Lesson 1

Subject: English Language Arts

Topic: Macbeth Faltering Friendships
Grade Level: Tenth Grade
Learning Context: Starting Act 3 of the play, students have witnessed the evolution of Macbeth
as a character from a noble, loyal, and perhaps too-nice soldier, to a man who is fearless,
vengeful, and lusty for power. We are introduced to Macbeth first with his friend Banquo. Both
men meet the witches who deliver them each prophecies. Students have already compared and
contrasted Macbeth and Banquo as characters, which has prepared them to begin to focus on
Macbeth and just how much he has changed. Upon first receiving the prophecies, Banquo takes
them more seriously than Macbeth does and wants to know more whereas Macbeth writes the
witches off and doesnt think too much about what they said. After part of his prophecy comes
true, though, Macbeth begins to become obsessed with what they told him: he will become king.
Students have examined Macbeths choice to take destiny into his own hands in making sure
that the rest of his prophecy comes true in his act of murdering King Duncan, who stands in the
way of Macbeth becoming king. Students have assessed Macbeths character in his uncertainty
of his ability to commit such a crime against someone he was loyal to, to his success in killing
an innocent man. In reading Act 3 Scene 1 together, students will discover that Macbeth is now
becoming more comfortable with doing whatever it takes to make sure the throne belongs to
him and him only. Students will be given the opportunity to assess how Banquo and Macbeths
relationship has changed from a solid friendship, to a relationship full of distrust and violence.
Objectives:
Long Term:
o Students will be able to read and understand complex texts.
o Students will be able to identify the main theme Nothing is what it seems in
Shakespeares Macbeth.
o Students will be able to analyze theme.
o Students will be able to recognize foreshadowing and its effect in a text.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to make predictions.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to evaluate tone.
o Students will be able to assess the importance of language.
o Students will be able to evaluate character progression.
o Students will be able to track characterization from beginning to end.
o Students will be able to summarize in their own words.
o Students will be able to identify the progression of events.
o Students will be able to logically create a prequel to Macbeth using their
understanding of the characters.
o Students will be able to compare and contrast characters.
o Students will be able to annotate soliloquies.
o Students will be able to use annotation skills to uncover underlying
meanings.
o Students will be able to analyze plot.
o Students will be able to analyze characters.
o Students will be able to evaluate gender roles in the play and in modern culture.
o Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas, events,
or themes of the play Macbeth.

Students will be able to develop coherent and plausible interpretations of

material.
o Students will be able to support their opinions.
o Students will be able to respond to questions and tasks.
Short Term:
o Students will be able to identify important words.
o Students will be able to underline key parts of Macbeths soliloquy.
o Students will be able to determine Macbeths intentions.
o Students will be able to evaluate Macbeth and Banquos characters.
o Students will be able to consider the evolution Macbeth and Banquos characters
and their friendship.
o Students will be able to identify where Macbeth and Banquos friendship begins
to change.
o Students will be able to draw conclusions about what will happen between
Macbeth and Banquo.
o

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3
Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a
text.
Summary: Students will enter class and will be asked to complete the following question as a
Do Now: Have you ever been jealous of one of your friends? Why? What did you do to
overcome that? This will allow students to relate to the aim of Act 3 Scene 1. We will then read
Act 3 Scene 1 together as a class, with students reading aloud for each of the six characters in
the scene. Students will be given one of Macbeths soliloquies from the scene printed out on a
piece of paper, in which they will be asked to annotate and analyze the speech for meaning and
Macbeths intentions. We will discuss what they were able to come up with as a class. As a
wrap-up, students will complete an exit slip asking them how Banquo and Macbeths
relationship has changed and what is causing their faltering friendship.
Procedures:
1. Students will answer the Do Now question: Have you ever been jealous of one of your
friends? Why? What did you do to overcome that?
2. I will ask a few students to share their answers to the Do Now question and we will
engage in discussion. I will explain that this question pertains to what is happening
between Macbeth and Banquo at this point in the play, an idea that they have previously
considered.
3. We will read Act 3 Scene 1 together as a class. I will ask for six students to volunteer to
read for the six characters, and assign them roles.
4. I will stop after Banquos first lines at the opening of the scene on page 81 and ask
students what they think he means by I fear / Thou playedst most foully for t, when he
references that Macbeth has become King, Cawdor, and Glamis.
5. In the same soliloquy on page 81, I will ask students what they believe Banquo is saying
when he says, If there come truth from them / (As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches

