8/6/2019 Direct Instruction for Merchant of Venice

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-1Andrew Sokol

ENG 375

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Model

Lesson Title: Judgment of Shylock

Unit: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Lesson Author:_Andrew Sokol_________________________________

Grade Level: 11th Subject Area: English

Time allotted for the Lesson: 1 class. [ time will vary]

Common Core State Standards met in this lesson:

Grade 11 Reading: Standard 3

Form opinions and make judgments about literary works, by analyzing and evaluating texts from more thanone critical perspective, such as psychological

Grade 11 Listening: Standard 3Determine points of view, clarify positions, make judgments, and form opinions

Instructional Objectives (What, specifically, should the student be able to do,

understand, care about as a result of the teaching. Refer to Bloom's verbs and aim for

parallel structure)

Students will:

Students will be able to sufficiently justify their stances on the character of

Shylock

Students will be able to find quotes from the play to form their own character

analyses

Materials, Resources and Technology: Copies ofThe Merchant of Venice, pen, paper

Anticipatory Set: (Hook to grab the student's attention. Actions and statements by theteacher relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson. Puts students

into a receptive frame of mind).

Students will be required to complete a quick-write answering the questions of "How do

you decide who the villain in a story is? Can it sometimes be understandable for acharacter to act evil? Think of a book, movie, or play where you were undecided about

who the villain was." I will call on students to share their answers.

Teaching Input: (Provide the information students need to gain the knowledge through,

in this instance, lecture and modeling).

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I will prompt students to list reasons for why Shylock is a villain as well as reasons

for why he should be forgiven for his actions

He could be viewed as a villain because he refuses to show mercy for Antonio byrequesting to commit a legal murder. He also claims that he wishes that his own

daughter were dead

It could be considered understandable for him to act malevolent because theChristians in Venice especially Antonio treat him with contempt because he's Jewish.

He also may be thought of as no worse than the rest of the people of Venice because

they own slaves.

Teacher Modeling:(Teacher shows students examples of what is expected as an endproduct of their work).

I will find passages from the play and use them as evidence to make a case for either

Shylock being a villain or for his actions being justifiable. For example, I will referenceShylock's famous monologue in Act III Scene I in which he describes the prejudice he's

faced including the line "If you prick us do we not bleed?" I will make a case that it'sunderstandable for him to act malevolently. The class will also discuss the implications of

this speech for the broader theme of intolerance.

Application: (Guided Practice: students demonstrate grasp of new learning by working

through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision. The teacher moves

around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediationas needed).

Students will be assigned to work in pairs. Each pair will be assigned to find five quotes

from the play that support Shylock either being or not being a villain. They will thentranslate the quotes into a modern English dialect and write a paragraph for each one thatdescribes the implications about Shylock from the quotes. I will move around the room

and observe how well students are able to find the quotes. If students are having trouble

finding quotes, I will suggest scenes for them to review. Students will be called on toshare their lists of quotes with the rest of the class.

Lesson Closure: (Lesson comes to a close. The content should be summarized; teacher

reviews, clarifies key points, tying them into a whole and possibly relating to future

lessons).

I will poll the class by asking them to raise their hands if they think that Shylock is avillain and then ask them to raise their hands if they don't think he's a villain. I will call

on a few students to support their votes.

Independent or Paired Practice:

Students will be assigned to write a one page paper on whether or not they think that

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Shylock is a villain. They will be required to reference specific quotes from the play to

support their stances.

Evaluation:

Formative: When students are assigned to form lists of quotes from the play, it willindicate how well they're able to identify the importance of certain passages. It will also

indicate how well they can decide the implications that certain quotes have on the

development of characters.

* Note: you can adjust this somewhat - all steps may not strictly apply.