William Shakespeare
Written Outcomes:
A detailed character study of one key character
and
An extended piece of writing comparing key speeches by Brutus and Mark Antony
and
A personal response to Julius Caesar / Resources:
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare StoriesII by Leon Garfield
Shakespeare- The Animated TalesDVD[1]
Duration: About two weeks / Unit Objectives:
Over the course of the unit pupils will be given many opportunities to:
Develop positive attitudes to reading by increasing their familiarity with fiction from their English literary heritage
Discuss similar themes occurring across different stories
Prepare play scripts to be read aloud and performed, using appropriate intonation and volume so that the meaning is clear
Discuss and summarising main ideas and identify key supporting details
Discuss how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
Participate in conversations about books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and challenging views courteously
Plan, draft, write, edit and evaluate written work to produce outcomes of a high standard
Identify the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form for their own writing
Select appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
Before you Start[2]:
Read aloud the story ‘Tarquin the Proud’
Discuss how the Roman senate worked
Possibly discuss Julius Caesar and his conquests
Session / Learning Objectives / Lesson Content & Organisation / Differentiation & Assessment
1 / To learn about and discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To discuss themes occurring in narratives
To infer characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their action and dialogue / Show class the start of Julius Caesar, The Animated Tales, until the Soothsayer has made his prophecy (1:17). Discussion[3]- Who is Julius Caesar? Why are the crowds so pleased to see him?How would you describe his character? Take feedback from class.[4]
Next discuss- Who is the soothsayer and what is he predicting? What are the ‘Ides of March’?
Continue the film (until 2:14). Then an introduction to two more characters- Brutus and Cassius- Who are they and how do they feel about Caesar?[5]
Continue the film (until 2:44). Discuss Caesar’s call for ‘fat men’[6] and then the next important character- Mark Antony- Who is he and what is his relationship with Caesar?[7]
Continue the film (until 3.54). Recap with the class what has happened.[8] Discussion: What do you think Cassius is planning? Why is it so important Brutus is on his side?[9]
Task: Children write a summary of the characters they’ve met so far, either as an open-ended task or using a frame.[10]
Finish by comparing notes about the different characters as a class- did anybody use any amazing language? Or get children up to be hot-seated as different characters and face questions from the class. / Target questions at different groups/individuals to ensure participation.
Frame to complete for pupils- differentiated to provide more detail for those needing further support
2 / To read and discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To discuss themes occurring in narratives
To infer characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their action and dialogue / Watch the film (until 6:32). Recap as a class- what has happened and what is the dilemma facing Brutus?
Activity: Should Brutus join the conspirators and kill Caesar? In groups of 3-5, pupils are given one side of the argument and given 15minutes to prepare as many reasons to support their view.[11] They can then pair with another group to put their arguments to.[12]
Bring all the arguments together as a debate or series of presentations with questions allowed.
Finish the lesson by continuing the film to the point where Brutus joins the plot and they agree not to kill Mark Antony (7:32). / Differentiated questioning and clarification to ensure whole class follow what is happening.
3 / To read and discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To take part in role play to explore characters
To infer characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their action and dialogue / Start the film from 8:32[13] and watch as a class while Caesar’s wife Calpurnia persuades him not to go to the senate and Decius arrives and persuades him to go (until 11:03).[14]
Then one of two choices (delete as applicable)[15]:
Activity: Push the desks back or go to the hall for a drama activity. Pupils to work in groups to produce three tableaux images of Caesar’s assassination with each ‘shot’ linked to a line from the play.Share together as a class and evaluate.
Activity: Children work as pairs or group to draw three annotated pictures to illustrate Caesar’s assassination. Each can link to a line from the play.
The photographs or illustrations can be recorded in books and annotated by pupils. / Challenge those pupils capable of this to back up their views with evidence from the text.
4 / To read and discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To discuss themes occurring in narratives
To infer characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their action and dialogue / Recap by either watching the film up until Caesar’s murder or refer to children’s versions produced yesterday and skip this part of the film.
As a class, watch film from 12.24 until 13:51- Antony says ‘I doubt not of your wisdom’. Discuss as a class- what has happened? How does everyone feel? What is the most important thing for Brutus and Cassius now?
