Year 6 - English
Debating a question raised by Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'
Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet': diary and narrative writing
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn to empathise with and understand different characters in one of Shakespeare's iconic plays. They write a diary entry from Juliet's perspective, a climactic narrative scene based on the duel scene and begin to debate around a key question raised from the play.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to generate philosophical questions that relate to 'Romeo and Juliet' and you can participate in a class discussion about one of these questions.
Key Notes
- 'Romeo and Juliet' is a tragedy that raises themes around family, social obligations, love and conflict.
- We can use a piece of art like a play as a stimulus for a discussion.
- We can consider factual questions, discussion questions and philosophical questions raised by the play.
- Philosophical questions are questions that are not context-linked - they could be discussed without knowing the play.
- When debating, we build on others' answers and we disagree respectfully.
Vocabulary To Learn
- debate: a formal discussion about a question or subject held in public
- theme: a central idea of a text that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with
- discussion question: a question about a text that can be discussed
- philosophical question: a question that is raised by a text that can be discussed without referring to it
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may find the distinction between discussion and philosophical questions challenging.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
'Romeo and Juliet' is a tragedy that raises themes around family, social obligations, love and conflict. We can use a piece of art like a play as a stimulus for a discussion.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'debate'
a formal discussion about a question or subject held in public.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may find the distinction between discussion and philosophical questions challenging. Correction: Encourage them to imagine asking the question to their parent or headteacher - if the person could answer without having read 'Romeo and Juliet', then it's a philosophical question. Model this process.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Exploring Act III Scene 1 in 'Romeo and Juliet' Study Guide
- Exploring Juliet's emotions after meeting Romeo Study Guide
- Exploring vocabulary relating to the duel scene Study Guide
- Generating vocabulary for Juliet's diary entry Study Guide
- Planning Juliet's diary entries Study Guide
- Planning the duel scene Study Guide
- Understanding themes, characters and plot in 'Romeo and Juliet' Study Guide
- Writing the first half of Juliet's diary entry Study Guide
- Writing the first half of the duel scene Study Guide
- Writing the second half of Juliet's diary entry Study Guide
- Writing the second half of the duel scene Study Guide
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