Resilience in Celebration

Overview

In this lesson (7 of 32) of the unit Voices of Courage and Resilience, students conduct a scaffolded close reading of Act One, Scene 5 (the Hanukkah scene). They analyse how meaning is created through language choices, stage directions, and character reactions to reveal hidden emotional conflict within a moment of celebration.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify how playwrights build characterisation through language forms, features and structures in drama.
• Students will annotate a scene using a guided focus on connotation, imagery/symbol, point of view and implied emotion.
• Students will explain how a single scene can represent multiple layers of character at once.
• Students will use evidence from the scene to support a discussion about values, attitudes and perspective.

Success criteria

• I can annotate the scene by quoting key lines and recording what each language choice suggests about inner conflict.
• I can use stage directions and character reactions to infer emotion and possible hidden feeling.
• I can explain how the scene creates meaning for more than one character simultaneously.
• I can contribute to a discussion using textual evidence and clear reasoning.

Curriculum links

• Students analyse how meaning is created through increasingly complex language forms, features and structures.
• Students use personal, creative and critical strategies to interpret complex texts, including reading/viewing for meaning and reflecting on interpretations.
• Students evaluate how texts represent ideas and experiences and how they can affirm or challenge values and attitudes.
• Students investigate and explain ways of valuing texts and relationships between them through genre conventions and intertextual links.
• Students craft and refine responses using controlled language features for audience and purpose.

Content Outcomes

• EN5-URA-01: Students analyse how meaning is created through the use and interpretation of increasingly complex language forms, features and structures.
• EN5-ECA-01: Students craft personal, creative and critical texts for a range of audiences by experimenting with and controlling language forms and features to shape meaning.
• EN5-RVL-01: Students use a range of personal, creative and critical strategies to interpret complex texts.
• EN5-URC-01: Students investigate and explain ways of valuing texts and the relationships between them.
• EN5-URB-01: Students evaluate how texts represent ideas and experiences, and how they can affirm or challenge values and attitudes.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (moment of celebration). Teacher displays two quick prompts: “What does celebration try to hide or protect?” and “What tells you someone is not okay, even if they smile?” Students do a silent think, then turn-and-talk with one specific example from any text they know.

2. 5–12 min · Modelling close reading (guided). Teacher re-reads a short excerpt from the Hanukkah scene (about 2–3 minutes of reading time) aloud, stopping at pre-selected lines and one stage direction. Teacher models annotation: colour-code or label language choice, connotation/imagery, reaction, and inference (“suggests…”, “implies…”, “contrasts…”). Students observe the process, not the answers.

3. 12–25 min · Scaffolded annotation (Act One, Scene 5). Students work in pairs with the annotation guide. The class uses a shared “annotation focus menu”:

• Language choices: verbs/adjectives, repetition, shifts in tone
• Connotation/imagery/symbol: what the Hanukkah element symbolises or contrasts
• Stage directions: movement, distance, stillness, sound, pauses
• Character reactions: what changes when celebration begins Students annotate their assigned section of the scene (teacher provides short “allocated chunks” to ensure time). Teacher circulates, prompting with sentence starters:
• “The playwright uses… to suggest…”
• “This stage direction implies… because…”
• “The character’s reaction shows… even though…”

4. 25–35 min · Whole-class discussion (single scene, multiple layers). Teacher facilitates a structured discussion using one guiding question: “How can the same celebration moment reveal different inner conflicts for different characters?” Students share one annotation each, then the class builds a “layer map” on the board (Character → Evidence → Inference → Effect on audience).

5. 35–42 min · Evaluate values/attitudes (short written reasoning). Students choose one character (or the ensemble voice) and write 4–5 sentences responding to: “What values or attitudes does this scene affirm or challenge?” They must include at least two pieces of evidence (a quote and a stage direction). Teacher reminds students to analyse, not summarise.

6. 42–45 min · Exit ticket (formative check). Students complete: “One language/stage choice that reveals hidden feeling is… because…” Teacher collects for quick review of annotation accuracy and reasoning.

Resources

• Printed copy of Act One, Scene 5 (with stage directions visible)
• Scaffolded annotation guide (one per student or shared sheet)
• Highlighters/colour pencils or digital annotation tool
• Board/markers for the “layer map”
• Sentence starter strips for inference and evidence
• Timer and brief excerpt for teacher modelling

Assessment

• Formative during annotation: teacher checks that students label language choice/stage direction/reaction and make an inference grounded in evidence.
• Formative discussion: teacher listens for clarity of reasoning and accurate reference to textual evidence.
• Exit ticket: evaluates whether students can connect specific language/stage choices to hidden emotions and implied meaning.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters, a “quote bank” of 6–8 short lines students can select from, and a reduced annotation target (fewer boxes to complete) for students needing scaffolding.
• Support for EAL: allow annotation in two stages (first identify what happens; then infer meaning), and permit brief first-language discussion before writing.
• Extension: challenge students to identify one moment of contrast (public celebration vs private feeling) and explain how structure/timing in the scene intensifies tension.
• SEN adjustments: offer a smaller scene chunk, and/or allow audio rehearsal of the excerpt before annotation.