Freshmen's Opinions on the New English Unit by Paige Allen
Freshmen students shared their thoughts on the current 9th grade English unit focused on Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers. It’s a unit focused on love and decision-making. The 9th graders interviewed were Brooklyn Keossy and Cayla Daniels, both ninth graders in English class but different teachers. Students discussed what they already knew about Shakespeare and how they felt about the unit being first introduced. Many students didn’t understand the complex language at first but became easier as time went on.
“I didn’t know much about the unit before we started it actually.” Keossy said, She explained that her class Ms. Anderson taught, had just started taking notes and discussing the story but not yet have they began reading it. “Shakespeare is probably still taught because it shows love and helps people understand emotions more, and is a great story of love” Keossy liked to add. She had quickly came to love the concept of the story and is excited to start the reading and diving deeper into the understanding of it.
Daniels shared that she had a large knowledge of Shakespeare and had watched the previous movies and stories told about the two lovers, and seemed to be a huge fan of the idea and play all together. “Shakespeare can be hard to read but our teacher Mrs. Tam makes it easier to understand,” Daniels said, she clearly expressed how her teaching helps greatly. Mrs. Tam even seems to have her own love for Shakespeare's plays, “It is a great way to teach," Tam said.
Daniels also mentioned that her class has already started reading the scenes and play and have already almost finished the reading. Both students agreed that emotions affect decisions, following the theme of love and decisioning making of the play.
Caption: Love, Literature, and Learning: Freshman Cayla Daniels works on work for Mrs. Tam’s class while understanding the unit and it’s themes of love and understanding. “I love being able to understand a complex text like this” Cayla says. The class focuses on the understanding of Shakespeare's complex language and difficult texts, during guided reading. Photo by: Paige Allen