Characters For Hire:

A Midsummer Night’s Resume!

 

 

 

“Higher for Hire, how can we help you?”

-Baloo, from Disney’s Tailspin

 

Shapespeare’s Lesson Plan 

 

Name: Matthew L. Sommer                                        Date:   June, 2005                               Age/Grade Level: High School

Subject: Literature                                           # of Students: 25-30                           # of IEP Students: None

Major Content:  Shakespeare                         Unit Title: Characters for Hire!  

 

ACTIONS

 Goals and Objectives-

Through interaction with the characters of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a deeper understanding of the characters is possible.

Students will:

• gain knowledge of the historical and social context surrounding the setting of the chosen play.
• apply information from other characters, noting the context in which the character is speaking and the reliability of the character, to discover additional information about their chosen character.
• compile disparate and/or unconnected information about the chosen character into a coherent format (the resume).
• learn appropriate resume techniques.

 Connections-

All standards correspond with those published on the NCTE website, found here.

1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

2 - Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

KY-KERA-1.      Students are able to use basic communication and mathematics skills for purposes and situations they will encounter throughout their lives.

 KY-KERA-1.1     Students use reference tools such as dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias, and computer reference programs and research tools such as interviews and surveys to find the information they need to meet specific demands, explore interests, or solve specific problems.

KY-KERA-1.2     Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

KY-KERA-1.3     Students make sense of the various things they observe.

KY-KERA-1.4     Students make sense of the various messages to which they listen.

KY-KERA-2.      Students shall develop their abilities to apply core concepts and principles from mathematics, the sciences, the arts, the humanities, social studies, practical living studies, and vocational studies to what they will encounter throughout their lives.

KY-KERA-2.19  Students recognize and understand the relationship between people and geography and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.

KY-KERA-2.20   Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspective.

KY-KERA-5.      Students shall develop their abilities to think and solve problems in school situations and in a variety of situations they will encounter in life.

            KY-KERA-5.3     Students organize information to develop or change their understanding of a concept.

KY-KERA-6.      Students shall develop their abilities to connect and integrate experiences and new knowledge from all subject matter fields with what they have previously learned and build on past learning experiences to acquire new information through various media sources.

KY-KERA-6.2     Students use what they already know to acquire new knowledge, develop new skills, or interpret new experiences.

KY-KERA-6.3     Students expand their understanding of existing knowledge by making connections with new knowledge, skills, and experiences.

 

 

Context-

This activity combines the discussion of characters and plot events within “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with a study of the “real-life” activity of creating a resume.  Through the creation process, students will work with the assigned text, coming to a deeper understanding of the characters, limits of the time period, and choices characters make. (NCTE 1, 2, 3,)

 

Parallel to this, they will be learning how to make a resume, a life skill they will most likely have to employ upon graduation.(NCTE 4)

 

Through usage of reference materials and the internet, the creation of student work will prepare them for real-life situations while engaing them with the materials t hand. (KERA 1, 2, 5, 6)

 

The dual nature of this lesson makes it perfect for covering a lot of material in a short amount of time.

 

 

 Resources-

• Copies of the play the class is reading
• Internet access to appropriate sites
• Access to a word processing program
• Writing Resumes for Fictional Characters Student Interactive

 

 Procedures-

Preparation

1. Each student will have read A Midsummer Night’s Dream prior to this activity
2. Determine student accessibility to workstations with Internet connections or secure the use of a presentation system connected to a computer with Internet accesses.
3. Preview and bookmark Web sites from the Web Resources below as well as other favorites on drama and business writing.
4. Test the Writing Resumes for Fictional Characters Student Interactive on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Day One

1. Explain to students that they will be preparing a resume for one of the characters in the drama they have just read.
2. Discuss resumes, perhaps using some of online templates as guides. Be sure to cover questions such as the following:
• What is a resume?
• Why are resumes used?
• What information does a resume convey?

 

3. Students will complete this activity individually.
4. Have students choose a character to investigate and jot down preliminary notes they can recall about their characters.

Day Two

1. Introduce students to the resources available for research on their characters, relying on both print and Internet materials. An Internet sites such as http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/ is a good place to start. This would be a good class session for students to work in the library, where they have access to a variety of resources. You may also ask your school librarian to share materials with students.
2. If desired, use the Writing Resumes for Fictional Characters Student Interactive to highlight the requirements of character resumes.
3. Give students the entire period to do background research to discover such information as the customary education of a Roman official or the type of women’s education available for the time period when the play takes place.

Day Three

1. Discuss the difference between direct and implied information presented in the drama. To provide an example without exploring a character that students are using for their projects, you might talk about what is directly stated about the setting of a play and what is implied by the characters' comments and the stage directions.
2. To prepare students for their search through the text, remind them of the notation system typically used for Shakespearean plans: ACT in uppercase Roman numbers, scene in lowercase Roman numbers, and lines in Arabic numbers (e.g., III, ii, 3-6).
3. Have students explore the text for supporting information, direct and implied, making note of what they find using the notation system.

Day Four

1. At this point, students have gathered enough information to create a draft of the character's resume.
2. By searching http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/, students can choose a job for which their character is qualified.
3. By the end of this session, ask students to revise their draft into a final resume, tailoring the resume to meet the job description provided in the vacancy announcement.

 

 Student Assessment-

The teacher will informally assess each student at the time of group presentations.  This allows any struggling student time to improve his or her work.  (Students who are struggling with the assignment may qualify for an extension.)

 

As a formal assessment, using the grading rubric, students will be graded on the outcome of the character’s resume, the personal resume, or both using the attached rubric.

REFINEMENT- Not prepared at this time.

 IMPACT- Not prepared at this time.

 

 Reflection/Analysis of Teaching and Learning-

Not prepared at this time.

 

 Lesson Extension/Follow up: 

  Not prepared at this time.

 

 

Some of the information for this Lesson and Unit was supplied by Read-Write-Think.  The original lesson is available here.