Grade 7 English Students Debate the Legacy of Brutus in Extended Shakespeare Unit

Students studied selected scenes from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar over several weeks.
St. Margaret’s grade 7 student wrapped up an extended unit exploring the literature and history around Julius Caesar and Brutus, one of his most noteworthy foes. The unit culminated this week with a virtual debate examining the legacy of Brutus, defending or countering the resolution “Brutus was the noblest Roman of them all.”
 
The unit started in March as students read a summary of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and studied selected scenes from the original play over several weeks.
 
“We used the Say-Mean-Matter approach from Kelly Gallagher, a deep-reading methodology that is also used in the Upper School,” Middle School English teacher Christie McMahon said.
 
Students then examined the complicated legacy of Brutus, Caesar’s most famous assassin, writing, editing and rewriting scripts and forming research-backed arguments that took a position on Brutus’ place in Ancient Roman history.
 
"I am so proud of the resilience and adaptability my students showed throughout the remote learning experience,” Mrs. McMahon said. “Tackling Shakespeare for the first time can be challenging in any circumstances, but for their debates, they rose to the occasion, creating thought-provoking arguments to judge the true worth of Brutus' character."
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