Curated OER
Macbeth News Broadcast
Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...
Curated OER
Analyzing Atmosphere: Macbeth Murder Scene and Dagger Speech
Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scenes I and II) lacks explicit details of the murder of King Duncan, yet the author creates an atmosphere that allows us to visualize the event. Readers interpret the "Dagger Speech" by writing stage...
Shakespeare Uncovered
“Speak, I Charge You”: Macbeth On Your Feet, Not In Your Seat
“Is this a dagger which I see before me . . .” As part of a study of Macbeth, class members engage in a series of activities that get them up and moving. Individuals practice, then deliver, a line from the Scottish play. The entire class...
Curated OER
Macbeth
Students explore and analyze how to approach Shakespeare and create more meaning in a variety of contexts. In groups, they imagine three witches on the heath and trying to play it straight. They study various script extracts to evaluate.
Literacy Design Collaborative
Macbeth: Influence of Supernatural
Something wickedly wonderful this way comes in a lesson that focuses on Macbeth. After a close reading of the play, class members craft a literary analysis essay in which they use evidence from the text to show how Shakespeare uses the...
British Council
Macbeth
Double the fun of studying Shakespeare with an interactive that introduces English learners to Macbeth. After watching a short, animated video that presents key elements of the plot, class members complete a worksheet identifying the...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fear and the "Dagger of the Mind"
High schoolers read and analyze Shakespeare's play, 'Macbeth.' They analyze how Shakespeare uses metaphors, imagery and dramatic cues to demonstrate Macbeth's response to fear, and perform without words a scene dramatizing Macbeth's...
Curated OER
Macbeth: Denouement/Falling Action
Readers of Shakespeare explore denouement in Macbeth and track the play's falling action in Act IV, Scene 1. They complete a worksheet/table noting the content and significance of each of the three apparitions granted Macbeth by the...
Curated OER
Exploring the Expository Scenes in Macbeth
Students examine the function of exposition in play structure. They will be able to develop multiple interpretations and visual and aural production choices for Shakespearean scenes and choose those that are most interesting.
PBS
Supernatural Shakespeare and Macbeth
"A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come." The withered and wild witches of Shakespeare’s Scottish play launch an examination of the fantastical elements in Act I, scene iii, paying particular attention to the action, imagery,...
Curated OER
Macbeth - Analyzing Characterization in Drama
The writing activity in this lesson could be used to assess student understanding of previously taught concepts of how language reveals character.
National Literacy Trust
Mark The Bard!
Commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a packet of cross-curricular literacy lessons and activities centered around two of the Bard's most popular plays, Macbeth and The Tempest. Class members look for evidence of...
Curated OER
MacBeth Activity Using Alanis Morissette's "Wake Up"
Learners analyze Macbeth through the lens of a pop song. In this Macbeth lesson plan, students read Act I, Scene 7 of Macbeth and determine Lady Macbeth's viewpoint. Learners read the lyrics to Alanis Morrissette's song 'Wake Up' and...
Curated OER
Acting in Marriage-Is It on Stage or Off?
Students compare views of marriage in Macbeth and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In this comparative literature lesson, students discuss and debate the marriages of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth Brick and Maggie's...
Curated OER
When Shall We Three Meet Again?
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Macbeth’s witches provide young actors an opportunity to try their hand at small ensemble acting. Using Act I, scene I of Shakespeare’s play, groups of three take turns...
Curated OER
Macbeth: Shakespeare for Elementary Students (Elementary, Literature)
Students act out a fully realized Shakespearean play designed to be utilized by mid level elementary students.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fear and the Motives of Evil
Students use an online search engine (or a printed concordance) to locate passages that highlight Macbeth's response to fear and his descent into evil. They analyze the motives of Macbeth's increasingly desperate and evil actions.
Curated OER
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fear and Motives of Evil
Students complete play and vocabulary analysis for William Shakespeare's Macbeth. In this Macbeth analysis lesson, students use an online research engine to locate passages that highlight Macbeth's response to fear and his descent into...
Curated OER
Can You Hear Macbeth Now?
Students explore how sound affects scene understanding using the Shakespeare play Macbeth. In this audio and play analysis lesson, students respond to Macbeth events as if they were at a sporting event. Students listen to parts of the...
Curated OER
The Macbeth Tango
Students examine how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth relate to each other in individual scenes and throughout the play. By taking elements of that relationship and making them physical, students analyze the Macbeths' marriage on many different...
Curated OER
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's Tortured Sonnet
Students read four of Shakespeare's sonnets and determine whether they are read from Macbeth's or Lady Macbeth's point of view. They support their decision using evidence from the text.
Curated OER
When Fair is Foul: Paradox and Equivocation in Macbeth
Students read Macbeth for examples of paradox and equivocation in the text. In this literature-response lesson, students work in groups to analyze Shakespeare's writing for use of paradox using handouts to guide their search. Student...
Curated OER
Macbeth Madness
Young scholars research Macbeth online and complete computer and graphing activities for the play. In this Macbeth activities lesson, students research Macbeth and bookmark the URL's. Young scholars complete activities for the topic on...
Curated OER
Macbeth: What's Up with the Crime Scene?
Students are introduced to Macbeth by having them act out the scene where Duncan's murder is discovered. This activity enable students to use dialogue only to discover the structure and format of a scene and explain plot.