CKLA Unit 2: The Tempest
Focus:
Unit 2, The Tempest, examines the play of that name by William Shakespeare. This version of The Tempest has been adapted for a modern, school-age audience. Students will identify and analyze the elements of a drama, such as characterization, mood, and theme. Students will also analyze dramatic structure and theatrical performance, and they will learn how to navigate Shakespearean language.
Shakespeare’s influence on the authors and playwrights who came after him cannot be contested. His plays are considered classics, tried-and-true stories that deal with timeless and universal themes, such as love, betrayal, friendship, and justice. They do so with great sensitivity and intelligence, and very often with humor, all of which are no less relevant to a present-day audience than they were to audiences in Shakespeare’s day.
Moreover, Shakespearean language is an invaluable treasure trove of words, puns, phrases, and references that has enriched and enlivened English to this day. By reading plays like The Tempest, students will realize just how many phrases, references, situations, and story lines date from Shakespeare’s time.
In this unit, students will practice verb tenses, subject-verb agreement and writing paragraphs. To strengthen their vocabulary, they will also learn Greek and Roman roots and affixes in the English language.
Students will work on morphology skills involving the Greek and the Latin roots bene, celer, chronos, cresco, curro, and jacio, and many English words in which those roots are used. Students will also write a dramatic scene in this unit.
Number of Lessons: 10
Instruction Time:
90 minutes (Each lesson is broken into 45-minute segments.)
Additional Search Terms:
motivation • blank verse • dramatic structure • chronological structure • character development
