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The big M Year level: 10Unit of work contributed by Inga Weber, Balranald Central School, NSW

Act 4, scene 1, the witches in their cavern, gathered around the boiling cauldron. Copyright Photolibrary.

About the unit

Unit descriptionThis unit is designed for students who find the subject of English difficult, and who have little experience with Shakespeare. It introduces students to a basic appreciation of Shakespeare, his life and times, and the story, characters and themes of Macbeth.

Knowledge, understandings, skills, valuesStudents will:

understand the play Macbeth in the context in which it was written

work cooperatively in groups to create shared work for performance

experiment with different ways of imaginatively and interpretively transforming the text

explore characters, roles, situations and actions through drama activities.

Focus questions Who was Macbeth and was he doomed from the very beginning?

What are the main themes of the play and are they still relevant to today’s audience?

Did Shakespeare write Macbeth for King James I or to teach society a lesson about witches?

© Education Services Australia Ltd, 2010, except where indicated otherwiseThe big M by Inga Weber, Balranald Central School, NSW

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ResourcesInternet sites Shakespeare insult kit: http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

Bell Shakespeare Just Macbeth! podcast: http://archive.bellshakespeare.com.au/education (select ‘Resources’, then ‘Podcast’ and then scroll down)

Wordle ‘word cloud’ generator: http://www.wordle.net

Tag Galaxy image exploration tool: http://taggalaxy.com

Macbeth rap video (‘Sound and fury’): http://www.flocabulary.com (select ‘Free teacher resources’, then ‘Free songs & videos’, then scroll down)

Print Macbeth, William Shakespeare (your preferred edition)

Shakespeare stories, Leon Garfield, Penguin, 1997

Just Macbeth!, Andy Griffiths, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2009

DVDs Macbeth, directed by Roman Polanski, 1971

Shakespeare in love, directed by John Madden, 1998

Other resources Computer with speakers, data projector and wall or screen

DVD player and television

Whiteboard and whiteboard markers

Attached printable resourcesThe following learning resources are available for you to modify, print and use in your own classroom.

Plot summary exercise

Moved synopsis

Hot seat


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http://www.flocabulary.com/

http://taggalaxy.com/

http://www.wordle.net/

http://archive.bellshakespeare.com.au/education

http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

Teaching the unit

Setting the sceneResources Macbeth, William Shakespeare (your preferred edition)

Shakespeare in love, directed by John Madden, 1998

Macbeth, directed by Roman Polanski, 1971

Shakespeare stories, Leon Garfield, Penguin, 1997

Shakespeare insult kit: http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

Computer with speakers, data projector and wall or screen


Whiteboard and whiteboard markers

Plot summary exercise (page 10)

Moved synopsis (pages 11–14)

Teaching and learning activitiesShakespeare? You’ve got to be kidding!Graffiti activityProvide one whiteboard marker for each student. Divide the whiteboard into two sections, one labelled ‘Shakespeare’s life’ and the other ‘Shakespeare’s times’. Allow students five minutes to graffiti the whiteboard with words, phrases, images or diagrams that represent their prior knowledge of Shakespeare. After five minutes, students return to their seats and discuss their work.

As a follow up, you might like to show the opening scenes of the film Shakespeare in love.

Group researchPlace students into groups of three or four to generate research questions about Shakespeare’s life and times. Point students to their graffiti board for inspiration for forming questions.

When they have completed their question brainstorming, record questions on the board, then group these so that you have the same number of question groups as you have groups of students. Ensure that you cover all the basic areas of Shakespeare’s life and times.

Provide students with adequate research time in your library or resource centre.

Ask each group to present its findings to the class. You might like to give students the opportunity to present this information in a variety of ways, using PowerPoint, drama, song, rap etc.


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Starting outRead the story of Macbeth from Shakespeare stories by Leon Garfield.

Ask for student responses to the following questions.

What is the story is about?

Ask them to write a response in 50 words. When students have completed this task, ask them to share what they have written with the whole class or a small group. When this has been done, ask them to write their answer in ten words or less, then repeat the sharing process.

What aspect of the story captured your interest most?

Discuss responses and ask students to keep a record of this for future use.

Hand out ‘Plot summary exercise’ (page 10) and ask students to complete this.

Moved synopsisUse key lines to tell the basic story and let students act out certain key parts. Quotes to incorporate in the retelling are found on pages 13–14 of the ‘Moved synopsis’ guidelines. These can be selected or added to according to your focus.

