Macbeth Unit
English 11
Ms. Bri Kent
Unit Outline : Macbeth
Bri Kent
Grade: 11
Time: 7 class periods (2h,20min)
Rationale of the Unit
Shakespeare’s works remain an integral part of Canadian English classrooms.
Despite the wide variety of texts available to the English 11 classroom, Macbeth
remains one of the most read and recommended pieces of literature. This unit uses
a thematic approach to Macbeth, putting a priority on the significant themes and
characters of the play. Topics such as ambition, addiction to power, guilt and
madness are all themes that have historical and present-day examples that students
can relate to. Macbeth will thus serve as springboard from which the class will learn
about these different themes, while developing their understanding of literary
devices and developing their writing skill.
Assessment Strategies:
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Spontaneous Quizzes: Oral and Written
o Quizzes at the beginnings of classes will serve to ensure that students
stay caught-up with readings. Quizzes will also serve to help students
connect to prior knowledge of previous classes before continuing with
new materials.
Power-writes at the beginning or end of class:
o Students will be asked to write on a random topic. Marks will be given
for the length of how much they wrote with specific guidelines on
page formatting. *Idea and specific directions adapted from Rain,
Steam and Speed: Building Fluency in Adolescent Writers by
Gerald Flemming.
o These activities serve to help students out of “writer’s block” that is
often brought on by fear of “I don’t know what the teacher wants me
to write.” These activities help kids tap into their own thoughts and
ideas.
o Power-writes may serve as an admission or exit ticket to connect to
prior knowledge or review what was covered that class.
o Power-writes would be used to increase fluency of literacy and
familiarity with time-restricted writing activities.
Group presentations:
o Acting out scenes, Technological (PowerPoint), visual (poster),
collaboration for oral presentations.
Final essay:
o An in-class essay for the final unit test will serve as a summative
assessment of the writing techniques learned through the unit as well
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as assessment of their understanding of the content and themes
within Macbeth.
Discussion activities:
o Think-pair-share
o 60-30-15
o Activities will serve as a means of review and consolidation of
learning.
Project-based work: Some of these will be in groups, others will be
individual:
o Re-write a scene in a different theme
o Interview with a character
o Mental-Health assessment of a character throughout the play.
 Projects will serve to consolidate student’s understanding of
the content of the play—themes, plot, characters, etc.
 Through project-based work, students will develop their skills
in group work, oral presentation and critical thinking.
 Several projects will require a synthesis of learning.
Admission/Exit tickets
Self-assessment and peer-assessment
o Projects
o In-class discussions
o Presentations
o 3 Stars and a Wish activities
Unit Progression:
Class 1:
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Introduction to Shakespeare
o Shakespeare’s life
o The Play: Macbeth
Introduction to theatre
o Drama terms/elements
o Importance of elements of dramatic performance
Reading strategies:
o Language devices
o Comprehension strategies
Brief introduction to Macbeth
Class 2:
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Introduction to themes of Macbeth
o Famous quotations: Introduce themes
Background to the play
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o Historical context
o Background information
o Drama terms/elements
In Class Reading of Act I, Scene i
o Audio tape reading
o Homework assignment on Act I,i
Reading strategies:
o Language devices
o Comprehension strategies
Read the remainder of Act 1 in groups and do a brief presentation on the
content of each scene.
Power-write on the theme of ambition.
Class 3:
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Act 2:
o Group work – Presentations on Scenes
o Imagery
o Character review through group work
 Gender roles
 Tragic Hero
 Character developments
 Stereotypes
Class 4:
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Act 3 and 4
o 6 Elements of Tragedy
 Facilitated through ambition
o Character Development: Changes in setting
 Psychopathic tendencies
o Allusion to drugs (ambition) and addiction (power)
Film Version
Class 5:
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Act 5:
o Re-writing of scenes and re-enactment of the scenes.
 Review of each scene
 Class discussion and self/peer assessment
Film Version
Class 6:
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Relevance: historical and contemporary
o Ambition and power
o Hitler, Mugabe, Macbeth
o Socratic Circle
Destruction caused by ambition driven too far
Failure of Humanity
o T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”
Film Version
Power-Write
o Is Macbeth worth studying?
