Macbeth - Scheme of Work

The scheme of work for teaching Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' is a comprehensive plan that guides students through a series of 21 lessons, each designed to deepen their understanding of the play and its themes. In Lesson 1, students leverage their prior knowledge of Shakespeare to discuss a video clip and the context of theatre during Shakespeare's time. Interactive activities such as creating insults in Lesson 2 and drawing the three witches in Lesson 5 encourage engagement with the text, while focused discussions on key characters like Lady Macbeth in Lesson 6 help students develop their analytical skills. Each lesson is structured with a starter activity, an introduction to the topic, development through various tasks, and a plenary to consolidate learning. Worksheets and PowerPoint presentations support the delivery of each lesson.

As the scheme progresses, students explore the play's significant themes and characters in greater depth. In Lesson 7, they create a mind map of the themes, and in Lesson 8, they delve into the character of Macbeth through diary writing. The use of Venn diagrams, tension graphs, and storyboards in subsequent lessons allows for a diverse range of learning techniques that cater to different learning styles. Lessons 13 and 14 offer a closer look at the evolving dynamics between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, while Lesson 15 introduces hotseating as a method to explore characters' motivations. The scheme culminates in discussions about Macbeth's rise and fall, with a final activity in Lesson 20 that involves creating a rise and fall graph, allowing students to visually map out the trajectory of the play's protagonist.