Key Concepts:

The complexity and beauty of Shakespeare’s language and stories

Representing his universal themes with today’s technology

Unit Length:Approximately 5 weeks.

Assessment Tasks:Task 1: Critical Response: 1 & 5Task 2: Digital Storytelling 1, 3 & 6Task 3: : Composing and Performing a Drama Text:1, 2, 6 & 11

Cross curricular:LiteracyICTLanguage modes:Reading/writing/speaking/listening/ viewing /representing

LiteracyWriting a storySpelling & Vocabulary

Texts Shakespeare’s Macbeth “the

graphic novel” (Macbeth’s Audio book) if

necessary. Macbeth’s Bridge Digital Classic

Outcomes:1. A student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure.

2. A student uses a range of processes for responding to and composing texts.

3. A student selects, uses, describes and explainshow different technologies affect andshape meaning

5. A student makes informed language choices to shape meaning with accuracy, clarity and coherence

6 . A student experiments with different ways ofimaginatively and interpretively transforming experience, information and ideas into texts

CD-Rom. “Shakespeare Retold” movie

extracts from YouTube.8. A student investigates the relationships betweenand among texts

11. A student uses, reflects on and assesses individual and collaborative skills for learning

Aim (in line with the NSW English Syllabus) To understand & enjoy using the English language in a variety of texts and through different media and to shape meanings in an imaginative and

interpretive way using multimedia.Objectives:

Skills, Knowledge and Understandings Through responding to and composing a texts based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, students will develop skills, knowledge and understandings to:

o Speak, listen, read and write, view and represent.o To use various kinds of technology to construct learning.o Use language and communicate their ideas appropriately and effectively using multimedia.o Think in imaginative ways to produce their own multimedia production.

Values and Attitudes Students will value and appreciate:

o The power of language and media to explore and express views of themselves, others and the worldo The power of effectively communicate their ideas to an audience.o The independence gained from thinking imaginatively, interpretively and critically.o The opportunity to collaborate with their peers in the production of a multimedia product

OVERALL RATIONALE

Studying Shakespeare can be a challenge to today’s students in many ways. Though Shakespeare could have a great appeal, certain elements such as the complexity of the language he used can be an impediment to interpreting his works. Another factor that can be daunting is trying to understand the situations the characters experience through our 21st century perceptions. Considering this, I have decided to bring Shakespeare’s characters and themes to life using various multimedia means, including different software to both gain better understanding of Macbeth and to engage students to create original modern-day productions to help them enjoy Shakespeare at a more personal level. Using a cognitive theory framework for multimedia learning, students will learn meaningfully through processes of “integration”, “organization” and “selection” of verbal and visual representations of knowledge1. In the last part of the unit, this multimedia

1 See Mayer, R.E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media, Learning and Instruction, 13, 125-139.

environment will facilitate active learning as students author their own video productions for a peer audience.

Content WEEK 1: Lessons outlines

Learn to:1.1

Learn about:1.15

Lesson 1: Introduction to Shakespeare As a whole class, we explore the website “Shakespeare online” on the IWB2 to learn about Shakespeare’s

setting and times, theatre in the XVII century, his biography, etc. Students will also have some time to explore the website on their laptops.

Additional activity: students can go to an online interactive Shakespearean theatre to explore an interactive website on Shakespeare’s theatre from various angles. Students will learn how the setting can have an impact on the action of the play.

Learn to:1.11.51.92.1Learn about:1.111.12

Lesson 2-4: Introduction to Macbeth- Play reading Students are given a worksheet with pictures from the internet (see TEACHING MATERIALS for web

addresses). Students will predict what the story is about. They will also be given some clues and quotes from the play as well. The teacher will give an overview of the play.

Teacher will facilitate a first reading of the play with students using “Macbeth the graphic novel” which has a combination of words with pictures. If unavailable, students can use any other version but to help students with forming pictures on their minds, we will be using Audio versions (Macbeth Audio book)

Students will answer act-by-act questions as they go and there will be time allocated for discussion during the reading.

Students use One note to take down notes.

