English -Shaking with Shakespeare 

Unit of Study:  Shaking with Shakespeare: ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ 

Brief Description: In this elective students will delve into Elizabethan times and discover why William Shakespeare was such an influential playwright. They will touch up on their acting skills and pretend that they are performing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. They will discover the themes of love, violence, tyranny, tragedy, guilt, witchcraft and fate. Looking at Shakespeare’s infamous play ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ they will decipher meaning and compare the old English language to today’s vernacular. 

‘If I be waspish, best beware my sting.’ (Katherina, Act 2 Scene 1)

In Term 1, students will study William Shakespeare’s play ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and respond to the play's ideas and themes. 

Scaffolding Learning

At the conclusion of this unit of study students will have: 

An understanding of key knowledge

• Students will gain a developed understanding of how the English Language has evolved over time. 
• Students will gain an understanding of how Shakespeare’s works continue to influence our popular culture. 
• Students will gain a developed understanding of play analysis - particularly characterisation, context, ideas and messages in texts. 
• Students will gain an understanding of what is reported in the media and how it is reported. 
• Students will recognise ways in which the media presents news to manipulate our perception of events and people.
• Students will gain the ability/tools/language to create (and annotate)their own media report. 

Attained these key skills 

• Students will gain confidence in speaking and listening activities (including the readings of plays). 
• Students will have a developed understanding of how to analyse figurative language, symbols, motifs and ideas in plays.
• Students will have a greater ability to analyse text structures and language features of literary texts, and make relevant comparisons with other texts. 
• Students will be able to analyse the language, structure and other features in media texts. 
• Students will research, collate information and make bold language choices in their own reporting.
• Students will be able to plan and write an article with a persuasive purpose and for a particular audience.

Demonstrated the Victorian curriculum standards and capabilities

1. Reading & Viewing
   1. Language for interaction: (VCELA457)
   2. Text structure and organisation: (VCELA458)
   3. Expressing and developing ideas: (VCELA459)
   4. Literature and context: (VCELT460)
   5. Responding to literature: (VCELT461), (VCELT461), (VCELT462)
   6. Examining literature: (VCELT463), (VCELT464), (VCELT465)
   7. Texts in context: (VCELY466)
   8. Interpreting, analysing, evaluating: (VCELY467), (VCELY469)
      
       
2. Writing
   1. Text structure and organisation: (VCELA470), (VCELA471)
   2. Expressing and Developing Ideas: (VCELA473), (VCELA474)
   3. Phonics and word knowledge: (VCELA475)
      
       
3. Speaking & Listening
   1. Language variation and change: (VCELA482)
   2. Language for interaction: (VCELA483)
   3. Interacting with others: (VCELY485), (VCELY486)

Assessment Tasks

Students will be required to complete the following assessment tasks:

• An analytical essay on ‘Taming of the Shrew’. 
• An analysis and deconstruction of a media article/text
• An article reporting on a newsworthy event
   

Additional learning opportunities

• A Bell Shakespeare Performance

Resources

• Workbook, pens and highlighters
• An interest in current affairs and what is happening in the world!
• A copy of the text ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ by William Shakespeare

Pathways

This unit of study could provide students with the following pathway.