Lesson Plan

Grade/Content Area 9th Grade Honors

English Language Arts
Lesson Title Socratic Seminar on Acts 1, 2, and 3 of Romeo and Juliet

Essential Questions:
 To what extent do you think fate plays a role in our
lives?
 What are the components of a tragedy, and how are
they used throughout Romeo and Juliet?
 Why is Shakespeare “timeless”?
 Do you believe in fate or making your own destiny?
 Do you believe the characters in this play act similar
or different to those in modern literature/society?
 How are Romeo and Juliet’s decisions affected by
others around them?
 Do you believe that Romeo and Juliet are “mature”?
 How do Romeo and Juliet change throughout the
play? Do they mature?

State Standards: CCSS: Reading 1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
GLEs/GSEs
Or Common Core CCSS: Reading 3. Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and
State Standards: relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how
the characters are introduced and developed).

CCSS: Reading 8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text,
assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify
false statements and fallacious reasoning.

CCSS: Reading 7. Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded
or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version
interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an
American dramatist.)

CCSS: Speaking and Listening 1a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched
material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts
and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of
ideas.

CCSS: Speaking and Listening 1c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to
questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively
incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.

CCSS: Speaking and Listening 1d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize
points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own
views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning
presented.

CCSS: Speaking and Listening 4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence
clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the
organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and
task.
 Context of the This lesson will follow the completion of our reading of Act 3
Lesson of Romeo and Juliet. Students will be given the class period
Where does this lesson prior to prepare for this Socratic Seminar. This will act as a
fit in the curriculum and summative assessment for the halfway mark for our Romeo
instructional context? Is and Juliet unit. Following the Socratic seminar, we will begin
it the opening of a unit reading Act 4 of Romeo and Juliet. Based on the responses
or a series of lessons? formulated by students during the Socratic seminar, I will
adjust my instruction accordingly for the next two Acts.

I am specifically looking for students to convey their

knowledge of plot, characterization, and themes from Romeo
and Juliet through responses that require critical thinking and
analysis of text.

Students have access to the questions below via Google

Classroom. They also have information on what qualifies as a
check mark on Google Classroom.

Possible Questions:
Is Romeo naïve? Is Juliet? If not naïve, what are they?

How would this story change if it were told from the

perspective of different characters?

Why can Romeo suspend his family name for Juliet, but will
also kill “for his family” the next day?

How do gender roles affect this play?

Do you think this story is being influenced by fate or by

freewill? Why?

What are examples of dreamers versus realists in this play?

How do you think this play will end?

Do the characters in the play care about the feud, or does

Shakespeare dramatize the feud?

Who really cares about the feud? What evidence is there?

Now that Tybalt is dead will this affect everyone’s opinions of

the feud?

What do you think would have happened if Romeo and Juliet

admitted their love to their families initially?
 Conflict solution vs. Conflict progression over time: Was
there a way to solve this feud?

How do conflicts become worse over time?

To what extent do you think fate plays a role in our lives?

What are the components of a tragedy, and how are they used
throughout Romeo and Juliet?

Why is Shakespeare “timeless”?

Do you believe in fate or making your own destiny?

Do you believe the characters in this play act similar or

different to those in modern literature/society?

How are Romeo and Juliet’s decisions affected by others

around them?

Do you believe that Romeo and Juliet are “mature”?

How do Romeo and Juliet change throughout the play? Do

they mature?
Opportunities to Plans to differentiate instruction:
Learn I am allowing students to utilize the class period prior to this
one in order to prepare for the Socratic seminar. Students will
be provided possible questions that will be posed during the
Definition: Materials,
Socratic seminar, they must use the class period to formulate
Learners and
answers and find specific line evidence to support their
Environments
answers. I am going to allow students to use their notes and
their copies of Romeo and Juliet during the preparation class
period. During the Socratic seminar students will be allowed
to use notes that they took during this preparation class period,
and their copies of Romeo and Juliet to help guide their
discussion.

Accommodations and modifications:

No formal accommodations must be made for students with
IEP’s or 504 plans. This is an honors ELA class, and given this,
there are few accommodations and modifications that are made
throughout the year.

Environment factors:
 This is a 9th grade honors ELA class with 28 students. The class
is made up of 18 female students and 10 male students. One
student has a 504 plan, and no students have IEP’s. Students
sit in five rows with desks facing the front of the room. For this
seminar, students will sit in desks that are in a circle.

Materials:
Copies of Romeo and Juliet
Notebook paper
Pens/pencils
Notes
Copies of Questions and check mark criteria on Google
Classroom
Phones for Google Classroom

Objectives The student will earn two check marks, a 100%, during the
Socratic seminar.
Opening:
“Red Robin (Students respond with “yum”, then they make eye
contact with me, stop speaking, and listen for further
Instructional
instruction.). Good afternoon everyone! Today we are going
Procedures to be having our Socratic seminar on Acts 1, 2, and 3 of Romeo
and Juliet. You should all have your notes from yesterday’s
preparation class period. You may use these notes and your
copies of Romeo and Juliet during the Socratic seminar. This
is a summative assessment for our halfway point through this
unit. This seminar is also to help you begin to formulate ideas
for your papers that you will be writing after we have finished
reading the entire play. I am going to assign a discussion leader
for this Socratic seminar.”

