Romeo and Juliet

This is a classic tale by William Shakespeare- the story of two young people who are neighbors who fall in love, despite the fact that their families are feuding. One of the only ways to see each other is by Romeo speaking to Juliet whilst she is on her balcony.  They continue to see each other to share poetry of love, but only through great effort. They attempt in the end to be with each other, but end up dying. Juliet has feigned death in order to be released from her family's scrutiny. She sends a message to Romeo, who doesn't receive it and actually believes her dead, so he kills himself, as he cannot bear to live without his love. When Juliet awakens, she finds her Romeo dead, so she decides that she cannot live without him and finally kills herself in order to be with him in the afterlife. 

For a more expanded telling of this story see: Romeo and Juliet Synopsis

Bibliography:

Stewart, Diana, Charles Shaw, and William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1991. Print.

Stewart, Diana, William Shakespeare, and Charles Shaw. Romeo and Juliet. Carson, CA: Lakeshore, 1991. Sound recording.

Bernstein, Leonard, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. West Side Story. New York: Random House, 1958. Print.

Language Teaching Application:
I think it would be nice to hear and learn a classic Shakespeare tale of love and tragedy. This would be ideal for teenagers and up. (If using it for a younger audience, I would adapt the ending, having the couple survive and perhaps having the families reconcile.)

I would use the sound recording of this in the classroom so we could listen to the story a number of times. Then, in pairs or small groups the students could practice "telling" the story. I'd want to try this "from listening to telling" procedure in order to avoid students memorizing the text, (even though this particular text is written so that ESL language learners would be able to understand more easily.) Depending on familiarity with this story, we might continue by creating several adaptations. I could begin by introducing the play, "West Side Story", pointing out the themes and similar story line. Then, students can use their creativity to change the (cultural)background, the time period, and even modify the characters. Because the basic story line is so well known, it would be the perfect story to develop alternate versions of. It would make for a good teaching unit and could be used over several class periods. [Even further development- could be developed into a skit, play or digital story].