shine) / Why, by the verities on thee made good, / May they not be my oracles as well, /
And set me up in hope? in relation to his prophecy that he will not be kings but his sons
will.
6. On page 83, after Macbeth and Banquo discuss the banquet that Macbeth is holding that
evening and his strong insistence that Banquo be there, I will ask students why they
think Macbeth is being so aggressive about Banquos attendance.
7. When Macbeth tells Banquo on page 83, our bloody cousins are bestowed / In
England and in Ireland, not confessing / Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers / With
strange invention I will ask students to recall from yesterday who the two men are that
had fled to England and Irelandthe kings sons, Malcom and Donalbainand what
Macbeth means when he says that they have not confessed to their cruel parricide.
8. On page 87, I will stop to ask students to recall the word manipulation that we have
previously discussed in regards to Lady Macbeth and her power over Macbeth. I will ask
students where in his conversation with the murderers they see signs of Macbeth using
manipulation.
9. Also on page 87 I will point out another technique Macbeth uses to establish power over
the murderers: metaphor. We will look at what he says and determine that the metaphor
is comparing men to dogs. I will point out that Macbeth is saying that there are different
kinds of dogs distinguished by different traits, some more admirable and respectable
than others. Macbeth asks the murderers what kind of men they are. I will ask students
to think about what other character in the play has asked a similar question to Macbeth
Lady Macbethand how her mindset and manipulation seems to have influenced and
affected her husband.
10. On page 89, I will ask students to paraphrase the kind of men the murderers claim to be,
and ask them how their confidence in their manly abilities when first asked to perform
an evil deed differ from Macbeths hesitation when he was initially told to commit an evil
deed.
11. After reading, I will give students the worksheet titled Soliloquy Analysis, which has one
of Macbeths soliloquies from the scene we had just read together. Students will be
required to annotate the soliloquy and analyze it to discover that Macbeth and Banquos
friendship is officially over, as Macbeth fears that Banquo is a threat to his throne and he
must eliminate that threat.
12. Students will be asked to share what theyve found with a partner.
13. We will have a class discussion about what Macbeth is saying and why the students
believe he intends to kill Banquo, as well as how it is possible to go from being so loyal
to somebody to being traitorous enough to have him killed.
14. Students will complete an exit slip asking them to think about why Macbeth and
Banquos relationship has changed, beyond simply the prophecies of the witches, and to
offer their opinion as to how this kind of change in a relationship is possible. The goal is
for students to understand that lust and ambition and above all, power, can persuade
people to do extreme things.
Extension: Students will read their independent reading book if there is still time left at the end
of class.
Lesson 2
Subject: English Language Arts
Topic: Macbeth Character Evolution
Grade Level: Tenth Grade

Learning Context: Macbeth and Lady Macbeths relationship is one that students have been
asked to closely consider. There seems to be a struggle for power between the two characters
and Lady Macbeth is winning through her powerful language and manipulation of her husband.
However, in Act 3 Scene 2 we start to notice a shift in their relationship. There is a change in
Macbeth from being easily controlled and persuaded as his wife belittles him and questions his
manhood, to a strong, firm, and ambitious man who takes control of the situation he finds
himself in and tells his wife to leave everything to him. In addition to a change in Macbeth, we
see a change in Lady Macbeth from needing to have the power, or feeling that she must take
control, to a less controlling woman who is perhaps more confident in her husbands ability to
act on his desires.
Objectives:
Long Term:
o Students will be able to read and understand complex texts.
o Students will be able to identify the main theme Nothing is what it seems in
Shakespeares Macbeth.
o Students will be able to analyze theme.
o Students will be able to recognize foreshadowing and its effect in a text.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to make predictions.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to evaluate tone.
o Students will be able to assess the importance of language.
o Students will be able to evaluate character progression.
o Students will be able to track characterization from beginning to end.
o Students will be able to summarize in their own words.
o Students will be able to identify the progression of events.
o Students will be able to logically create a prequel to Macbeth using their
understanding of the characters.
o Students will be able to compare and contrast characters.
o Students will be able to annotate soliloquies.
o Students will be able to use annotation skills to uncover underlying meanings.
o Students will be able to analyze plot.
o Students will be able to analyze characters.
o Students will be able to evaluate gender roles in the play and in modern
culture.
o Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas, events,
or themes of the play Macbeth.
o Students will be able to develop coherent and plausible interpretations of
material.
o Students will be able to support their opinions.
o Students will be able to respond to questions and tasks.
Short Term:
o Students will be able to illustrate character development.
o Students will be able to cite text for specific lines that demonstrate
characterization.
o Students will be able to determine the power struggle between Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth.
o Students will be able to identify character traits from Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
in Acts 1, 2 and 3.
o Students will be able to demonstrate how these characters have evolved.

o
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Students will be able to analyze the role a wife plays in a marriage

Students will be able to analyze the role a husband plays in a marriage.
Students will be able to decide whether a man or a woman is more powerful.
Students will be able to identify specific words or lines that demonstrate power.