The role for this leader is as follows:

- Keep discussion focused
- If a topic is thoroughly discussed, the leaders chooses
someone to ask another question (this will not qualify
as a check mark)
- Encourage participation from all classmates
- Call on classmates who are hesitant but look like they
want to contribute to the discussion. The leader may
say, “Let’s give (blank) a chance to speak.”

(The leader that I chose for this discussion is a student who is

a positive role model within the classroom. Based on his STAR
scores and overall work within the class, he is slightly above
average. He is a great student, who is outgoing but not in an
overpowering way. His personality will help foster the class
 discussion. This seminar gives the student an opportunity to be
a classroom leader.)

Engagement:
“I want this seminar to be primarily student lead. Meaning, I
want you all to be the leaders of this discussion. I am assigning
Patrick with the role of primary leader for this Socratic seminar.
His job is to keep the discussion focused. If the topic/question
is thoroughly discussed he will choose someone to ask another
question however, this will not qualify as a check mark. The
leader will encourage all class members to contribute to the
discussion and will call on classmates to contribute it they
appear as if they want to talk but may be hesitant. For example,
Patrick may say “Let’s give (blank) a chance to talk.”
Yesterday, I went over what qualifies as a check mark. You
must all earn two check marks in order to receive a 100% on
this assessment. If you have not received at least one check
mark halfway through the period I will make an announcement
to remind you. If the seminar needs more time when the class
period is over, we will continue the next day. Remember we
are being respectful to one another.”

Closure:
“We are farmers (Students respond with jingle from Farmers
Insurance commercial). Awesome job today everyone! (If
anyone has not spoken yet or is still missing a check mark I
will make an announcement to address this. If we need more
time for the discussion, I will continue the seminar the
following day.) I hope you all have a great day today!”
Assessment This Socratic seminar is a summative, formal assessment for
Acts 1, 2, and 3 of Romeo and Juliet. This assessment’s
purpose is to assess students’ knowledge of plot,
characterization, and themes up to this point in the play. I will
also use this seminar to help me better instruct for Acts 4 and 5
of Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, this seminar will help
students begin to formulate ideas for their final papers for this
unit. Students must receive at least two check marks during the
seminar. To earn a check mark, a student must respond to a
question or another student’s remark with a detailed and
complex response that indicates the student’s critical thinking
and analysis. If necessary, students must provide specific line
evidence to support their responses. Two check marks indicate
that the student has earned a 100%. One check mark is a 50%.
If a student responds to a question partially or does not respond
in a complex and/or analytical way, they will receive partial
 credit for speaking. I will announce at the half way point, and
at the end of class, who still needs to speak to earn full credit.
Reflections Lesson Implementation:
This section to be Overall, I think that this lesson went very well. I was very
completed only if lesson impressed with how the students responded to questions and
plan is implemented. each other’s responses. Multiple students even posed their own
Cite RIPTS and national questions for the class discussion. Students were highly
teacher candidate prepared for this Socratic seminar. Many students brought their
standards here notes to class with specific line evidence to back up their
claims. I was very impressed with how well the class stayed
on topic. A few questions sparked many student’s voices, and
for a few moments conversation was a little wild and chaotic.
However, without me interjecting, students managed to calm
down and get back on task. I stopped students half way through
the period to let them know who still needed to speak. A few
students were very overpowering and talked way more than
was necessary. I stopped the discussion halfway through the
period so that all students would know who hasn’t spoken, or
who hasn’t gotten the chance to speak yet. After doing this, a
few students helped their peers find a voice in the discussion.
This seminar will continue the following day. Hopefully, all
students will earn two check marks (100%) by the end of
tomorrow. After meeting with Mrs. O’Keefe after the lesson, I
decided that I will include a self-reflection/assessment element
to the seminar at the end of tomorrows lesson. I will have
students write down how they felt the seminar went. I will also
have the reflect on some positives and negatives for the seminar
overall. This will allow students to assess themselves and their
peers; as well as the entire seminar in general. I decided not to
restrict students in how much they are allowed to speak,
because I want them to have an authentic conversation with all
members of their class. Despite the grade, I want all students
to feel welcome to contribute, and have a conversation with one
another. I also want students to self-reflect while they are
speaking. If they realize they are overpowering the other
students, I want them to help their peers speak out and find a
voice. Instead of having students write a self/peer reflection or
assessment, I had students discuss how they feel the discussion
went. I posed these questions:

1. How do you feel the overall discussion went?

2. What was one positive and one negative?
3. How do you feel you did in this discussion?
4. How can we change this discussion for the better in the
future?
Students who did have a chance to contribute during the
Socratic seminar were given the chance to contribute to the
reflection discussion. If they reflected, I gave them a check
mark. All students earned a 100% on this Socratic seminar
except for one student who did not contribute at all in either the
Socratic seminar or in the reflection discussion. This student
has not been putting effort into any aspect of this class thus far
this year, and I am not surprised with his lack of contribution.
I am planning on teaching a lesson that includes more direct
instruction for my next observation. This will most likely be
with the 12th graders as they are preparing for their senior
portfolio presentations. I will most likely teach a lesson that
will help them become better public speakers. I am also going
to differentiate instruction with the freshman. I am making
“learning groups” for my students based on their STAR scores
and IRL’s. I am hoping to implement these learning groups
during the argumentative writing unit which will follow this
Romeo and Juliet unit.