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].