Class 7:
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Review:
o Presentation of Mental-Health diagnosis of central characters
o Review of plot, content, themes, etc.
o Text Connect: Lord of the Flies
o Good vs. Evil
 Present-day and historical
Class 8: Unit Test
Class 3 – Macbeth, Act 2
Enduring Understandings:
By studying Macbeth students will:
- Gain understanding about the negative impact that ambition can have on one’s
life
- Have opportunity to talk about addiction and mental illness
- Gain confidence in their understanding of Shakespeare
- Develop skills in essay writing by looking specifically at sentence and
paragraph construction.
- Gain an understanding of the relevance of many of the themes in Macbeth.
In this lesson on Act 2, students will:
- Develop use of different sentence starters
- Increase their writing fluency with a power-write activity
- Develop understanding of the play by acting out scenes and discussing them in
small groups.
- Strengthen their understanding of the characters and how characters have
developed over the first and second acts of the play.
- Develop acting skills and understand that Macbeth is, first and foremost, a play,
and should be read as such.
Learning Intentions – PLO’s
It is expected that students will…
- A1-Interact and collaborate in pairs and groups
- A2- Express ideas and information in a variety of situations and forms
- A4- Select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to interact and collaborate
with others in pairs and groups.
- A5-Select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to prepare oral
communications.
- A10-Speak and listen to synthesize and extend thinking.
- A11- Use metacognitive strategies to reflect on and assess their speaking and
listening
- B6- During reading and viewing, select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies
to construct, monitor and confirm meaning.
- B7- After reading and viewing select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to
extend and confirm meaning, and to consider author’s craft.
- B11- Use metacognitive strategies to reflect on and assess their reading and
viewing
- B12- Recognize and explain how structures and features of text shape
readers and viewers construction of meaning and appreciation of author’s
craft.
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C4-Create thoughtful representations that communicate ideas and
information.
CONNECT: [Before and During]
20 minutes:
- When students enter the class the teacher will have listed several sentence
starters on the board. The teacher will give a brief introduction on the
importance of sentence starters by reading examples of a paragraph without
interesting sentence starters and an alternate paragraph that has engaging
sentence starters.
- After checking for understanding on how sentence starters improve writing
and engage the reader, the teacher will introduce the theme of the day’s
power-write assignment: the topic of guilt.
- Students will have 15 minutes to write as much as they can on guilt
incorporating at least three sentence starters into their paragraph.
- Power-writes will be marked based solely on length of journal entry in
accordance with instructions from Gerald Flemming’s text, Rain, Steam and
Speed: Increasing Fluency in Adolescent Writers.
5 minutes:
- Teacher will divide class into A/B partners and have them talk about two
questions. In order to answer these questions, students will have to reflect
upon what they learned in the first class on Macbeth where the class
discussed elements of drama and dramatic performance as well as reading
strategies for Shakespeare.
o Questions for consideration (will be written on the board):
1. What are three things that enhance a dramatic
performance?
2. When reading Macbeth what are three strategies we can
use to understand the content of the play?
PROCESS: [During]
45 minutes:
- After the students have been given a couple minutes to consider the two
questions, A-partners will report their answer to question one and Bpartners will report their answer to question 2.
- The teacher will then explain that the class will be split into four groups: one
group for each scene in Act 2. Students will have time to read over their
scene together. They will use the strategies discussed to understand the
content of the play and then incorporate the dramatic elements to construct
a performed reading of their scene.
- The teacher will explain that the students are being graded on three things
and give examples of achievement of these: The level of effort shown in their
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dramatic performance, their understanding of the content, their participation
within their groups and as members of the audience.
o Scene 1: (3 main characters, 2 servants)
o Scene 2: (2 main characters, 1 servant)
o Scene 3: (8 main characters, 1 servant)
o Scene 4: (3 main characters)
If there are more than 20 students in your class, appoint four directors (more
outgoing students) that can encourage the use of dramatic elements.
If there are still students who are not involved in a performance, have them
read over the scene and create signs like “gasp,” “boo,” “applause,” etc. to
guide the audience.
(CLASS BREAK)
40 minutes:
- The teacher will explain that the groups will now perform their scenes.
Following the scene, the audience will say three things that that group did
well and one thing that they could have improved. The teacher will then
briefly review the content of that scene, inviting the audience to state what
they observed in each scene.
