First and fourth periods began the unit on Romeo and Juliet by reading an informational text about why Shakespeare still resonates with today’s readers. We were working  with standard RI.9-10.3: “Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.”

Second and fourth periods continued work with with standard RL5: “Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.” We took the graphic organizers from last week and began using these as a foundation for a Schaffer model paragraph.

Second period’s paragraph, with me guiding/modeling and students provide input, was as follows:

The original plan was always to go into hiding with the Van Daans, but there are some small differences in the descriptions. In the play, Anne writes in her diary that “three other people are coming with us” (780). These three other people are the Van Daans, including their son Peter. In the play version, in fact, they arrive at the hiding place first. In the actual diary, she writes that “the Van Daans are coming with us” (13). In the diary, Anne’s mother goes to the Van Daans house to ask if they can go into hiding. This makes it sound like the Van Daans are in charge. Though there are some minor differences, the plan for hiding is the same in both texts.

Seventh period’s was similar:

In both the play and the diary, the original plan is to have the Van Daans join the Franks in hiding, but there are minor differences. In the diary, Anne writes that the “Van Daans are coming with us” (13). Anne’s mother has just gone to the Van Daans to ask if they can go into hiding. It seems like the Van Daans are the ones in charge. In the play, Anne says that “three other people are coming” to the hiding place with them (780). The Van Daans are already hiding, waiting for the Franks to arrive. The Van Daans don’t seem like they’re in charge in this scene. Though there are some differences, the accounts of going into hiding are generally the same in the play and the diary.

Afterward, students worked in pairs to begin creating second paragraphs in an identical manner.

Homework

• English I Honors: complete the work on “All the World’s a Stage, Ruled by Guess Who: Why Shakespeare Resonates With the Modern Age,” the article we read in class. This is partially online (available at this link) and partially pencil-and-paper.
  • Each group should start one discussion, title it “Group #” (obviously 1, 2, or 3 according to your group number), and include all discussion in that one thread.
  • Each student/group should enter their summary of the paragraph they worked on in class.
  • On a piece of paper (to be checked tomorrow), write a 3-5 sentence summary of the whole section, using your group’s previously shared summaries (see step two above) as a guideline. (In other words, it’s a summary of the summaries.)