Watch the film until Brutus is due to speak at Caesar’s funeral (14.22). Make sure everyone has understood. Why might Cassius not want Mark Antony to speak? Why does Brutus want to speak first?
Work through Brutus’ speech to the Roman mob as a class, discussing how he engages the crowd.[16]
Finish with two key questions: how does the mob feel about Caesar’s death? How does Brutus feel? / Target questions at different groups/individuals to ensure participation
Challenge more able pupils here.
5 / To discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To plan for writing, selecting the appropriate form
To developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
To write using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across
Paragraphs
To write, selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning / Play the film from 14:26 until 14:53. Discuss: what is Antony saying to Caesar? What is he promising?
Work through Mark Antony’s funeral speech as a class, discussing how he changes the crowd’s mood.[17]
Task[18]: Tell class that they will be writing an essay over the next few days, just like a secondary school pupil. Share the title- How do Brutus and Antony win over the people of Rome?[19]
Discuss how this is a very broad title and there are lots of ways of answering it, not just one right way. As a class, list some things that children could include in their answer. This might include:
Strategies Brutus uses
Strategies Mark Antony uses
A comparison of how they approach their speeches
The success of their speeches
Rehearse some of the vocabulary of the class might need as a class, let children have a copy of the script for quotes, useful phrases etc.
Homework: First draft of essay.[20]
6 / To develop written work, tailoring improvements to needs of the reader
Success Criteria to include:
Organise texts into paragraphs to distinguish between different information
Use adverbs and conjunctions to establish cohesion within paragraphs
Clarify meaning and point of view by using varied sentence structure / Collect homework in and give brief feed back.[21] Children to swap work with partners, read and then give feedback to one another.
Whole class teaching of one or more key elements of English.[22]
Provide pupils with opportunity to edit their writing, making necessary changes to spelling, grammar, presentation etc. Pupils may add additional content or improve clarity, but this is not essential at this point. While pupils are feeding back to one another and editing their own work, the teacher will work one-to-one with pupils identified as needing support.
Work is collected in for detailed written feedback, individual oral feedback or drawing out key points to share with the class. / Target questions at different groups/individuals to ensure participation
The teacher can focus their attention on different individuals and groups, stretching more able children or supporting those who have struggled with the task.
7 / To develop written work, tailoring improvements to needs of the reader
Success Criteria to include:
Organise texts into paragraphs to distinguish between different information
Use adverbs and conjunctions to establish cohesion within paragraphs
Clarify meaning and point of view by using varied sentence structure / Pupils read copies of one pupil’s work that is strong, along with teacher feedback.[23] Discussion: What are the effective strong/effective elements and the areas to strengthen?
Process is repeated with a less-developed piece of work. Analyse strengths and share in table groups. Individually identify one area where improvements could be made. Discuss as class. Pupils consider own work. Are any of the points made about other pupils’ work applicable to their own? Pupils decide on changes they can make and share in groups.
Pupils edit and then redraft work.
8 / To assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
To reflect on the learning process / If needed, pupils have opportunity to finish redrafting process. If not, move to lesson 9.
Children to swap work with partners, read, and then give feedback to one another. Completed drafts are shared and celebrated through group and whole class discussion.
9 / To discuss fiction from the English literary heritage
To infer characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their action and dialogue / After a few days away from the story, recap by watching the film without stopping from the start until the eve of the battle (18:13). Ensure everyone understands, answer any questions and briefly discuss Octavian.[24]
Continue the film until Caesar’s ghost has appeared to Brutus (20:56). Discuss this part of the story. Why might Cassius and Brutus’ relationship be so strained? Is the ghost of Caesar real?
Continue the film to the end, stopping if necessary to discuss any points or clarify understanding. Discuss how the play ends for each character and this fits with their individual strand of the story.[25]
Take feedback from the class- what have they learned? What have they enjoyed? How did learning about Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar compare to their expectations. / If the class have studied Macbeth[26], they make a link to the dagger scene.
10 / To write, edit and evaluate written work to produce outcomes of a high standard / An assessment task.[27] A piece of extended writing.
Either:
Write about one character in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Or
Write a personal response to Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare[28]
Stop the class after a set amount of time and give them time to check through their work and make amendments. Immediate feedback can be given to the class, with more detailed feedback to follow.
Copyright 2017 Shakespeare and More.