Insults Elizabethan style! Use a data projector to show students the Shakespeare insult kit:


Students form pairs or trios to take up positions around the room. Groups prepare an insult by taking one word from each of the three columns. They then come up with a gesture for each word, and a way to perform it (all at once, one person per word, etc). Students then fire an insult at the group to their right, one by one. Repeat activity with audience becoming involved (oohs, aahs and boos as appropriate).

Popcorn timeShow the film Macbeth directed by Roman Polanski.

After viewing, ask students to note in dot-point form:

What was in the film that you expected based on your preliminary understanding of the story?

What did you find unexpected and surprising in the film?

What did you find interesting? What aspects of the film require discussion?

AssessmentAsk students to retell the plot of Macbeth as though they were explaining it to a friend. They can acknowledge the bits that they are unclear about – they don’t need to know it perfectly. This can be an oral or written task.

Assessment could include observational notes about students’ level of participation, understanding and confidence when sharing work.


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InvestigatingResources Computer with speakers for whole-class listening

Data projector and wall or screen

Bell Shakespeare Just Macbeth! podcast: http://archive.bellshakespeare.com.au/education (select ‘Resources’, then ‘Podcast’ and then scroll down)

Just Macbeth!, Andy Griffiths, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2009

Macbeth, William Shakespeare (your preferred edition)


Macbeth, directed by Roman Polanski, 1971

Word cloud tool such as Wordle: http://www.wordle.net

Image exploration tool such as Tag Galaxy: http://taggalaxy.com

Teaching and learning activitiesPodding aboutListen to the Bell Shakespeare podcast about Just Macbeth!. (Go to: http://archive.bellshakespeare.com.au/education and select ‘Resources’ and then ‘Podcast’. Then scroll down.)

Understanding by comparingChoose two scenes from the first two acts of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Locate their equivalents in Just Macbeth! Divide the class into two groups. Assign Shakespeare’s scenes to one group and Griffiths’s scenes to the other. Ask students to read their scenes aloud in their groups, and then discuss what they think are the main ideas in each scene.

Bring the class together and ask the different groups to read their scenes for each other.

Discuss:

To what extent did you find Just Macbeth! helpful in establishing meaning in the scenes?

Does the play make more sense when it is read aloud?

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy. Do you think Just Macbeth! is a valid interpretation?

Polanski’s perspectiveRead Act 1, scene 1 of the play and then show the same scene from Polanski’s film version.

Ask students to comment on whether they consider Polanski’s rendering to be effective and why or why not.

Divide students into groups of three to prepare their own version of this scene. They must use a contemporary setting and language. After preparation and rehearsal time, have the groups perform their scenes for the class.

Follow the performances with a discussion that focuses on issues surrounding the re-interpretation of texts.


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Up close and personal 1: the character of MacbethAsk students to read the following Macbeth soliloquies in groups:

Act 1, scene 3 ‘Two truths are told …’

Act 1, scene 7 ‘If it were done when ’tis done …’

Act 2, scene 1 ‘Is this a dagger …’

Act 3, scene 1 ‘To be thus is nothing …’

Act 4, scene 1 ‘Time thou anticipatest …’

Act 5, scene 5 ‘She should have died hereafter …’

What does each of these soliloquies tell us about Macbeth as a person and his journey within?

Ask students to share their responses with the rest of the class.

Tell them that tableaux are group-created frozen pictures based on an idea, theme, or key moment in a story. As a group, they can prepare a series of tableaux to represent Macbeth’s journey, and then present their tableaux to the class.

Show students the Wordle website: http://www.wordle.net.

Wordle is an application used for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can feed each of the above soliloquies into Wordle.

What ideas emerge as the most prominent from this process?

When all soliloquies are put in together, what emerge as the three most prominent ideas that come from Macbeth’s mouth?

What new insights have you gained through using this process?

Ask students to create a PowerPoint presentation using images from Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) that depicts their understanding of Macbeth’s character. They should write and record a commentary to go with the images. If they know how, they might also like to add some music or sound effects.

Up close and personal 2: over to youMove into groups to examine a character: Lady Macbeth, Banquo or Macduff. Each group should choose three speeches that it believes capture the essence of its chosen character. After discussing this at length, each group prepares a series of tableaux to represent this character.

Groups perform a dramatic reading of their key speeches, and present their tableaux. They explain why they have made these choices. Finally, students create a word cloud from Wordle for their character. This can be displayed in the classroom.


