Macbeth II

ACTIVITIES

Activate prior Knowledge: 

• What do you know about Shakespeare? When and where did he live? What other pieces of his work do you know?
• What can you tell me about drama? Features
• I’d do the follow activity to catch their attention: in a box, I’d put four medium cards with one word in each (ambition, fate, guilt, revenge) as well as realia (a bloody knife, a three puppet witches and several others portraying Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo and Duncan).

After taking them out, I would ask them what they think we are going to read and discuss it in pairs. If they don’t understand the cards, I would ask if anybody knows and if not, if they can get the meaning from the context. If still they don’t know I’d explain it.
I’d ask them where and when the play is set (taking into account the puppet’s costumes)
Activities /Tasks
Pre-Literature Class Task: I would make groups and assign different activities: some would have to look on the internet for information related to Shakespeare, his works, the setting.

1. Reading: First of all, I would show them this interesting slide


GoAnimate.com: Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1 by gigiellesig

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

First of all I’d tell them to have a look at the text, comparing both types of language (medieval English and the Modern version).
 Skimmed reading: Answer some questions: What characters do we have? Where and when is it set? What is happening?
 Read the text aloud: putting intonation, different accents (how would a French accent sound like?).
 Comprehensive reading: look for difficult words or structures.
 Compare both versions: Are they alike? Which are the differences you can see? (Vocabulary, grammar, word order...)

2. Writing
As you can see, I have chosen different extracts, but I haven’t included the end of the play, so I would ask them to imagine which end the play can have.
3. Listening:
I would choose some videos where we can learn different aspects:
 Shakespeare
 Socio-historic approach to Shakespearean England
 Macbeth

4. Speaking
 As I have mention before, I would ask them to look for information on the internet, so they would have to deliver a short exposition about what they have found.
 Giving opinions: do you like the play, the theme of revenge, fate?
 Talk in pairs and in small groups what impressions they have: What they think about the setting, the characters, and the witchy atmosphere of the beginning.

Extension:
 In the following classes, we would see examples of comparisons so they can infer how it works.
 We would go on reading about Shakespeare, how his works influence modern literature.
 From a historical point of view, we can study the English culture of the time, what key events took place by the time Shakespeare was writing.

Follow-up: conclusion
I think that they can learn a lot from this type of class. They will learn not only literature and features related to it, but also they will get historical information as well as influences in post-Shakespearean times.

Resources
Digital whiteboard
Realia, Cards
Internet: In the previous class, I’d want them to look for information about the topic.
Videos from internet talking about:
 Macbeth: http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/macbeth Shakespeare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h24zZETMzR8&feature=related

Assessment
Can the learners:
 Name what features are characteristic of drama and how we can distinguish it from poetry or prose.
 They will know who Shakespeare was, which other works he published, what his main themes are.
 They will also know about the time when Shakespeare wrote and
 They will be able to discuss about what they have like or dislike about the play.