpretation of the scene vs. the groups’
Materials/Technology Materials:
Copy of Romeo and Juliet
Half-sheets of copy paper
Color pencils/markers
Technology:
Document camera
StoryboadThat (as accommodation)
Closure/ Ask students to share some of the elements they were able to better interpret after
Summarizing making their comic and why drawing the scene out aided in their understanding of
Strategies: the act? What are some things they did not understand before that they do
understand now?

Have students complete an exit slip briefly summarizing the act and highlighting at
least one element Shakespeare uses to create/convey meaning in Romeo and Juliet
(encourage students to further explain an element they represented in their comic
panel).

Assessment/ 1. Individual Comic Panel: In groups of 3-4, each student will be responsible for
Evaluation completing one panel to create a 3-4 panel comic strip. Each panel must have a
title, an illustration, and 2 lines of dialogue. Students will be assessed on the full
completion of their panel and if it furthers the meaning of the group comic as a
whole.

2. Exit Slip: Students will be asked to complete a brief exit slip, summarizing the
scene analyzed and highlighting at least one element used to convey meaning. The
exit slip will be used to assess how well the comic strips helped students better
understand how Shakespeare created and conveyed meaning in Romeo and Juliet.

Reflection By depicting a scene from Romeo and Juliet through a comic, students are able to
break down the Shakespearean language into a format they are more familiar with,
allowing them to more easily interpret the text and construct meaning. Personally
creating the comics will make students conscious of the decisions Shakespeare
makes to convey meaning, for every decision they make in constructing their comic
will contribute to the class’s interpretation of their scene. Creating a comic also
gives students a similar experience that performing a scene would, for as Anelise
Farris explores in her article, “Representation as Performance: Shakespear in
Comics,” like performances, comics prompt students to engage in visual
interpretation—promoting both visual literacy and the construction of knowledge
(560). .