Setting: It's Where It’s At

In this lesson, students experiment with changing the setting in well-known fairy tales and examine how the conflict might shift in the new setting. Students then explore the Prologue from "Romeo and Juliet" and analyze how the setting affects the conflict and characters. Students conclude by rewriting the Prologue with their own twist.

Grade(s) Subject Time Frame Duration Course Modality
9th ELA 45 - 60 Minutes 2 - 3 Class Periods ELA

Face-To-Face

Standards

9.3.R.3: Students will analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts:

Essential Question

What is the nature of conflict?

How can the setting of a story affect conflict?

5E Snapshot:

1. Engage

Students analyze how changing the setting in a fairy tale might affect the conflict and characters.

2. Explore

Students watch a dramatic reading of the Prologue from “Romeo and Juliet,” and then complete a close reading of the text.

3. Explain

Students watch a video about the importance of setting in a story and consider how both the conflict and the characters in “Romeo and Juliet” might change if the setting were different. 

4. Extend

Students revise the Prologue from “Romeo and Juliet,” creating a different rivalry and changing the characters, the setting, and the conflict.

5. Evaluate

Students reflect on what they have learned about how setting affects the different elements of a story.

Facilitator's Checklist