Lesson 1
This week we will be looking at one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies…MACBETH! Watch clips 1 – 8 here:
This play is set in Scotland. Can you locate Scotland on a map? Use Google Maps to locate Dunsinane Hill or Cawdor Castle. Fill in the comic strip bubbles on the Macbeth’s conversation using the worksheet below
Lesson 2
Lady Macbeth is quite scathing of her husband, use the insult generator to create possible insults she could use to describe him. Yes, I’m talking to you – puny, onion-eyed foot-licker!
Watch the ‘Shakespeare in Shorts’ Macbeth clip.
Create your own rap and write it up neatly including an illustration. You may want to film your rap or present it to someone at home.
Lesson 3
Use an internet search to look at the depictions of witches from past Macbeth productions and paintings.
Mrs McCarthy’s Top Tip: It might be helpful to search using terms such as ‘Male witches in Macbeth’, ‘Movie witches in Macbeth’, ‘Young witches in Macbeth’ and ‘Modern dress witches in Macbeth’
What age do they seem? How are they dressed? Are they male or female? Does this go against your expectations of what a ‘witch’ looks like?
Draw a picture of the three witches. Try to make each witch different to the next. One might be old and withered, the next might be young, one might be a male witch, etc. Use inspiration from the internet search earlier in the lesson.
Lesson 4
Think about the events that have taken place and the outcomes. How have the different characters behaved and why? What were the consequences of their actions? Was any one person more responsible for the death of King Duncan than another?
Watch the Animated Macbeth Tale (Approx. 25 minutes)
Think about the different versions that you have seen. How do they compare?
Lesson 5
Read through the witches spell. Can you see that it is a series of rhyming couplets? It is a very well-known Shakespeare passage.
Read the spell through again, this time looking at the different ingredients within the spell. Can you recognise a pattern in the lines that describe the ingredients? Yes, they are all 7 syllables.
You should now create your own spell using the same opening and closing couplets but create it with your own ingredients. Can you challenge yourself to follow the 7 syllable pattern?
Mrs McCarthy’s Top Tip: Try mind mapping some ideas first for the most disgusting ingredients you can think of.
Extension Activities
- According to theatrical superstition, the play Macbeth is said to be cursed. Can you find out why? What other superstitions are there in the theatre?
- With the comic strip you created in Lesson 1, can you write an extended written piece, retelling the encounter between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, using a combination of direct speech / inverted commas and reported speech? Use the ‘said’ clause at either the start or the end of the speaker’s speech or use interrupted speech, with the said clause in the middle of the speech. Can you include better words for said and use of adverbs of manner.