Alien Pedagogy

Romeo and Juliet is tough, but fun. Here’s how I’m approaching comprehension of the text.

1. Wikipedia Summary — Can it be trusted? There’s currently a vandalism notice on the site — score! We’ll return to this idea later.
2. Storyboard — Students will graphically represent the plot of Romeo and Juliet in six scenes, based on the dubious Wikipedia summary.
3. Film — We’re watching the film before reading the story. I know a lot of teachers watch the movie after reading the book, but it seems to me that that film is a great foundation for a difficult read.

We’ll approach the text analytically after the film’s finished, though that won’t be until after winter break. Analyzing Shakespeare is tricky, to say the least.

How can a teacher ask their students not to use Sparknotes? We’ll return to this question later.