Learn to:3.4

Learn about:3.63.9

Lesson 5: Understanding the play

CD ROM- Using the IWB, the class will explore the Macbeth Cd-rom (TEACHING MATERIALS) Once students are familiar with it, they will explore the play using the Cd-rom. (for a picture of what the CD rom version looks like see “Appendix File”)

Students will be able to develop a deeper understanding of the play using the cd-rom. From all the

2 Note that multi-media materials are typed in Red.

3.10 engaging features of the Cd-rom, the modern-english version feature of the cd-rom would be particularly useful in this respect.

Learn to:1.811.10Learn about: 11.20MI (Visual)

Homework: Students write a journal reflection on what they have learnt about ambition and fate in Macbeth during this week. They also use Word to sketch a plot timeline.Students do a look-cover-write spelling exercise on words studied from the drama techniques glossary.

Critical analysis for the implementation of multimedia in this week

The beginning of this unit of work focuses on introducing students to the text in an appealing way. Using Multimedia material

such as engaging pictures, the graphic novel (with a cartoon-style layout)which uses both text and pictures, and the cd-rom are intended

to attract and maintain students’ attention (get them thinking) and also to understand the text better. Schar& Krueger (2000) classifies

ways in which we can present information in a multimedia environment, such as “modality of communication” (visual, auditory, etc),

“medium of representation (images, sounds, etc) and “physical medium of storing information (cdrom, etc). Taking into consideration

those ways of introducing a topic, I decided to use all these elements in the first week. Firstly, I used pictures to activate previous

knowledge and get students thinking about the topic since “pictures can represent complex information at a glance” and “selecting

instructional pictures that are clear and understandable should optimize their positive effects” (Schar& Krueger (2000). As Kimber &

Wyatt-Smith (2006) also comments that: “drawing and maintaining the learner’s attention has always been the hallmark of productive

engagement in effective learning”. Activation of background knowledge is then one of the most important principles for effective

learning according to Cognitive Learning Theory. To respect this principle, this step has been included at the start of the unit. While we

do our reading, another cognitivist principle (“chunking”) is implemented as maintaining a slow pace and getting students to answer

questions as they read is particularly important with difficult texts like Shakespeare. An additional activity requires pupils to visit an

interactive Shakespearean theatre online. This can give them the opportunity to seeing the bigger picture as well as “zooming in and

examining specific objects” (Schar & Krueger (2000), which will ideally engage students in the context. As reading Shakespeare is quite

difficult due to the language and dramatic characteristics, I have chosen to use a graphic novel which has colourful pictures that will help

understanding the text better. According to the same authors “many factors can contribute to raising the quality of the information in

text, and different features, such as colour, help the reader to orient”. Another media that can be used to this end is an audio book. In my

unit, if for any practical reason the graphic novel is unavailable, I would use a regular text combined with an online audio book, and in

this case it would be relatively uncomplicated as the students have access to laptops. Again, Schar & Krueger highlight the usefulness of

using this media stating: “Studies show that people prefer voice to text and prefer voice in addition to text even when it doesn't improve

their performance... features such as intonation, speech flow and articulation help us understand the content...A balance between visual

and auditory information reduces the cognitive load.” The last sentence makes it clear that using an audio book along with the text also

helps processing of information by diminishing cognitive load and unnecessary stress. The aforementioned paper also mentions the

need to using a “stable representation” (book) to students with little knowledge of the subject because the cognitive load is lower and

this would probably be beneficial to stage 4 students as opposed to, let’s say, Stage 5 students. Drucker (2003) indicates that using audio

books with students with little English can help them understand the text better. When it comes to reading Shakespeare, students

otherwise proficient in English are often baffled by the old English words and sometimes do not even know how to pronounce them so

using an audio book simultaneously can greatly enhance their reading experience .

Content WEEK 2: Lessons outlines

Learn to:2.63.3

Learn about:1.172.93.1011.4

Lesson 1: Close study of text Students brainstorm on the IWB what they learnt about Macbeth and reflect on certain features of

the Cd-rom that helped them understand the text better. Teacher will analyse characterization, ideas and themes and some dramatic features. Class will discuss the theme of ambition behind each of the main characters’ motivation Students will choose a character they liked from the play and they will compose a mindmap on

Freemind outlining the relationship between this character and the rest. Students will also analyse characterisation against ambition, the lack of it or the force of fate.

