Ubd Shakespeare

UbD Planning Template
Title: The Taming of the Shrew Subject/Course: English Literature

Topic: The Taming of the
Shrew
Grade: 10 Designer(s): Robin Loewald

Stage 1- Desired Results
Established Goals: Students will have the opportunity to: a) Be exposed to Shakespearean drama, b) interpret
the text and, c) follow and discuss the theme of the fool throughout Act 1 and the literary devices employed to
convey this theme.
Understandings:
Shakespearean plays were written for
performance and experience, instead of
simply for reading.
The context of the rest of the play matters
when reading a scene.
The theme of the fool is particularly important
to The Taming of the Shrew and
Shakespeares other comedies.
Where to find the fool and how to determine
who constitutes as a fool in the play.

Essential Questions:
What is the meaning of the word: shrew?
Why does Shakespeare focus on the caricature
of the fool in his comedies and in The Taming
of the Shrew?
Who is made the fool in Act I, Scene I and how
are they made to appear as a fool?
Students will know
Key Shakespearean vocabulary
The three types of play that Shakespeare
writes
Relationships between the characters
Background for Act I, Scene I of The Taming
of the Shrew
Students will be able to
Locate other characters as fools throughout the
rest of the play.
Defend their position that a certain character is
a fool with textual evidence.

Stage 2- Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
Discussion in pairs and then in the full group.

Other Evidence:
Participation in the material and discussion.
Short paper on the theme of the fool in the rest
of the play.

Stage 3- Learning Plan

The Hook: Showing a scene from the screenplay interpretation of The Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things I Hate
About You after everyone has taken their seats. The purpose is to draw students into this modern interpretation
of Shakespearean drama and to catch their attention.

The Intro: I will ask if anyone has seen the movie 10 Things I Hate About You or the play Kiss Me, Kate. After
asking for a representation of hands, I will explain that the scene they have just wanted is from 10 Things I
Hate About You and that the movie and the play are adaptations of William Shakespeares The Taming of the
Shrew. These adaptations prove that despite the difficulty of the language, Shakespeares themes are still
relevant today.

I will ask if anyone can name one type of Shakespearean play. Shakespeare wrote three types of plays
Tragedy, History, and Comedy. Then I will ask what type of play The Taming of the Shrew is. I will present
the question: Can someone define a shrew? In order to understand the conflict in the play, it is necessary to
know the definition of a shrew: a wicked, evil-disposed, or malignant person; a mischievous or vexation
person; a rascal, villain (English Oxford Dictionary).

The Middle/Heart of the Lesson: First, I will provide some context for the particular scene that we will be
acting out (Act I, Scene I). Next, I will show a chart with the love triangle presented in the beginning of the
play and I will ask if there are any preliminary questions about the plot. Then, I will present this question: Why
is it so important to act out portions of a play? Once we have discussed this briefly, I will ask for volunteers to
play the three roles in Act I, Scene I and will invite them to the front of the class where I would have cleared
space as a makeshift stage. Before the actors begin, I will remind them that Shakespeare focuses on the theme
of the fool in his comedies, so they should be aware of and looking for that theme in this section. Actors will
then stand in front of the class and read the lines from printed scripts.
1
After the students have finished acting
we will give them a round of applause and have them sit back down. I will ask someone who has not been
acting to summarize this section of the play and will supplement as needed.

Lesson Ending: The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy, so Shakespeare weaves different types of fools
throughout. I will present this question to the entire class for a group discussion: Why does Shakespeare
incorporate the fool into his play? Then after a brief discussion I will pull up a slide with these questions
written on it: Who is made the fool in this scene? and Why are they made to appear as a fool?
2
With these
questions in mind, I will remind the students that this is a comedy; Shakespeare likes to make all of his
characters appear as a fool, so they should not be concerned with whom they choose, but more concerned with
textual evidence for why the character appears as a fool. We will then go into the Think, Pair, Share
3
activity
during which time I will walk between the groups, answering questions and asking follow-up questions as
needed. During the Share portion of the activity each group will present whom they thought Shakespeare
made to appear as a fool and how he did this.

I will then finish saying this: As a comedy, The Taming of the Shrew exposes inconsistencies in character and
unlikely situations in order to entertain the audience. In many cases, this results in the creation of a fool, [use
examples from previous discussion]. Sometimes by simply reading the text we miss out on the inflection of the
actors and the real life quality of the play, for that reason we read a portion of Act I, Scene I in order to
experience it in a similar way with which Shakespeare wanted his audience to experience his plays. The clip in
the beginning from 10 Things I Hate About You proves just how foolish some people will act for love.

Assessment: Students will participate in class discussion and then write a follow-up paper about the theme of
the fool in the rest of The Taming of the Shrew.

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UbD Planning Template

Title: The Taming of the Shrew Subject/Course: English Literature

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