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http://www.flickr.com/


So, what’s it all about?As a class, discuss the big ideas (or themes) in Macbeth. Make a list of them on the board.

Divide the class into groups. Each group should be assigned one of the big ideas.

Each group:

discusses what Shakespeare is saying through the play about this big idea

collects evidence from the play to support the answer.

Ask students to go to Tag Galaxy (http://taggalaxy.com) and experiment with this application. When they understand how Tag Galaxy operates, ask them to create a galaxy that represents their theme. They can show their galaxy, with a commentary, to the rest of the class.

Assessment Group presentation of assigned character: dramatic reading, tableaux, explanation and

word cloud

Individual PowerPoint on Macbeth

Bringing it all togetherResources Macbeth, William Shakespeare (your preferred edition)

Macbeth rap video (‘Sound and fury’): http://www.flocabulary.com (select ‘Free teacher resources’, then ‘Free songs & videos’, then scroll down)

Hot seat (page 15)

Teaching and learning activitiesAsk students to complete Hot seat (page 15).

Rap!Watch the following hip-hop version of Macbeth: http://www.flocabulary.com (select ‘Free teacher resources’, then ‘Free songs & videos’, then scroll down). In small groups, students write and perform their own Macbeth hip-hop or rap.

All the world’s a stageWorking in small groups, students choose their favourite scene from Macbeth.

They then imagine Macbeth set in a different context. Examples might include Macbeth as:

a chef

head of a motorcycle gang

a pirate

a top television executive.


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Students will need to script their scenes. Ask them to decide what sort of language they will use: Shakespeare’s, their own modern translation, or incorporating language that belongs to a particular group. The setting they choose will determine costuming, props etc.

Each student must perform at least four lines on stage.

At the end of each performance, each group must write a 350- to 500-word justification of why they chose the scene and why they presented it the way they did.

Assessment Hot seat (page 15)

‘All the world’s a stage’ group performances


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Writer: Inga Weber

The material in this unit of work may contain links to internet sites maintained by entities not connected to Education Services Australia Ltd and which it does not control (‘Sites’).

Education Services Australia Ltd: provides the links for ease of reference only and it does not sponsor, sanction or

approve of any material contained on the Sites; and

does not make any warranties or representations as to, and will not be liable for, the accuracy or any other aspect of the material on the Sites or any other matter connected to the use of the Sites.

While the material in this unit of work is not remunerable under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968, material on the Sites may be remunerable under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968. It is your responsibility to read and comply with any copyright information, notices or conditions of use which apply to a Site.


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Plot summary exercise

Name Class Date

Fill in the gaps in the passage below using the words in the box at the end.

Macbeth and his friend ___________ have just won a battle for King _________. On their way

home, they come across three ___________. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become

Thane of ___________ and King of ___________. They tell Banquo that his ___________ will

be kings of Scotland in the future. Immediately, their first ___________ is fulfilled when Macbeth

is rewarded for his bravery in battle with a title.

When he returns home, his wife ___________ Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he must

murder King ___________. Macbeth ___________ Duncan to death. Next, he hires some men

to kill ___________, so that his sons cannot become kings. Banquo’s ___________ comes

back from the dead to haunt him.

Macbeth goes to visit the ___________ again, and they warn him against ___________, who is

the Thane of Fife. They also tell him that he can only be killed by someone not of ___________

born, and only when ___________ wood comes to Dunsinane.

When Macbeth finds out that Macduff has gone to England, he murders his ___________. Lady

Macbeth goes ________ and believes her hands are covered in ___________.

Malcolm and Macduff come to attack his castle, camouflaged by ___________ from the forest.

Macduff tells Macbeth that he was cut from his mother, and he kills him.

___________ is crowned king.

Cawdor blood Macduff Duncan children ghost

mad Banquo witches sleep Macduff Banquo

prophecy Lady Birnam woman branches Malcolm

Scotland witches Duncan family stabs


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Moved synopsisIntroductionThe term ‘moved synopsis’ has been developed by Bell Shakespeare to describe an interactive storytelling activity in which students act out a short synopsis of the play.

We encourage teachers to write their own script for this exercise and where possible include elements relevant to the particular group of students.

Warwick University drama educator Jonathon Neelands calls this approach the ‘Shakespeare whoosh’.

The point of the ‘moved synopsis’ or ‘Shakespeare whoosh’ activity is twofold.