BLOOMS TAXONOMY (UNDERSTANDING)

MI (VERBAL)MI(INTERPERSONAL)MI (MUSICAL)MM (MATHEMATICAL)

Lesson 2-4: Shakespeare’s language

Students are introduced to important dramatic features used by the playwright and they have some time to demonstrate their understanding of the play as they do one activity of their choice. These activities are all geared towards involving pupils’ preferred learning styles. (verbal, interpersonal, musical and mathematical).For a detailed explanation of this lesson, see “appendix file”

Learn to1.31.7Learn about:11.20BLOOMS TAXONOMY (Applying)

Lesson 5Students share their answers to the class. Class discussion and feedback will follow.Homework: Assessment Task 1 ( Critical response).

Critical analysis for the implementation of multimedia in this week

This week, students continue studying Macbeth concentrating on the particular language features of the text while gaining a

deeper understanding of it and applying what they learnt from the previous week(s). They are asked to start responding to the text

using “Freemind” which is a mind mapping tool freely downloadable from the internet. Mind mapping can be quite beneficial to get

learners to focus on one aspect of the text and make meaningful connections. In this case, students focus on one character and sketch

relationships between him/her and the rest of the characters in the text against the ideas of fate/ freewill. Mind mapping can also be a

tool for visualization that can greatly help understanding. As stated in Churchill ( 2005), “Dale suggested that visualization is very

important for the development of understanding as learning experiences become more abstract ... utilize visualization and represent

these through illustrations, diagrams, mind maps and other forms of representation”. Complex connections can be seen at a glance using

this method thus assisting students to working with the text effectively and developing thinking skills of a higher order. Additionally,

allowing them to create their own representation of knowledge is also important. According to Mayer (2000) and a cognitive theory of

learning, at this stage in the unit students would be “organizing” their knowledge so tools such as this can be quite useful. In this unit of

work, I have also introduced a constant use of an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) as a tool to present information visually. This week,

using the IWB will help students analyse the language closely as while we view the text, we can discuss it and make annotations on the

screen. Also, using the IWB can help students reflect on a previous learning experience (exploring the CD -rom). All this will help the

teacher to direct students’ attention to the core material that needs to be learnt in the early stages of this unit of work. Pupils then will

start experimenting with Macbeth with a series of activities that they can choose geared at engaging the different learning styles of this

class. Ralph Pirozzo3 devised a matrix to use in the classroom which integrates Bloom’s taxonomy (lower and higher order thinking

3 See www.pli.com.au for more information on this talented teacher and teacher trainer.

skills) and Multiple Intelligences (Gardner’s) which claims to both nurture students’ thinking skills and engage them through their

preferred learning styles. To this end, I have included a few activities that are aimed at giving students a wider set of choices to apply

their knowledge of the play. As indicated by Siranovic and representing a key step in cognitivist construction of meaning, students need

to be given a chance to “perform” as they “demonstrate and use the newly acquired knowledge, skills or behaviour.” (Siranovic 2007).

Content WEEK 3: Lessons outlines

Learn to:1.13.28.18.311.4

Learn about:1.111.123.66.8

Lesson 1-2 : Representing Macbeth

Students will watch a few key extracts from Polanski’s movie Macbeth will analyse how Polanski represents Macbeth. Also, using a Venn diagram on the IWB students will brainstorm what differences they can see between what happens in the film extracts and in the original scenes. Discussion will also be focused on how the themes, and characterization are developed in the film extracts. Overall film techniques will be pointed out. Students will be given a worksheet to write their ideas on:

From Polanski’s film, students work on a couple of the reflection questions from the following worksheet

In groups, they present their answers to the class. Further discussion will follow.

Learn to:1.42.34.14.3

Learn about:1.121.131.20

BLOOMS TAXONOM(APPLYING)

Lesson 3: Modern Relevance of the play

Students will work on the following idea: How are the play’s themes still relevant in today’s culture? . As the film clearly depicts Macbeth’s ideas against Polanski’s culture, we will be attempting to draw a comparison between the themes in the play and 21st century culture. To assist students with coming up with ideas, they will watch a short movie trailer from Shakespeare Retold from you tube:

Students will draw on our discussion and in pairs/groups they will construct a list of main ideas on how possible modern storyline using Onenote.

BLOOMS TAXONOMY (CREATING)

Lesson 4-5: Assessment Task 2: Digital storytelling of “modern Macbeth”

See ‘appendix file” for a detailed lesson plan.

