Othello: Shakespeare Book Club
In this 5-week book club, students will read and discuss Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
Janelle Fila
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4.6
Number of reviews:(903)
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What's included
5 pre-recorded lessons
5 weeks
of teacher support1 year access
to the contentHomework
2-4 hours per week. Students will read one act a week on their own time in. Each act contains 2-4 scenes. Students will have access to 3-4 new videos and a corresponding worksheet with vocabulary definitions, discussion questions and places for fill-in-the blank answers. I also assign a short writing assignment focused around that week's discussion questions and ask the students to share their responses in the classroom. There is an optional Kahoot! and supplemental daily activities to test their comprehension from the weekly reading.Assessment
The more questions, comments, and posts that students share in the classroom, the more I can understand their knowledge and comprehension of the topics we are discussing. Please let me know if a grade is required.Grading
Please let me know if you would like a grade for this course.Class Experience
US Grade 11 - 12
Othello is a Shakespeare tragedy about how mental health can lead to/promote physical violence. This tragedy is required reading for a lot of high school students. It is the perfect story for group discussion and analysis because Shakespeare's language and word choices can be hard to appreciate and understand when reading alone. Students will read one act on their own time. Each act contains 2-4 scenes. A separate video will discuss each scene the student reads (longer scenes may be broken into two videos/reading). I will also post a summary of each scene and a worksheet with vocabulary definitions to important words and phrases within the scene. I use the worksheets to address/remind the students of some of the important topics from each scene. The worksheets may also have space for short discussion questions and fill-in-the blank answers. Weekly Schedule Breakdown: Students will receive access to videos that discuss a different assigned scene. This class does not meet live. The prerecorded sessions will emphasize characters, their motivations, theme, social issues, story plausibility, and inferences about what might come next. Students will receive a scene summary paragraph and a corresponding worksheet with vocabulary definitions, discussion questions and places for fill-in-the blank answers for each day. Students will also have access to supplemental Shakespeare related jokes, puns, and activities to keep them immersed in the act. Students are assigned a one page writing assignment focused around that week's act. I ask the students to share their responses in the classroom to receive feedback. I also ask students to submit any vocabulary words they may still struggle with or passages the students still do not understand. The more questions the students ask, the more "discussion" we can have in the classroom after each scene/act. I also post a link for an optional online Kahoot! trivia game for the students to further immerse themselves in this week's reading before we move onto a new act the following week. Weekly, students will have access to: 3-4 videos, scene summaries, vocabulary and supplemental worksheets 1 one page weekly writing assignment to gauge the reader's understanding of their previous reading 1 optional Kahoot! trivia game as needed: supplemental interactive riddles, activities, etc.
Learning Goals
Week One: Act 1 (Scenes 1-3)
Week Two: Act 2 (Scenes 1-3)
Week Three: Act 3 Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3 is longer and will be broken down into 2 separate readings:
1) Start Scene 3, stopping at line 318 (Enter Desdemona and Emilia)
2) Read to the end of the Scene 3
Scene 4
Week Four: Act 4 (Scenes 1-3)
Week Five: Act 5 (Scenes 1-2) Scene 2 is longer and will be broken down into 2 separate readings:
1) Start Scene 2, stopping at line 203 (Enter Montano, Gratiano, and Iago)
2) Read to the end of the Scene 2
Each video will discuss the assigned scene to help students understand the information they have read. The prerecorded sessions will emphasize characters, their motivations, theme, story plausibility, and inferences about what might come next. We will also refer to any symbolism within the story and discuss what the author intended to represent with those symbols. Students will have opportunities to discuss their own thoughts through a worksheet and writing assignment. Vocabulary words and a Kahoot! review quiz will further immerse the students in the world and test their overall comprehension.
Syllabus
5 Lessons
over 5 WeeksLesson 1:
Act 1
Video lessons for each scene, worksheets, supplemental activities, a writing assignment, and an optional Kahoot! review quiz Lesson 2:
Act 2
Video lessons for each scene, worksheets, supplemental activities, a writing assignment, and an optional Kahoot! review quiz Lesson 3:
Act 3
Video lessons for each scene, worksheets, supplemental activities, a writing assignment, and an optional Kahoot! review quiz Lesson 4:
Act 4
Video lessons for each scene, worksheets, supplemental activities, a writing assignment, and an optional Kahoot! review quiz Other Details
Parental Guidance
From commonsensemedia.org: Parents need to know that Othello is a Black man in white Venice. Whenever characters such as Iago feel jealousy, fear, or simple hatred toward Othello, they vent their feelings by using racist slurs. For much of the play, Othello resists, ignores, or seems indifferent to the racism that dogs him. But eventually he internalizes Iago’s and others’ idea that his Blackness makes him barbarous. This belief, as much as his conviction of Desdemona’s guilt, allows Othello to kill his wife. Like many typical Shakespeare plays, characters smoke, drink, use drugs, and are brutally murdered.
Supply List
The students will need their own copy of Othello to read on their own. It can be borrowed from the library or even listened to as an audio book. The students will not need a physical copy of the story in class, although they may find it helpful to have when completing the writing assignments. I use a well-annotated edition that explains difficult words and constructions in class, but students may want an annotated edition for their own reading as well.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined June, 2019
4.6
903reviews
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Teacher expertise and credentials
Master's Degree in Music or Theatre or Arts from Spalding University
I have a Master's degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I was a substitute teacher for three years before teaching full-time on Outschool for multiple years. I also currently teach English Composition for universities in my home state. I have been blessed to discuss Shakespeare in the classroom multiple times, including my own high school reading experience! My high school English teacher was obsessed with Shakespeare and taught me the importance of understanding these often tragic plays. I learned a lot from her enthusiasm and hope to pass that passion on to my own students. I have read this play multiple times, but I learn something new every time I am exposed to this story. It is an excellent book to dissect and discuss how racism, fear, jealously, and hatred ultimately lead to violence. I am excited to read it alongside your student to see what emotions and feelings Shakespeare's writings stir up for them.Reviews
Self-Paced Course
$14
weekly or $70 for all content5 pre-recorded lessons
5 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content
Completed by 2 learners
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Ages: 16-18
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