- Have each group act out their scene and briefly talk about the content of
each scene, sharing 3 stars and a wish for each group.
- Student performances will be marked on a rubric. – Please see attached.
TRANSFORM: [During and After]
25 minutes:
- Using pictures (see attached PowerPoint) students will discuss some of the
character developments that have taken place over the past two acts
(Witches, Banquo, Duncan, Malcolm, Macbeth, Macduff, Lady Macbeth).
- The teacher will put a picture of the character up on the screen and the
students will have 60 seconds to form a list of developments that have taken
place to change or develop that character. Students will work with their A/B
partners and take turns reporting items on their list.
- The teacher will take ideas presented into consideration, but also expand
upon the ideas of Macbeth as a tragic hero, identifying traditional
conventions. Time will also be spent in consideration of how women in the
play are represented (Lady Macbeth and the Witches).
- If there is time, the students could also brain-storm some predictions they
have about how the characters will further develop in throughout the play.
REFLECT: [After]
5 minutes:
Exit Ticket
- Question: How is the character of Macbeth similar to how he was introduced
in Act 1? (list three things) How is he different? (list 3 things) – Please see
attached
ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE: Performance Tasks
- The A/B partner activity in which partner’s discussed dramatic elements and
performance will show the teacher how much students can recall from the
first class.
- By acting out the scene, groups will show their comprehension of the
meaning of the text. The teacher can gauge their comprehension by viewing
their performance.
- By discussing each performance, the students will gain understanding of
what the plot developments were in Act 2. They will also be given a chance to
give each other constructive feedback on their performance.
- By listening to the observations made during the class discussion following
each scene, the teacher will gain further insight into what students are
deducting about the play thus far.
- During the character development activity, the teacher will gain insight into
how much the students have observed about character developments and
character traits by listening to what the A/B partners report.
- Attached rubrics will provide further guidance on assessment of the lessons.
ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE: Other Evidence
- The 15 minute power-write at the beginning of the class will help the teacher
gauge the student’s familiarity with sentence starters as well as observe any
improvements in their writing fluency.
- The exit ticket will serve to show the teacher how well the students are able
to recognize the changes in Macbeth’s character.
- Throughout the performances, students will be given opportunity to assess
each other by reviewing each performance. By commenting on what needs
improvement in other groups work, students will be encouraged to consider
what could be improved in their own performance.
Class 5 – Macbeth, Act 5
Enduring Understandings:
By studying Macbeth students will:
- Gain understanding about the negative impact that ambition can have on one’s
life
- Have opportunity to talk about addiction and mental illness
- Gain confidence in their understanding of Shakespeare
- Develop skills in essay writing by looking specifically at sentence and
paragraph construction.
- Gain an understanding of the relevance of many of the themes in Macbeth.
In this lesson on Act 5, students will:
- Develop their ability to draw out content and main plot details of a scene and
adapt it in a new way.
- Synthesize their understanding of the scene and reconstruct it according to a
new set of themes and motifs.
- Showcase their understanding of Shakespeare by re-writing and acting out the
scenes.
- Gain understanding of the plot and character developments within Act 5.
- Collaborate in groups.
- Creatively respond to the text.
- Take part in discussion to further understanding about the text and
performances.
Learning Intentions – PLO’s
It is expected that students will…
- A1-Interact and collaborate in pairs and groups
- A2- Express ideas and information in a variety of situations and forms
- A4- Select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to interact and collaborate
with others in pairs and groups.
- A5-Select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to prepare oral
communications.
- A10-Speak and listen to synthesize and extend thinking.
- A11- Use metacognitive strategies to reflect on and assess their speaking and
listening
- B6- During reading and viewing, select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies
to construct, monitor and confirm meaning.
- B7- After reading and viewing select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to
extend and confirm meaning, and to consider author’s craft.
- B10- Synthesize and extend thinking about texts
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B12- Recognize and explain how structures and features of text shape
readers and viewers construction of meaning and appreciation of author’s
craft.
C1- Write meaningful personal texts that elaborate on ideas and information.
C3-Write effective imaginative texts to develop ideas and information
C4-Create thoughtful representations that communicate ideas and
information.
C10- Write and represent to synthesize and extend thinking
CONNECT: [Before and During]
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During this activity, students will have to access their prior knowledge of
character traits and developments. They will also have to access their prior
knowledge of Shakespearean verse and comprehension.
