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This Lesson's Title:
HATE to LOVE Sonnets
an easy and fun way to understand and write Shakespearean Sonnets
This lesson was created for WritingFix after being proposed by Northern Nevada teacher
Crystal M. Johnson. |
This on-line writing prompt is based on the sonnets of master poet William Shakespeare. Before writing to this assignment, students should hear and discuss the poetry of this great poet.
Click here to learn more about this poet.
If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for a collection of works by this poet that you can check out from the county library. |
Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources:
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Pre-step…before sharing the published model: Review and/or introduce to students the concept of a sonnet, particularly a Shakespearean/English sonnet: fourteen lines divided into three quatrains (4-lines each) with a concluding couplet. You can find basic information on the different sonnet types on-line by clicking here or by typing sonnet into a search engine.
A great tool to practice iambic pentameter for inclusion in the sonnet form is the NNWP's three-page iambic summary sentence activity that comes from the NNWP's awesome print publication, The Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Guide. This practice assignment will prepare students for writing lines in the correct meter and rhythm.
Step one…sharing the published model: William Shakespeare was a master with the written word including rhyme, rhythm, meter, and fluency. In this lesson, students will learn, understand, and imitate Shakespeare’s wonderful style. After reviewing and practicing with writing in iambic pentameter, display and read as a class Shakespeare’s love sonnet Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day.
Initially discuss the meaning and purpose of the sonnet. Possibly even consider to whom and/or why he wrote the sonnet. Then prompt students to recognize and discuss the meter (iambic pentameter), rhyme scheme (ABAB CDCD etc), and form of the sonnet (14 lines, 3 quatrains, and a couplet). Finally have students begin to analyze and discuss the use of internal and external punctuation and how that plays a specific role in the sonnet.
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Step two (introducing student models of writing): In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups will certainly talk about the word choice , since it’s the focus of this lesson. You might prompt your students to examine each model's conventions as well.
- We're looking for student samples for all grade levels for this prompt! Help us get some, and we'll send you a free resource for your classroom! Contact us at publish@writingfix.com for details.
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Step three (thinking and pre-writing): Once all the models and examples have been shared, have students begin to generate their own ideas for people/objects the love and/or hate and comparison settings/events that could work well together. This can be done in small groups or as a class. If students are struggling for ideas or just want more, have them use the interactive buttons on the student instructions page to help launch some topics.
Using the graphic organizer to outline ideas for positive and negative ideas related to their two choices (object/person and event/setting), the next step is to have students begin drafting their Shakespearean sonnets in the correct meter, rhyme scheme, and form. Remind students that they must chose words carefully, focusing on the writing trait word choice, to help them perfectly match words and syllables. Another great tool for students to access would be a rhyming dictionary and/or the website www.rhymezone.com. Rhyming the correct lines with the correct amount of syllable is the key to a traditional Shakespearean sonnet.
Finally, as a last step, focusing on the support trait, have students review their sonnet and integrate the correct internal and external punctuation. Students should refer back to Shakespeare’s sonnet to see how and when particular punctuation in effective.
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Step four (revising with specific trait language): To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.
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Step five (editing for conventions): After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it. The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.
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Step six (publishing for the portfolio): When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block. Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.
Interested in publishing student work on-line? We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers. This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.
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Learn more about poet and playwright
William Shakespeare by clicking here.
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