If you’re a teacher or from a school, please help yourself to this resource. Feel free to edit, adapt and change it to your way of working. We hope that it’s useful. If you’re someone who sells resources online and you want to sell this or an adapted version of it, please don’t. Have some self-respect and use your own ideas.
[1] We don’t really do ‘set texts’ here at Shakespeare and more, but we use the film as the basis for teaching this story. You can get the DVD from the ShM Julius Caesar homepage or just use YouTube here. We’ve even given you timings to help. But as always, please change things around and make the unit your own…
[2] With just a little bit of background knowledge, the class will get so much more out of Julius Caesar. Knowing the story of ‘Tarquin the Proud’ gives them the background as to why having a king is such a big deal for the Romans and why the senate is so important. It also is a great introduction to Brutus and put into context why his family is so respected. We just a story read to them at the end of the day and a bit of a chat about it. It leads nicely into a bit of learning about the senate and how the Romans were governed. You can find links to books that give good accounts on the ShM Julius Caesar homepage. A bit of background on who Caesar and Pompey were is great, but by no means crucial- it just means you get a ‘Ahh, Caesar!’ dawn of recognition when the film starts and the man himself appears.
[3] You’ll have your own way of running discussions and classroom talk, but if you haven’t read our section on talk in English, then you might want to…
[4]Try to draw out: to the people he’s a great hero, a conquering general who’s bringing glory (and wealth) to Rome. He’s charismatic and presents himself as good man and a man of the people, sharing wealth, food and circuses with the poor. At the moment he is ‘imperator (roughly ‘commander’) of Rome, but actually holds complete power over the senate. He’s also got a loyal army who’ve just smashed his only real rivals, which has got to help when persuading people to do what you want…
[5] We think these are the basics- anything else is up to you:
Brutus loves Caesar like a father, but doesn’t want Rome to have a king. If you’ve told the story of ‘Tarquin the Proud’ to your class first, hopefully many will make the link as to why Brutus is so opposed to a king. Above all, Brutus is an honourable man who wants the best for Rome but also to be loyal to his friend Caesar.
Cassius is worried about having a king, and is also jealous of Caesar, feeling his power and glory diminishes that of himself and the senate- ‘He doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves’.
[6] This generally causes hilarity in the primary classroom. While we know he’s talking about men who are content and aren’t hungry for power, that isn’t always picked up by a room full of 10 years olds. You might want to spend a bit of time explaining this. It has been suggested this line might have been the trigger for the Roman conquest of Britain- ‘Well, if it’s really fat men you’re looking for, you should go to Britain…’
[7] As with all Shakespeare’s characters, there are many interpretations and ways a character can be played. This is our take on Antony. He is Caesar’s second-in-command, a loyal friend. He is much younger than Caesar and has spent much of his time away from Rome leading Caesar’s armies. This means he is no politician, much more used to talking to soldiers. He’s played a huge role in many of the Roman victories and as a result is loved by the people. He’s physically strong and good at fighting from his army service. In our interpretation, we like to imagine him as a bit more ‘earthy’ than the senators, enjoying the good life (parties, gambling, wine) and a good source of gossipy tales for the ordinary people- ‘flaws’ that make him all the more popular with the people. Perhaps it also makes him easier to underestimate…
[8] P.41 of Shakespeare Stories II by Leon Garfield gives a good account too. You can find a link to it on the ShM Julius Caesar homepage.
[9] In our experience, children are pretty good at this, identifying that Brutus brings respectability to the conspiracy. If he is a part, it makes the killing a just thing because of both his reputation as an honourable man and his family history.
[10] Completely up to you if you want to use our frame (in the zip file on the ShM Julius Caesar homepage), make your own or not use on at all. A frame can support some children with their thinking and does take away the ‘fear of an empty page’. If the class are used to this, then go for it. However, you’re more likely to get really inventive ideas if you don’t give them one. It can be a bit slow getting everyone just to write in their books, but it does save on paper, sticking and might mean less time queuing for the photocopier. The children can work individually, in pairs or in groups and these notes are useful for embedding the characters in their minds and supporting writing later. We like doing it in groups on big pieces of paper and then sticking them up somewhere in the classroom for future reference. We’ve also got the class to do it individually in their books before. This gives a good assessment opportunity to check everyone’s understood and each child an individual resource for when they come to write. As always, up to you…