This assignment is titled “‘Romeo & Juliet’: The Social Network.” We hear a lot these days about how our students enjoy communicating with one another on sites like Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. This assignment is essentially a 21st century character analysis assignment as a “mock social network.” Students must imagine that six characters from “Romeo & Juliet” have social networking pages where they post their thoughts, concerns, activities, and more. There have been many creative ways to teach “Romeo & Juliet” over the years including mock newspapers, mock trials, and the like. This particular project puts a 21st century spin on those assignments and allows students to express themselves in a familiar medium. Students may role-play as one of six characters in Shakespeare’s play – Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, The Nurse, Mercutio, and/or Lady Capulet – and write “status updates” as if they were the character.

This assignment is titled “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Social Network,” an excellent form of differentiated instruction to teach one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. We hear a lot these days about how our students enjoy communicating with one another on sites like Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Twitter. This assignment is essentially a character analysis assignment in the form of a “mock social network.” Students must imagine that characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream have social networking pages where they post their thoughts, concerns, activities, motivations, and more. There have been many creative ways to teach A Midsummer Night’s Dream over the years including mock newspapers, mock trials, and the like. This particular project puts a 21st century spin on those assignments and allows students to express themselves in a familiar medium.

This assignment is titled “‘Julius Caesar’: The Social Network.” We hear a lot these days about how our students enjoy communicating with one another on sites like Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. This assignment is essentially a 21st century character analysis assignment as a “mock social network.” Students must imagine that six characters from “Julius Caesar” have social networking pages where they post their thoughts, concerns, activities, and more. There have been many creative ways to teach “Julius Caesar” over the years including mock newspapers, mock trials, and the like. This particular project puts a 21st century spin on those assignments and allows students to express themselves in a familiar medium. Students may role-play as one of six characters in Shakespeare’s play – Caesar, Brutus, Antony, Portia, Calpurnia, and/or Cassius – and write “status updates” as if they were the character.