1. Students start to interact by participating in a safe and entertaining activity.

2. Through participation, students learn the story of the play.

Creating your scriptThe Bell Shakespeare website contains resources in which you may find short synopses of most of Shakespeare’s plays. These can be adapted into a script for a moved synopsis. Alternatively you can do an internet search of the synopsis or work from a published copy of the play.

The key to the moved synopsis is to work at the level of interaction that encourages and enthuses your students about the story. What will drive them to want to know what happens next?

Cue cards can be used for a few words or a short line of dialogue for the students to read out at the relevant point in the narrative. We have found that students who are confident readers but not necessarily confident actors will engage with simple actions while reading a line of script from a cue card held in front of them. Reluctant readers might be more comfortable without cue cards, or with one- or two-word cue cards.

Your script should be in short sections for each scene or section of a scene that contains important action and dialogue.

So how do you do it?With your narrative script of the story in hand, invite your students to form a circle with you. Invite students to come into the circle to be the characters as they appear in the narrative. With a play such as The tempest, you might invite students into the circle to create the boat. For A midsummer night’s dream students might create the forest of trees and the sounds of the forest at night.

© 2010 Bell Shakespeare


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Moved synopsis continuedExample

A midsummer night’s dream by William Shakespeare

We (everyone in the circle) are in Athens and the duke (select a student who comes into the circle and poses like a duke) called Theseus is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta (select another student), who is queen of the Amazons.

This will be accompanied by a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. Theseus calls his master of the revels (select another student), Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion (encourage other students to mime the actions of various acts) – a juggler, dancers, circus acrobats, opera singers.

An Athenian nobleman (select another student) called Egeus marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter (select another student), Hermia, and two young men (select another two students), Demetrius and Lysander.

As you read the next section encourage the students to act out what you say about their character.

Egeus wants his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia, but Hermia is in love with the other guy, Lysander, and she refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus asks for Theseus to allow the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia’s head if she disobeys him. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father’s wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even executed.

(Exit all but Lysander and Hermia.) Hermia and Lysander plan to escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander’s aunt, a long way from Athens.

Enter Hermia’s friend Helena (select another student). Hermia and Lysander tell Helena of their intention to elope. (Exit Hermia and Lysander.)

Helena has always been in love with Demetrius (recall student playing Demetrius), and still loves him even though he discarded her once he met Hermia. Helena tells Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plan, hoping that she will win him back. Time passes and it is evening. Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him.

© 2010 Bell Shakespeare


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Moved synopsis quotesQuotes from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Name Class Date

When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain?

For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name.

Here I have a pilot’s thumb. Wrecked as homeward he did come.

So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Speak if you can: What are you?

What are these so wither’d and so wild in their attire?

All hail, Macbeth. Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.

All hail, Macbeth. Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor.

All hail, Macbeth. Hail to thee, that shalt be king hereafter!

I fear thy nature. It is too full of the milk of human kindness.

If it were done when it is done, then it were well, it were done quickly.

Is this a dagger I see before me?

I have done the deed.

Why did you bring these daggers from the place?

My hands are your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white.

O Banquo, Banquo, our royal master’s murder’d!

I’ll to England.

To Ireland, I ... Where we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles.

My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him. Safe in a ditch he bides.

Thanks for that. There the grown serpent lies.

I am in blood stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.

Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!


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Moved synopsis quotes continuedQuotes from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Name Class Date

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! None of woman born shall harm Macbeth!

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.

Saw you the weird sisters?

What, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop?

Out, damned spot!

I have almost forgot the taste of fears.

She should have died hereafter.

Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow. It is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.

As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look’d toward Birnam, and anon, methought the wood began to move.

Liar and slave!

Let me find him, fortune!

My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already. I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born.

Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.

I will not yield.

Hail, king! For so thou art; behold where stands the usurper’s cursed


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Hot seat

Name Class Date

Answer the questions below from the points of view of the listed characters.

How do you feel at the end of the play and why?

Which character do you blame most for the events of the play?

When in the play were you happiest?

When in the play were you most unhappy?

What would you do differently and why?

Why do you think the witches tricked Macbeth?

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

King Duncan

Macduff


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Hot seat continued

Name Class Date

Answer the questions below from the points of view of the listed characters (continued)

How do you feel at the end of the play and why?

Which character do you blame most for the events of the play?

When in the play were you happiest?

When in the play were you most unhappy?

What would you do differently and why?

Why do you think the witches tricked Macbeth?

Banquo

Malcolm

Fleance


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