With themes ranging from drunkenness to deception, from bullying to love, and from abuse of power to the pursuit of greatness—this play offers so much to explore.

But if you want your learner to get excited about reading this challenging text, they will need to be excited to delve into the book and feel empowered to tackle the difficult language on their own.

They’ll also need help to make connections between their own lives and those of these fictional characters from so long ago.

When your learner follows my proven, step-by-step methods, they will learn to understand the language and appreciate the artistry of the play and ultimately, to understand their own lives a little bit better.

The writing prompts, paired texts, and activities that I include in this unit have been honed over years of teaching this classic play. 

When your learner studies Twelfth Night with this innovative flex class they will:

--Improve their writing fluency and comfort by writing on frequent, engaging quick-write prompts that relate to the essential questions and themes of the play.

--See a noted improvement in their close reading skills and reading comprehension when they learn to engage independently with the text using the supportive yet challenging questions and writing prompts.

--Bring their writing to the next level with multiple prompts, essay questions, innovative creative writing assignments, and step-by-step writing instructions.

--Gain the confidence and skills they need to read a Shakespeare play on their own when they utilize the time-tested comprehension questions on the play.

--Participate in engaging virtual discussions on relevant and compelling topics such as bullying, love, power dynamics, class struggles, and revenge.

Each week, students will complete three lessons on a manageable section of the play. They should expect to spend about an hour on each assignment.

1. They'll start off writing on a quick-write prompts to get them focused and thinking about the themes of the play. 

2. Next, they'll read a brief summary of action and plot of the assigned portion of the play so they know what is happening and can focus on the bigger themes and literary elements of the play.

3. They'll listen to an audio of a professional production of a manageable section of the play as they read along; these audios will be between 10 and 20 minutes or so.  I've found that this method results in good understanding and comprehension for most students.

4.  Students will complete questions for close reading and comprehension on the assigned scene or scenes focusing on the most important elements for plot, theme, and literary elements.  They'll turn those questions in for review so I can ensure that they are getting what they need from the text..

5.  They'll write a short, informal response to online discussion questions; they'll also respond to other students and/or the teacher’s responses.

Once a week, students will also complete the following:

1. Students will choose one contemporary supplementary source such as a TED Talk, newspaper articles, or modern poem that relates to the bigger themes of the unit as a whole.  After reading/watching the source, they'll answer a few questions on it and write about how it relates to the unit as a whole in the class discussion.

2.  Students will choose from 2-4 prompts for an informal creative writing, analytical, or argumentative writing essay draft on which they’ll write a one- or two-page informal response.  (We’ll come back to these at the end of the class when they’ll choose one to revise and edit for a final draft.)

In the final week of the class:

Students will complete a final writing assignment of their choice, either a creative writing assignment or a literary essay based on their rough drafts from the class. I'll give them specific suggestions for revision and editing and will work to revise and edit their work.