I conduct classes in the schoolroom of a children’s orthopedic hospital. The students who come to my classroom have ability levels ranging from gifted and talented to mentally impaired. In my training to reach both ends of the learning spectrum, one aspect of curriculum stands out as an element that facilitates learning. Regardless of the intelligence levels we target, curriculum content should be connected to aspects of life relevant to the students. The curriculum I have prepared for the Houston Teacher’s Institute utilizes this principle as the basis for preparing children to listen to a Shakespearean play with a positive attitude and a readiness to learn. We will begin this unit with a discussion about rhythm and symmetry, which exists in many aspects of our lives. Since poetry and music reflect these two elements as well, we will share favorite poems and music. Then with a few of Shakespeare’s sonnets we will observe the patterns of symmetry and rhythm he created with words. From selected sonnets students can glimpse at the creative genius of Shakespeare to craft lines of verse in such a way that they produce a rhythm or beat similar to music or even waves beating against the shoreline. During this segment of the Shakespeare study, each student or group of students will recite a poem and a sonnet in front of the class following guidelines presented in the body of the curriculum. Shakespeare wrote to entertain, so our assignments require dramatic presentations. The third opportunity for the students to be creative and entertaining is in the form of a short scenario, which small groups compose for the class. Each scenario is a mini-play in which a teenager is in conflict with his/her parents because of an issue of importance to both parties. This assignment will help the class understand the difficulties Juliet faces when she marries Romeo. Because of the time spent orienting the class to the imagistic power of words and creating in them an awareness of how much rhythm and symmetry surround us, the opening sonnet of Romeo and Juliet should sound as familiar as a favorite new piece of music. Hopefully by the end of the play, ninth graders will successfully learn how to understand the lines of Romeo and Juliet using tools of interpretation effective for any of his works.