PROCESS: [During]
1 hour, 20 minutes
- There are eleven scenes in Act 5. The teacher will begin by splitting the
students into groups of two or three so that there are eleven groups.
- The teacher will explain that each group will sign up for a scene and then
they will pick a style of interpretation. Interpretations to choose from are:
o Mafia, Aussie’s, Soap Opera, Western, British, Talk Show Debrief,
News Broadcast, Space Opera, Interpretive Dance/Poetry Reading,
Children’s Story, and Cave Men.
- Once groups have picked an interpretation and a scene, the teacher will
instruct them that they are to re-write the scene in the language of the
interpretation they chose.
- Referencing a previous scene, the teacher will read part of the play and have
students reconstruct it in each of the suggested interpretations. The teacher
will emphasize that students do not have to re-write the scene line by line.
Instead they are encouraged to read a chunk of text, summarize it and create
a dialogue that suits that part of the action.
- Students will review the rubric with the class and inform them of the
expectations, giving examples where necessary. – Please see attached.
- Each theme will have some additional specific guidelines that the teacher will
review. – Please see attached.
- The teacher will ensure students are clear on their instructions and then give
them the remaining time before break and ten minutes after break to
prepare their scenes.
TRANSFORM: [During and After]
1 hour
- Students will analyze the text, extract the meaning and re-write it according
to their theme.
- Each group is responsible to hand in a written copy of their script.
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Groups will then perform their scene for the class, or read it to the class
depending on which style of interpretation they chose.
After each scene, the class will briefly de-brief, discuss what happened in that
scene. Students will come up with three things that the group did well and
one thing that they could have improved on.
REFLECT: [After]
- Following each performance, students will write a 1-4 sentence summary of
what the plot of each scene was.
- This scene-by-scene summary will serve as an Exit Ticket to ensure students
grasp the basic plot of Act 5.
ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE: Performance Tasks:
- Student performances will be marked based on the rubric. - Please see
attached
- Through the scripts that student’s hand in, their performances, and the Exit
Tickets, the teacher will gain understanding regarding the comprehension
levels of the students.
- The teacher will be able to see their ability to read the text and synthesize
their learning to create an interpretation of a scene through both their
performance and their handed-in script.
ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE: Other Evidence:
- Students will be able to reflect on each other’s performances and their own
and comment on their development.
- Hopefully this activity – adapting Shakespeare to new interpretations—will
help students celebrate their learning and realize that their familiarity with
Shakespearean language has developed.
EXIT TICKET
MACBETH
Questions
1. How is the character of Macbeth similar to how he was introduced in Act 1?
(list three things)
2. How is Macbeth different? (list 3 things)
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EXIT TICKET
MACBETH
Questions
1. How is the character of Macbeth similar to how he was introduced in Act 1?
(list three things)
2. How is Macbeth different? (list 3 things)
Macbeth Rewritten
Review your scene of Macbeth Act 5 and adapt it
according to the theme you have chosen.
Depending on which theme your group has chosen
there will be some differing criteria. Mafia,
Western, Soap Opera, Space Opera, Aussies,
British, Cave Men – Focus primarily on language
of the text, slang and behaviors of the
characters.
Talk-Show Debrief – Act as though you are on a talk show talking
about your scene as though it was a recent event in your life.
Through the talk show hosts questions and the answers, it should
be obvious what the plot of the story was.
News Broadcast – Have one person be on sight while the scene is
happening. Have him commenting on the scene. Maybe have
interviews with the characters in the scene if appropriate.
Interpretive Dance/Poetry Reading – This theme should be done
with one person reading a “poetic rendition” of the scene’s
plot, while the other person(s) act it out in an interpretive
dance.
Children’s Story – Re-write the scene as though it were a
children’s story. Have one or both people read the story. Or
have one person act out what is happening while the other reads.
**For all the theme’s the following criteria applies**
- Names of characters can be changed slightly, but it should still
be obvious who each character is.
- The plot should remain the same.
- Setting, props and behaviors can be altered according to the
theme.
You will be graded on the following:
- Understanding the content (plot, characters, action) of the
scene.
- How well you incorporate your chosen theme into the scene.
- Originality and effort put into your performance.
- How you behave as an audience when others are performing.
- A copy of your script.