What stands the test of time?

For the past few weeks, we have been engaged in a Compare and Contrast unit. First, we watched Disney's The Lion King. As we watched, each student was responsible for creating a MindMap with information about the following topics: friendship, golden lines, decisions made/lessons learned, and connections.  Then, we read Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Students were suprised to discover that The Lion King actually mirrors the plot line of this Shakespearean play. Students also read an article about the new research that suggests that reading Shakespeare boosts brainpower. While we read Hamlet, students worked in small groups to create large MindMaps with the same topics as the Lion King maps.



As a final assessment, students were asked to compare and contrast the two "texts."  Then, they were asked to answer our unit question: What stands the test of time?  They were asked to use their MindMaps as a resource to identify and explain ideas and themes from Shakespeare's time that continue to remain relevant in today's texts. 

Throughout the unit, I was impressed by student engagement and interest in reading Hamlet. I often had more volunteers to read than there were parts!  In addition, students dazzled with their ability to translate Shakespearean language into modern English without any help from me. I was also impressed by the insightful connections that students made between the two texts.

Below you will find some more snapshots of the MindMaps as students were using highlighters to find and connect common ideas/themes/conflicts/etc between their individual Lion King MindMaps and their Hamlet group MindMaps.