1. English I Lesson Plans Third Nine Weeks Unit 3: Romeo and Juliet
Overview: Students continue their study of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet as they explore thematic topics and motifs in Act III.
Week of Mar 11 – Mar15

2. Monday, March 11 BELLRINGER: Today we will: You will need:
Take a copy of the Act III Guided Reading Questions from the tray, then take out your Guidebook Reader and prepare to begin class.
Today we will:
Complete Act III Dialectic Journal by listing motifs found in the text
Find evidence to support the motifs found in the text
You will need:
Your copy of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Guidebook Reader - Dialectic Journal (p. 58)
Pen and/or pencil

3. Review
Last week, we read and viewed Act III of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. We began recording motifs from this act on the Dialectic Journal handout.
Today, we will continue to view Act III and record motifs in order to prepare for the culminating writing task at the end of the unit.

4. Motifs
Remember, a motif is a distinctive idea, image, word, or phrase that is repeated throughout a literary work.
Motifs in Romeo and Juliet include:
Love vs. Hate
Light vs. Dark
Youth vs. Old Age
Good vs. Evil
Celestial Beings (stars/heaven/moon)
Religion/Faith
Dreams
Time
“more light and light it grows” “come gentle night” “keeps thee here in the dark” 4

5. Viewing Act III Look closely for motifs that are present in the film.
We will stop periodically to record the motifs as we see them in the film.
Afterward, we will look at the specific scenes in which we noticed motifs and choose evidence to support our observations.

6. Finding Evidence
Look for quotes from the play to support your motif ideas.
Scene 1: Page
Scene 2: Page
Scene 3: Page
Scene 4: Page
Scene 5: Page
Make sure you properly cite the quote in parenthesis
(Romeo, )

7. Monday, March 11
HOMEWORK
Complete Act III Guided Reading Questions for Wednesday
Act III Quiz Wednesday!

8. Students are participating in
Tuesday, March 12
MORNING:
Students are participating in
Round Robin LEAP 2025 Prep
AFTERNOON:
Students will be allowed to continue to work on Dialectic Journal, Guided Reading or watch Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet.
Today we will:
Complete Act II Guiding Questions and Patterns of Language, Scene 4
Read Act II, Scene 5 & 6
You will need:
Your copy of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Act II Guiding Questions and Patterns of Language Handout

9. Tuesday, March 12 HOMEWORK
Complete Act III Guided Reading Questions (due tomorrow)
Act III Quiz TOMORROW!

10. Wednesday, March 13 BELLRINGER: Today we will: You will need:
Please take out your Act III Guided Reading Questions to turn in and retrieve your guided reading workbook
Today we will:
Take a quiz on Act III
Analyze and deconstruct the writing prompt for the unit.
You will need:
Your copy of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Culminating Writing Task handout (p. ??)
Dialectic Journals
Highlighters
Pen or pencil

11. Review
Monday, we completed the Dialectic Journal and the guided reading questions for Act III.
Today, we will take a quiz on Act III and then begin preparing for the culminating writing assignment by analyzing and deconstructing the prompt to give us a better understanding of the expectations of the assignment.

12. Act III Quiz ASSESSMENT
This is an assessment and counts as a quiz grade.
You will have only this class period to complete the quiz.
You must do your own work.
If you talk to a neighbor, you will receive a zero.
If you look at a neighbor’s test, you will receive a zero and be written up.
When you are finished, bring your test to the teacher and you may work on your Dialectic Journal for Act III

13. Analyzing and Deconstructing the Writing Prompt
Each group will be responsible for deconstructing the prompt
The Group Director will lead the discussion and record the changes to the worksheet
Each group will then share their ideas
Together, the class will create new class prompt

14. STEP ONE: Analyze the Prompt
Read the prompt carefully
Draw a box around any unfamiliar words or words for which you would like to substitute a synonym that is more familiar to you.
Highlight key words (words that are crucial to the task)
Circle action verbs and/or phrases (These are words that call to action or ask you to do something)
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?

15. STEP TWO: Deconstruct the Prompt
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?
Look up the words you boxed in a dictionary or thesaurus then write a synonym above each one.
Look closely at the highlighted key words – make sure you understand them; these words are crucial to the task and should be included in your thesis statement at the beginning and end of your final essay.
Now, look at the action verbs and/or phrases you circled – make sure you understand what is being asked. If necessary, rephrase these in a way that makes the most sense to you.

16. STEP TWO: Deconstruct the Prompt
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?
Look up the words you boxed in a dictionary or thesaurus then write a synonym above each one.
Look closely at the highlighted key words – make sure you understand them; these words are crucial to the task and should be included in your thesis statement at the beginning and end of your final essay.
Now, look at the action verbs and/or phrases you circled – make sure you understand what is being asked. If necessary, rephrase these in a way that makes the most sense to you.
Shakespeare
patterns or contrasts
in language
central idea
The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet

17. STEP TWO: Deconstruct the Prompt
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?
Look up the words you boxed in a dictionary or thesaurus then write a synonym above each one.
Look closely at the highlighted key words – make sure you understand them; these words are crucial to the task and should be included in your thesis statement at the beginning and end of your final essay.
Now, look at the action verbs and/or phrases you circled – make sure you understand what is being asked. If necessary, rephrase these in a way that makes the most sense to you.
Shakespeare
patterns or contrasts
in language
central idea
The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet

18. STEP THREE: Rewrite the Prompt
Rewrite the prompt (question) using your own words
Be sure that your rewritten version still makes sense and includes the key words/ideas from the original prompt
Be sure that you completely understand the rewritten prompt.

19. SHARE WITH CLASS
Send someone from your group to write the new prompt on the board in the appropriate space provided below
GROUP
REVISED PROMPT

20. On Your Own...
Complete Activity 1: Analyzing the Prompt on your Culminating Writing Task handout (p. ??)

21. Wednesday, March 13 HOMEWORK
Complete Activity 1: Analyzing the Prompt on your Culminating Writing Task handout

22. Thursday, March 14 BELLRINGER: Today we will: You will need:
Please retrieve your guided reading workbook and turn to the Culminating Writing Task handout.
Today we will:
Write a rough thesis statement for the culminating writing task
You will need:
Culminating Writing Task handout (p. ??)
Deconstructed, rewritten writing prompt
Dialectic Journals
Highlighters
Pen or pencil

23. Review
Yesterday, we deconstructed and rewrote the writing prompt for the culminating writing task.
Today, you will create a rough draft of the thesis statement for your writing task. You will have the opportunity to revise/improve your thesis before the final essay is due.

24. Writing Your Thesis Statement
Using the deconstructed, rewritten prompt from yesterday and your thematic statement (step four from activity one), construct a rough draft of your thesis.
Make sure to include the following:
Title of literary work
Name of author
Key words from the prompt
Theme of the text

25. Example of Thesis Statement
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?
In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare uses the motif of young vs. old in order to convey the idea that while young people tend to act impulsively with little regard to the consequences, they still possess passion, especially when it comes to love; whereas age yields wisdom but may also give way to passion.

26. Example of Thesis Statement
How does Shakespeare use patterns or contrasts in language to reveal a central idea in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ?
In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare uses the motif of young vs. old in order to convey the idea that while young people tend to act impulsively with little regard to consequences, they still possess passion, especially when it comes to love; whereas age yields wisdom but can also sacrifice passion.

27. Thursday, March 14
HOMEWORK:
Complete any unfinished class work

28. END OF 3RD NINE WEEKS RECORD’S DAY NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Friday, March 1
END OF 3RD NINE WEEKS
RECORD’S DAY
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS