What the lesson is about

This is a collection of resources put together by TESEnglish on Macbeth. The collection includes a PowerPoint introduction to Shakespeare to provide contextual information and an explanation of the assessment objectives, with assessment criteria and target grades.

How to use it

A pack of 20 lesson plans look at character and language and include class and individual activities, plus links to excerpts of performances of the play, and there are generic and sample essay questions on character, as well as power, voice and relationships, with suggestions for foundation and higher-tier activities.

One activity challenges the pupils to recreate the story of Macbeth in eight tableaux. Groups should read their allocated scene before deciding on a tableau to represent it and showing it to the rest of the class. Chosen scenes include Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the witches, the murder of Duncan and the flight of Malcolm and Donalbain, and Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness. The class can then discuss the merits of each tableau, before the groups are asked to repeat the exercise, this time using extracts from the text to improve their image.

The collection also includes a worksheet on the opening scene, asking pupils to discuss the language and linguistic, literary and dramatic techniques, as well as what they can learn from the scene.

The collection features two sets of quizzes. One is a quick quiz broken down into a series of questions on each act of the play, while the other asks for more detailed responses on five themes: choices, power, conflict, relationships and the importance of the Macduffs.

Where to find it

www.tes.co.ukgcseenglishlanguage.