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop
over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the
theme.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative
and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning
and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or
informal tone).
Summary: Students will enter class and answer the following Do Now question: Do you think
both partners in a marriage should have equal power, or one person should have more power
than the other? Or, does it depend on the situation? We will discuss their answers as a class.
We will then read Act 3 Scene 2 together, with three students for each of the three characters in
the scene. Students will be broken up into three groups to examine Acts 1, 2, and 3 of the play
and find key lines that show characterization. I will walk around the room to monitor their work
and engage in discussion about what they are finding. We will then complete the Character
Timeline for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth together as a class, with the Timeline recreated on the
chalk board. I will ask a representative from each group to share what their group found and I
will then write their answers on the timelines on the board.
Procedures:
1. Students will answer the Do Now question: Do you think both partners in a marriage
should have equal power, or one person should have more power than the other? What
is the situation in Macbeth?
2. I will ask the students to volunteer their answers to the Do Now question and we will
have a class discussion.
3. I will ask students what they think the power hierarchy in Macbeth and Lady Macbeths
relationship is, and if they think it might change now that Macbeth is taking fate into his
own hands and acting on his free will.
4. I will put No Fear Shakespeare up on the board and we will read along together as a
class, looking between the Shakespearean text and the modern translation so that I can
ensure students understand how the power relationship is beginning to change. A main
goal that I have aimed for throughout the unit so far is for students to understand power
in general and power in language. I will explain this to them before we begin reading.
5. We will then read Act 3 Scene 2 together as a class and I will ask three students to read
for the three characters in the scene.
6. On page 91, after Lady Macbeth says, Tis safer to be that which we destroy / Than by
destruction dwell in doubtful joy I will ask students what they think she is saying, by
isolating the sentence and thinking about the words. I will explain that she means it is

better to be the person who gets murdered than to be the killer and be tormented by
anxiety. I will ask students if they think she feel guilt at all or if she is merely annoyed at
her husbands panic.
7. On page 93, I will stop to clarify that Lady Macbeth is asking her husband why he has
been keeping to himself and punishing himself by continually thinking about the murder
he commit, and point out her suggestion to just forget because he cannot change what
he has done.
8. We will look at Macbeths response to her suggestion on page 93 and I will ask students
to identify the literary device he uses to explain the murdermetaphor. I will ask
students what the metaphor is and how it functions in this conversation between
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
9. We will discuss that by comparing the whole deed to a snake and saying that it is merely
injured rather than killed means that they are still not successful in ensuring Macbeths
thronethey merely took a few steps up the staircase to power.
10. I will highlight that in the same reply, Macbeth also says Better be with the dead, /
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, / Than on the torture of the mind to
lie / In restless ecstasy and ask students which character had said something similar
Lady Macbeth. I will ask students what the significance is that Macbeth and his wife now
seem to share a similar mindset.
11. Also on page 93, I will ask students to further examine the previously mentioned idea of
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sharing a similar mindset when Macbeth advises Lady
Macbeth to act extra hospitably at that nights banquet, especially towards Banquo. I will
ask students to remember that Lady Macbeth suggested that Macbeth act the same way
towards King Duncan before she advised Macbeth to kill him, and I will then ask
students to make inferences about what this can mean for Banquo.
12. On page 95, Macbeth discloses that there shall be done / A deed of dreadful note. I
will ask students for their interpretation of this sentence.
13. To the above mentioned line, Lady Macbeth asks Whats to be done? and Macbeth
tells her not to worry about it and to leave the planning to him. I will ask students to
parallel this scene with an earlier scene where Lady Macbeth tells her husband to leave
the planning to her, and ask students what they see happening in Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth, and their relationship with each other.
14. After reading, I will explain to students what the Character Timeline is and their task.
15. I will break the students up into three groups, assigning one group to find key lines from
act one that demonstrate Macbeth and Lady Macbeths characterization, one group to
find key lines from act two that demonstrate Macbeth and Lady Macbeths
characterization, and one group to find key lines from act three that demonstrate
Macbeth and Lady Macbeths characterization.
16. Students will begin their search to find the lines from their assigned act that illustrate
Macbeth and Lady Macbeths characters.
17. I will have the Character Timeline up on the board and ask for a volunteer from each
group to write their lines from the play on the timeline.
18. Once each group has written on the timeline, students will answer how the characters
have evolved from act one to presently in act three and then we will discuss as a class.
Extension: Students will read their independent reading book if there is still time left at the end
of class.

