In today's lesson, the students will hear some basic advice about Reading Shakespeare.  They will also hear about - and say outloud some iambic pentameter.  They will get up and march (and recite) to the iambic beat of Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs & Ham" (thank you Janet Field Pickering).  They will throw a Shakespeare Ball around in a small group to get even more of a feel for the meter (while simultaneously being exposed to some of the most famous and important lines in the play).  We will also pass out the Reading Schedule on a bookmark.

The second of our "preplay" activities - and the second time that we have this type of activity (the first being The Beowulf Circle).  In today's activity, students are sitting in a circle with a bare (no annotations) copy of a scene from Macbeth (Act I, scene 3 - lines 28-117).  The students haven't read the scene ahead of time - they are coming in cold.  We (really they) will come to an understanding of the scene - or at least be asking the right questions.  And then we will put on the scene with our new knowledge.  Five students will be our actors for the scene - the rest of the class is the director.  

In this activity - taken directly from Shakespeare Set Free - Macbeth - Lesson 3 - pages 209-211, students will read through the scene (seeing it for the 2nd time - they've read it) as a small group (6-8 students) - looking for how the characters in that scenes would "act".  They will pick a theme (this is where I differ from Shakespeare Set Free - but they are doing it in preparation for what is to come at the end of the Unit - Macbeth Day) that makes sense for the scene (if not the entire play).  After they plan and stage their scene - all of the groups will take turn presenting what they did (and why they did it).  Finally, we will end the period by collectively viewing a filmed version of that scene and afterwards talk a little about the choices that they made in that film.

So after all of the preparation, it's time to start reading the play aloud in class - after the students have read (in this case - Act I) at home.  I will try and follow the same format for all of these in class reading lessons (with the exceptions of getting up on our feet) - there will be a link to the blank scripts (at the Folger Shakespeare Library).  There will be those same pages with my notes on them - what I look at when we have a class reading (discussion).  

If you cannot be in class that day I have an Alternate Lesson
Macbeth Day 4 - Act 1 (thru 4) - Small Group Reading with Group Leaders: There were times when I couldn't be in class and I didn't want our progress on the play to stop.  This lesson is designed to cover Act I when the teacher is not present - or even if he is and you want the students to have total control and remove yourself from the reading.  In groups of about 5-6, students will read the play aloud just as we do as a class.  There is a Group Leader for each set of students - and they will keep everyone on track as well as asking essential questions when they get to them.  

This lesson on Subtext - (you will need The Folger Shakespeare Library's Shakespeare Set Free) gives students the power to take control of the scenes that they read, discuss, and later perform.  It gives them ammunition to those who would argue that you need to dumb-down Shakespeare's language in order to make it relevant.  The Shakespeare Set Free lesson explains what those tools are - how they can change things and how actors can create a subtext out of them.   After the lesson on Subtext - we will continue our reading and discussing of Act I - finishing Scene 5.

This really could go with Macbeth 5 (continuation of Act I reading) but I thought it was cool enough to deserve a page of its own.  Essentially it is Act 1 Scene 7 covered with a lot of arrows (pointed at specific lines or words of text) that connect to questions about that text.  Thankfully, the answers are NOT there - so the students can answer those questions on their own or in a small group (I prefer the small group in this instance).  This is perfect if you have a shorter period of time (maybe 30 minutes).  It's also great coming after four days of discussing Macbeth - and by removing the teacher (well - kind of - they are my arrows, my questions), a chance to spread their wings a little and intellectually, critical-thinkingly - fly.

We begin the day by going back to the reading aloud of the play (with Act I, scene 7) and then we read (without a quiz) the first scene in Act 2.  When we get to the right spot in Scene 2 - the students are put into groups (3 or 4 of them) to perform - to act out, the "Is this a dagger that I see before me?" soliloquy from Act 2, scene 2.  There performances are a living Illuminated Text - making Shakespeare's words as clear for the rest of us in the class as possible.  They might be one living dagger - or an evil and good Macbeth - torn between what to do - all the while, saying the words from the soliloquy.  After the performances we talk about what the words mean - and when all groups are done - we finish reading aloud and discussing Act 2, scene 2.  

Today we have only reading the play aloud and discussing - no "up on your feet" activities.  But the play - this section - holds so much, that there is more than enough to keep everyone's interest.  Macbeth does the deed - murders Duncan - and his wife tries to calm him down - and there are some very important lines - that like the murder will come back to haunt and show their import later. 

IF YOU CAN'T BE IN CLASS (and you have a sub)
Macbeth Day 7 - Act 2 (scene 3) thru Act 3 (scene 1) - Small Group Reading with Group Leaders: There were times when I couldn't be in class and I didn't want our progress on the play to stop.  This lesson is designed to cover Act 2 when the teacher is not present - or even if he is and you want the students to have total control and remove yourself from the reading.  In groups of about 5-6, students will read the play aloud just as we do as a class.  There is a Group Leader for each set of students - and they will keep everyone on track as well as asking essential questions when they get to them.  