Critical analysis for the implementation of multimedia in this week

I decided to include a digital storytelling phase in the unit to get students to represent ideas using a visual medium. Also, once

they are familiar with what they want to depict and do so successfully, it will serve as a springboard to the unit’s final project (video

production). The idea of introducing a production task of this sort is connected to fostering “independent learning”, “student reflection”

and as well as “problem-solving” and “learning by doing” (see Kimber & Wyatt-Smith (2006). Obviously, if we want our students to gain

deeper understandings and developing higher order skills, they need to be personally engaged with the material. Providing

opportunities for this kind of learning is a main goal of this unit of work. This kind of multimedia authoring also encourages students

externalizing what they understand from the play, and using their critical skills and their modern frame of reference to transform the

text into a new interpretation of the play. Utilizing a digital medium to depict their understandings provides opportunities for “genuine

self-expression, which in turn should allow pupils to create documents that explicitly reflect what they know and understand.”

(McFarlane, Williams & Bonnett (2000). The digital production would be clear representation of their interpretation of the text and

would also show how they constructed meaning independently.

Content WEEK 4: Lessons outlines

Learn to:2.22.62.7Learn about:2.1211.10BLOOMS TAXONOMY (EVALUATING)

Lesson 1: Peer –evaluation of digital storytelling Students will present their storyboards to the class using IWB. There will be an extended discussion on

their peer’s reaction to their storyboards. We will be using the LDC chart4 to give feedback to each group. Students will take down notes on the audience’s reaction to their work to improve their project and as an

ideas bank to use for their final project.

Learn to:1.21.102.42.6

Lesson 2-4: Writing a script Students will commence writing a script for 3 or more movie scenes working in small groups. Using the

plotline they previously worked on, they will need to produce a minimum of 3 short scenes to include in a movie trailer to promote their “movies” to modern audiences

They will need to decide on the number of characters that will appear considering they themselves will

4 LDC means Like, Dislike, Change. It encapsulates students’ reaction to a product by giving three types of feedback.

5.411.311.9Learn about:1.121.145.95.1211.15MI (VERBAL)

act this out and shot the film using a digital camera only.

Their script will use modern language and will be targeted to teenagers.

For content assessed see below

Lesson 5: Assessment Task 3: Composing and performing a dramatic text. (English) Teacher will assess students’ script according to syllabus’ guidelines This is an important element as it will help students to produce a sound piece of writing that will

effectively achieve the syllabus’ English outcomes.

Content WEEK 5: Lessons outlines

Learn to:1.83.13.35.25.3Learn about:5.125.136.8

Lesson 1-2: Planning the movie trailer Students watch a few examples of Modern Macbeth movie trailers from youtube. Teacher discusses how to make a movie trailer using Window Movie Maker. Students get into their groups and start drafting their movie trailer. They will need to consider

various elements such as: still images, music and video clips. They will derive ideas from their storyline they represented through Photostory in Week 3.

Homework: Students will shoot three or more short scenes to be included in the movie trailer. They

6.106.11MI (VISUAL-SPATIAL)MI (INTERPERSONAL- KINESTHETIC)

will need to take into account staging elements such as backgrounds, costumes, props, etc.

Content:as aboveBLOOMS TAXONOMY (CREATING)

Lesson 3-4: Putting the movie trailer together Students will design the first draft of their movie trailer using Windows Movie Maker. They will need to

put together all the elements previously mentioned.

Learn to:5.126.66.711.311.611.7Learn about:6.86.106.11BLOOMS TAXONOMY (CREATING)

Lesson 5: “Showing off” their movie trailer

Students will show their movie trailer to the class using the IWB. Students will explain to the class:

o The key issues/ ideas related to modern Macbeth they tried to convey in their movie trailer.o What they think are the strengths and weaknesses of their movie trailer.

Final Assessment: The teacher will assess students’ final work using the following rubricFinal result will be merged with Assessment Task 3 result.