Lesson 3
Subject: English Language Arts
Topic: Macbeth Prophecies & Predictions
Grade Level: Tenth Grade
Learning Context: Students have evaluated the progression of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and
Banquo as characters from the beginning of the play to presently in Act 3. Students have
critically analyzed the witches prophecies from Act 1 and have evaluated how the prophecies
are becoming true, as well as how the characters have been affected by the prophecies.
Objectives:

Long Term:
o Students will be able to read and understand complex texts.
o Students will be able to identify the main theme Nothing is what it seems in
Shakespeares Macbeth.
o Students will be able to analyze theme.
o Students will be able to recognize foreshadowing and its effect in a text.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to make predictions.
o Students will be able to apply close reading skills to evaluate tone.
o Students will be able to assess the importance of language.
o Students will be able to evaluate character progression.
o Students will be able to track characterization from beginning to end.
o Students will be able to summarize in their own words.
o Students will be able to identify the progression of events.
o Students will be able to logically create a prequel to Macbeth using their
understanding of the characters.
o Students will be able to compare and contrast characters.
o Students will be able to annotate soliloquies.
o Students will be able to use annotation skills to uncover underlying meanings.
o Students will be able to analyze plot.
o Students will be able to analyze characters.
o Students will be able to evaluate gender roles in the play and in modern culture.
o Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas, events,
or themes of the play Macbeth.
o Students will be able to develop coherent and plausible interpretations of
material.
o Students will be able to support their opinions.
o Students will be able to respond to questions and tasks.
Short Term:
o Students will be able to recall the witches prophecies from Act 1 to make
predictions about what will happen next in the play.
o Students will be able to analyze Macbeths language to assess his guilt.
o Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the text so far to
accurately make a prediction about what will happen next.
o Students will be able to evaluate the role of power in language and manipulation.
o Students will be able to examine the effect of guilt on a character.
Summary: Students will enter class and be asked to answer the following Do Now question:
Can wanting something too much lead us to do things against our nature? We will discuss

their answers to this question. We will then read Act 3 Scenes 3 and 4 together as a class, with
nine students for each of the nine characters in these scenes. Students will then complete the
Prophecies & Predictions worksheet.
Procedures
1. Students will answer the Do Now question: Can wanting something too much lead us
to do things against our nature?
2. I will ask for a few students to share their answers to the Do Now question.
3. I will provide an example of a time in my own life when I had done something I normally
wouldnt have done. Students have been asked a similar question in the beginning of the
unit, but I will direct their thoughts towards more extreme situations such as what is
happening in Macbeth.
4. I will ask students if they think that Macbeth might have chosen the same route in
acquiring what he was told he would get if it happened differently, such as if there was
no Lady Macbeth or if he had never received the prophecy in the first place.
5. We will have a class discussion about their answers.
6. I will ask nine students to read for the nine characters in these scenes.
7. We will read Act 3 Scenes 3 and 4 together as a class.
8. On page 95, I will clarify the conversation between the original two murderers and the
third murderer who is introduced, and ask students to interpret what the second
murderer means when he says He needs not our mistrust, and come to the agreement
that he assures the first murderer that they can trust the third murderer.
9. When the murderers are hiding out waiting for Banquos arrival on page 97, Banquo
approaches their spot and says, Give us a light there, ho! I will ask students what they
can infer about the sky outside, and reach the conclusion that it is dark outside. I will ask
them why it is significant that it is dark outside, and what darkness or lack of light can
offer the murderers.
10. On page 97 when Banquo and Fleance finally arrive at the murderers hiding spot,
Banquo notes that they are expecting rain that night. The first murderer answers, Let it
come down! and thus attack Banquo and Fleance. I will ask students if they have ever
heard the phrase rain down on, such as my coworkers rain down on me every day
and ask them to explain what the phrase means. I will then point out that in a typical
sense, the phrase refers to pouring something such as criticism or praise onto someone
or something, and ask them what the phrase might mean in the context of this scene.
11. After the attack on page 97, the second murderer acknowledges that they have lost
best half of our / affair referencing that Fleance has escaped. I will ask students why
Fleance is considered the best half of their affair, why killing him was more important
than killing Banquo.
12. Scene 4 begins on page 99 with the banquet that had been previously mentioned.
Macbeth says, You know your own degrees; sit down. At first / And last, the hearty
welcome. I will point out to students that Macbeth is saying that his guests know their
ranks, who is most important and who is least important, and that they should sit at
places at the table accordingly. I will ask students what this says about the importance
Macbeth places on power.
13. The murderers arrive on page 99 also, and Macbeth notes that the first murderer has
blood on his face. He says, Tis better thee without than he within, and I will explain that
this means it is better for the murderer to have Banquos blood on his face than for
Banquo to have his blood in his veins.