We will end up skipping a lot of the play for our class readings because they will be covered by the students in small groups (and in one case - because Shakespeare didn't actually write most of one scene).  But we will read aloud the first three scenes from Act 3 and discuss them.  We won't read what follows: the Banquet scene because the students will be doing a very close dive when they make their Prompt Books for the Scene (about two lessons hence).  

Shakespeare is often taught using easier vocabulary, more simply structured translations such as Shakespeare Made Easy or No Fear Shakespeare.  The huge problem with those translations is that they assume that the most important thing about Shakespeare and his plays - are the stories.   This Group Work - in three parts - is designed to get students to see for themselves that the real genius of Shakespeare can be found in his words.

This is one of the most important lessons in the entire Macbeth unit.   A prompt book, for the unitiated, is the annotated script that a director or actor would use in a putting on a play.  This promptbook is an amalgamation of all the actors (in the scene), the director, the costume designer, the set designer and everyone else associated with that scene.  The students will have two-three days to complete this.

We finish what little is left of Act 3.  We will not go over Scene 4 - the students have just spent two days going over it with a fine tooth comb. We will also skip Scene 5 - mainly because Shakespeare did not write it - and it is just there to appeal to the witchcraft loving public (and king).  We will finish with the exchange between Lennox and his Lord.  In my class, I often used the extra time we had to give out the Scene List for Macbeth Day - and let the students form groups.  

We finish what little is left of Act 3.  We will not go over Scene 4 - the students have just spent two days going over it with a fine tooth comb. We will also skip Scene 5 - mainly because Shakespeare did not write it - and it is just there to appeal to the witchcraft loving public (and king).  We will finish with the exchange between Lennox and his Lord.  In my class, I often used the extra time we had to give out the Scene List for Macbeth Day - and let the students form groups.  

We finish what little is left of Act 3.  We will not go over Scene 4 - the students have just spent two days going over it with a fine tooth comb. We will also skip Scene 5 - mainly because Shakespeare did not write it - and it is just there to appeal to the witchcraft loving public (and king).  We will finish with the exchange between Lennox and his Lord.  In my class, I often used the extra time we had to give out the Scene List for Macbeth Day - and let the students form groups.  

Now - we are going to ask them to cut fully one third of the lines from the scene!  So why cut lines?  Well - first of all, actors (including Elizabethan) did it all the time.  But perhaps more importantly - in order to cut lines - you must fully understand the importance, meaning and weight of every syllable that you cut.  So of course I've given them the most difficult scene in the entire play. If they can cut this scene and still have it make sense and carry the information that it needs to for the rest of the play to "work" - well they have truly mastered it.

The ultimate final project for this unit on Macbeth is to have the students memorize a scene from the play - choose an appropriate theme (setting) - and perform it on the school theater stage for their peers.  For today's lesson, they are to have read Act V and will be quizzed on it. That means they will have about 6 weeks or so to get ready (including Winter Break if they so choose).  Students will send a representative, before school begins, to claim their scene (first come, first serve - each scene being done only once for all of my classes). 

The first part of today's Lesson  can be found in Shakespeare Set Free Volume 1 - Macbeth: Lesson 18 - "Hell is Murky" (pgs 256-258).  I won't be repeating those instructions - just to let you know where I made some changes for my classroom.  After this incredible activity (worth buying Shakespeare Set Free - just for this one), we continue our reading aloud of the play with Act 5, Scene 1 - the sleepwalking scene (which is one of the most popular scenes when the students choose their scenes that they will be putting on).

This lesson will pick up where we left off - after the sleepwalking scene in Act V and continue until the end of the play.  I know - since this is the last reading during the years, I've begun the lesson at different points.   Since you need to wrap things up - you may end up skipping some of the fighting and planning of battles - it depends on you.  One of the most important things covered today is the "Life is a tale told by an idiot" soliloquy.  We then go onto finish the play with a flourish! (literally).

We always had just enough time to watch the first half of this movie.   There are so many reasons to show this film if you are teaching Shakespeare.  For me, there were three reasons at the forefront.  The first was the very real, practical advice that Pacino (and others) have for those who are going to be performing Shakespeare.  My students will be putting on their Macbeth scenes a few weeks after viewing this movie.  The second reason is that it features high school students and other nonactors talking about Shakespeare - both what they love - and what they don't get.  Finally, this movie - like so much of what we do in my class focuses on the text.  

Perhaps the most important, fun, and exhausting day of the year. The students will next put on their scenes that they've been planning for about a month.  We are in the Theater for an entire day.  Students perform by period - though not necessarily in order of their periods. For those periods when there are no performances - there are activities.  During their lunch period - we all take lunch together, they work with their groups or their friends on a sonnet contest which they get a chance to recite when we return from lunch.  The students always do an amazing job.

Here is the description from Amazon: "This volume of the Shakespeare Set Free series is written by institute faculty and participants, and includes the latest developments in recent scholarship. It bristles with the energy created by teaching and learning Shakespeare from the text and through active performance, and reflects the experience, wisdom, and wit of real classroom teachers in schools and colleges throughout the United States. "

Here is the description from Amazon of the paperback: "The authoritative edition of Macbeth from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers:  "Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play, Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play, Scene-by-scene plot summaries, A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases, An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language, An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play, Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books, An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading "