Fall 2015

Lesson Plan 1
Length 40-60 minute class period
Three Week Unit on Much Ado About Nothing
Content Area Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words
and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a
sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to read and decode the primary text of Shakespeare's Much Ado About
Nothing. Students will be able to interpret/ make meaning from the text, considering the language
and language play.
Language Objective(s):
Students will read the text to themselves.
Students will speak the text aloud.
Population: Students are 10th graders at a suburban, private school. The neighborhood is
predominately middle-class and a majority white, though about 30% of the student body identifies
as something other than whitemostly African-American or Hispanic. There are roughly as many
male students as female students, though the ratio varies from class to class.
Rationale: Ben Johnson famously penned, He was not of an age, but for all time! Shakespeare is
important for high schoolers to study for many reasons. He had such an influence on the English
languageinventing roughly 2,000 words, crafting some of the most beautiful poetry and prose in
the language, and proving he was a master of sound, wit, and words. Reading Shakespeare is a
mental exercise and allows students to grow in their ability to read language and make meaning
from it, though the style of English is different from their own.
Activities
Pre-Reading/Literacy (~10 min)
1) Teacher will discuss pertinent information from previous act:
Who are the characters? What has happened with Claudio and Hero thus far? What about with
Beatrice and Benedick? What is Don John scheming?
2) Teacher will assign students roles to read (or they will volunteer) and will make sure everyone
knows who their character is.
During Reading/Literacy (~35 min)
3) Students will read aloud Act II
4)Teacher will interject every once in a while with pertinent comprehension questions such as:
How does Don John trick Claudio? Why does Claudio believe Don John?
How does Benedick react to his conversation with Beatrice at the Masquerade?
What are Benedicks friends scheming to do?
What are Don John and his entourage scheming to do?
Post-Reading/Literacy (~5 min)
5) Teacher will show Kenneth Branaghs performance of Benedicks Love me! soliloquy
(depending on how far the class made it reading, this may be a recap of what was just read or a
preview of what is to follow next).
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yk_QqPFOWU starting at 3:50]

6) Teacher will assign whatever was not finished in class as homework along with the reading
comprehension questions (some of which were discussed in class)
Materials:

Much Ado About Nothing texts

Paper/ pencils for underlining or taking notes
Projector
Internet access

Evaluation/Assessment:
Teacher will informally evaluate understanding of the language in the most basic form based on
how students read. A more in depth evaluation of the content of the text will be assessed by in class
discussion and comprehension questions. These questions will be graded on completion, not on
correctness, but the answers students provide will allow the teacher some knowledge of how much
they understand at least the basic plot points and characters. A final written assessment and tests
and/ or quizzes may be used as the basis for more formal assessment.