14. Upon hearing that the murderers were successful only in killing Banquo and
unsuccessful in killing Fleance, he says on page 101 that he would not be as anxious or
panicky if Fleance had been killed too. I will clarify this for the students.
15. Macbeth then asks the murderer, But Banquos safe? and I will ask students to
examine the word safe and determine what Macbeth truly means by ithoping that
they will understand its a sort of oxymoron in that Macbeth means Banquo being safe in
Banquo being dead. I will ask students what theme in the play this relates to, prompting
them to answer Nothing is what it seems.
16. Also on page 101 Macbeth brings up the snake metaphor from scene 2 again, referring
to Banquo as a grown serpent. I will ask students why the snake metaphor is
important, and ask them to recall the porters speech from Act 2 Scene 3, in which the
porter pretends the gates to the palace are the gates to hell.
17. After Macbeths conversation with the murderer, Lady Macbeth reminds him that he must
entertain their guests and he makes sure to mention Banquos absence, articulating to
his guests that he hopes Banquo is late out of rudeness and not because something bad
had happened. I will ask students what kind of irony this isdramatic ironyand ask
them to explain whywe know that Macbeth knows Banquo is dead, because he
ordered it to happen.
18. On page 103 we are introduced to Banquos ghost, though it is not explicitly specified
that the ghost is Banquos. I will ask students to make an assumption about whose ghost
is now haunting Macbeth. I will ask students also when else Macbeth had an illusion,
thinking he was seeing something that was not actually there. We will briefly
revisit/discuss Act 1 at the moment before he kills Duncan and he sees a floating dagger.
I will ask students to produce the common connection between the two scenes.
19. In the midst of Macbeths interaction with the ghost on page 103, Lady Macbeth assures
the guests that Macbeth had episodes like this often, since he was a child, and asks
them not to pay attention to him. I will ask students why it is almost comical that
something like this is happening now in front of a large group of people. We will discuss
how Macbeth had tried so hard up to this point to cover is tracks and hide his guilt.
20. On the same page, Lady Macbeth employs her manipulation techniques again and
questions Macbeths manhood. I will ask students why they believe she felt the need to
take control again.
21. On page 105, Macbeth explains to Lady Macbeth that a lot of blood was shed in ancient
times when there were no laws to protect the safety and peace of people, to protect
against murder. He says, The time has been / That, when the brains were out, the man
would die, / And there an end. But now they rise again / With twenty mortal murders on
their crowns / And push us from our stools. I will ask students why they think people
come back to haunt their murderers now as opposed to back in the ancient times
Macbeth speaks about.
22. Banquos ghost reappears on page 107, and Macbeth challenges him to come back as
any other form and even come back to life and fight him, and he wouldnt be scared like
he is of Banquos ghost. I will ask students why they think Macbeth wouldnt be afraid to
fight Banquo in any other form.
23. In the same lines from Macbeth, he refers to Banquos ghost as a horrible shadow! /
Unreal mockry and I will ask students what Macbeth thinks of Banquos ghost
clarifying after that Macbeth is fully aware that it is a hallucination.
24. At this second outburst from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth bids the guests good night and
asks them to leave, saying Stand not upon the order of your going, / But go at once. I

will ask students what is significant about Lady Macbeths rush here, and what we are
noticing about her charactershe is not concerned about power at this moment like
Macbeth was when the guests were entering.
25. On page 109 Macbeth tells his wife It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood. I
will explain that this means that the dead will have their revenge.
26. In closing the scene on page 109, Macbeth reveals to Lady Macbeth his plan to see the
witches the next day and find out the worst that will happen. He tells her also that he has
a plan in his mind, that it is better she doesnt know what it is, and also that he acts on it
before he has time to think about it. I will use the last explanation as an introduction to
the Prophecies and Predictions worksheet.
27. I will hand out and explain the Prophecies and Predictions worksheet and explain their
task.
28. Students will complete the Prophecies and Predictions worksheet and hand it in before
they leave class.
Extension: Students will read their independent reading book if there is still time left at the end
of class.