Critical analysis for the implementation of multimedia in the last two weeks

Designing this final project is the culmination of 5 weeks of intense learning. The idea behind this project is acknowledging that students

have had a good chance to explore, analyse and interpret the play. They have also produced their own digital stories thus having the

chance to experiment with media to represent their understanding of the material. They would by now be ready to design their own

“critiqued” versions of the play, and doing it in a familiar 21st century environment. This usage of technology goes well beyond

conventional uses for representing knowledge and extends it to the production of new meanings and interpretation of knowledge

through multiple literacies. Students operate with high order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation and organization of ideas in

order to design a unique product to engage their audience. Kimber & Wyatt-Smith (2006) synthesise the idea of “students-as-designers”

in this way: “from a new literacies perspective, when students operate as designers, they are licensed to apply critiqued knowledge of

the subject/topic synthesised from multimodal sources. Beyond this, their role extends to devising a creative, digital, multimodal

representation of new knowledge, communicating this to others via representational resources intended to engage their audience”

Getting students to critique the play is also a central element that was taken into account in designing this task as we do not want

students to work with technology per se, but using it along with other dimensions such as the “critical” and “cultural” dimensions.

Kimber & Wyatt-Smith (2006) also indicate that “national and international research studies into the integration of technology with

literacy and learning reveal that, too often, classroom uses of technology are more technicist than critically evaluative” and that “an

Australian national study, Digital rhetorics (Lankshear et al., 1997), advocated the adoption of the operational, cultural and critical

dimensions (Green, 1988) for work with technology, literacy and learning” Such study stresses the importance of including a critical

dimension to our use of technology and literacy to help learners to develop proper conceptualisation in these domains. Another

advantage of using this multimedia final project is that it can show the extent of pupils’ understanding of the text. McFarlane, Williams &

Bonnett (2000) explain that a multimedia product of this sort can actually make evident students’ understandings whereas standardized tests “fail

to reveal a number of assumptions and associations, and preconceptions and misunderstandings that (are) evident in the pupils

multimedia work and talk about that work”. In conclusion, using a final project such as this video production for assessment not only

assists students to become critical readers but also empowers them to be competent users of digital technology to be better prepared to

meet the demands of 21st century learning. Resnick (2002) summarizes it in this way: “Success in the future will be based not on

how much we know, but on our ability to think and act creatively”.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Planning proforma based on the ones found on the NSW Department of Education and Training Curriculum K-12 Directorate on:

http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au

Integration of Bloom’s taxonomy and MI originally devised by Ralph Pirozzo. More information can be found on: www.pli.com.au

Digital storytelling tutorial: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/techplan/page5897.cfm

digital storytelling in nsw: http://www.sydneyr.det.nsw.edu.au/support/abedequity/reg_equi/documents/PSP/QT-Framework-

for-Digital-Storytelling.pdf

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Churchill, D. ( 2005). Learning objects: An interactive presentation and a mediating tool in a learning Activity, Educational media

International, 42(4), pp. 333-349.

Drucker, M. J. (2003). What reading teachers should know about ESL learners, The Reading Teacher, 57(1), 22-29.

Kimber, K. & Wyatt-Smith, C. (2006). Using and creating knowledge with new technologies: a case for students-as-designers.Learning,

Media and Technology, 31(1), 19-34.

Mayer, R.E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media, Learning

and Instruction, 13, 125-139.

Resnick, M. (2002). Rethinking learning in the digital age, In G. Kirkman, P. K. Cornelius, J. D. Sachs, & K. Schwab (Eds.), The Global

information technology report: Readiness for the networked world (pp. 32 -37). N.Y.: Oxford University Press

Schar, S.G. & Krueger (2000) Using new Learning Technologies with Multimedia, Journal of IEEE multimedia, July- Sept. , p 40 -51.

TEACHING MATERIALS(in order of usage)

Online interactive Shakespearean theatre: http://www.classbrain.com/artteensb/publish/interactive_globe_theater.shtml

Shakespeare Online: www.shakespeare-online.com

Pictures used in Week 1:

- http://todopera.wordpress.com/2009/09/

- theplaymaker.wordpress.com/2008/05/

- personal.cityu.edu.hk/.../Shakespeare/Links.html

Macbeth Audio book: http://wiredforbooks.org/shakespeare/

Shakespeare, W (1995). Macbeth CDRom. London: BBC Education.

Drama techniques glossary; http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/drama_glossary.html

Focused reading and viewing guide: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson46/

FocusedReadingViewingGuide.pdf

Polanski worksheet on: http://home.olemiss.edu/~shodges/renaissance.html

Shakespeare retold movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVZt0DsGo94

Using Window Movie Maker to make a movie trailer: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Movie-Trailer-on-Windows-Movie-

Maker

Rubrics to assess movie trailer: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1921229&