Macbeth Complete Teaching Unit Reading Questions Assessments Creative Activities

Explore the engaging lessons, activities, and assessments in this complete, no-prep teaching unit for Shakespeare's Macbeth. This unit is designed to engage even the most reluctant high school ELA students. The collection includes reading and discussion questions, assessments, creative activities, projects, group presentations, essay writing prompts and outlines, and an objective test, all the essentials and some extras. Includes detailed answer keys with text references, scoring rubrics, and completed project examples for modeling expectations.

Printable PDF or TPT Digital Easel Activity

First, you’ll find

FUN PRE-READING ACTIVITY:

This pre-reading activity for Macbeth, "Character Compatibility Quiz" is a quick, engaging, and somewhat sneaky way to introduce students to the play's themes, characters, and most importantly, its universality.

Students answer questions to which Macbeth would answer yes, for example:

• Have you ever doubted a friend's loyalty?
• ... had a manipulative partner?
• ... been lied to?

Students count their "yes" responses to discover if they are like Macbeth, Macduff, or Banquo.

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Comprehension and Analysis Questions for each Act.

• There are over 150 questions total.

• Questions evaluate students’ understanding of the play and their analysis of the plot, characterization, imagery, and other literary elements.

• These questions can be assigned for independent reading, partner classwork, or used as a discussion guide.

• Act 1: 8 pages with 47 questions

• Act 2: 4 pages with 24 questions

• Act 3: 6 pages with 32 questions

• Act 4: 4 pages with 20 questions

• Act 5: 5 pages with 35 questions

• Many questions provide text to be analyzed, while others require students to provide illustrative text to support their responses.

• Clear font
• Relevant graphics
• Space for student responses

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Act 1 Creative Writing--Persona

• This creative writing activity requires students to adopt the persona of a character and think the way he or she does.

• To begin, there is a scenario describing the night of Duncan’s arrival at Inverness. Students are to imagine that Duncan is preparing a speech to honor his warriors, Macbeth is writing in a journal, Banquo comments in a log, and Lady Macbeth is entering thoughts in her diary.

• There is a definition of persona and its etymological origins.

• Following are directions for the activity which require students to assume the persona of Macbeth, Banquo, or Lady Macbeth and complete the entry described.

• For each character, students are provided with three important points to cover. For example, for Macbeth, include thoughts about the witches’ prophecies, Duncan’s kingly graces, and his love for his wife.

• Students are required to include a quote from Act 1. I’ve included directions about quoting: slashes for line ends, brackets for omissions or clarification, block quotes, and citation format (MLA).

• Students are also required to provide a graphic, art, photo, bitmoji…anything that portrays their characters’ state of mind.

• The composition requirements include length (250-300 words) and a reminder to follow class format requirements.

• As a model, I’ve included a speech by Duncan, which illustrates the various requirements of the activity. (I really enjoyed writing that!)

• I include the graphic which is Sleep and his Half-brother Death by John William Waterhouse.

• Finally, there is a scoring rubric, which I encourage kids to use as a checklist when writing and peer editing.

• The format is attractive; clear font; relevant graphics.

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Blood Symbolism Identification Activity

• The blood symbolism throughout the play varies with character and situation; however, I've narrowed the "blood types" to G--Guilt, A---Ambition, and H---Honor.

• In this activity, students examine a quote and choose the correct test tube: G, A, or H.

• There are 15 quotes from the first two acts.

• The first one is completed as an example:

Duncan: "What bloody man is that?" (1.2.1).

Students would draw an arrow to the test tube labeled blood type "H" for Honor.

The soldier's blood represents honor; he's been in battle fighting to keep King Duncan on the throne.

• This is a creative way to have students demonstrate their understanding of blood symbolism.

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Macbeth Differentiated Activities for Act 3

• This is a great activity where kids can demonstrate their understanding of Macbeth Act 3 in a fun and creative way. Can be completed collaboratively, but it could be used as an assessment.

The first activity provides 12 quotes.

• Students are asked to highlight particular words or phrases, for example:

Macbeth:

To be thus is nothing,

But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo

Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature

Reigns that which would be feared. (3.1.48-51)

Highlight yellow the sentence that reveals feelings of insecurity.

Highlight orange the name of the man he fears.

Highlight blue the reason he fears this man.

Students then rewrite a section of the excerpt in their own words:

• In your own words: “royalty of nature”

The second activity focuses on Banquo’s murder.

• The scene is written everyday vernacular with Banquo’s and the murderers’ dialogue left blank for the students to fill in.

• This is an effective way to review the scene and assess students’ understanding of the language.

• There are 16 tasks in this section.

The third activity’s instructions read: “If Banquo’s ghost could speak…and only Macbeth could hear him…. Imagine what Banquo’s ghost would say. Fill in the missing dialogue.”

• There are four imagined responses by Banquo that students must produce.

Finally, to cover the final summarizing scene in the act, I’ve created a Scottish newscast.

• Students must fill in the blanks with the names, events, and places that Lennox reports on:

Good evening. This is Scotland Update; I’m Lennox reporting.

Tonight we report further strange occurrences surrounding the newly established King of Scotland, brave _______________: Macbeth compelled by loyalty to former King ________________, in a righteous rage after finding the gracious King murdered, killed the ______________________of his chamber. Subsequently,__________________, close personal friend of King Macbeth walked too late and was believed to be killed by his son, __________________, who fled the crime scene….

There are 19 blank spaces total.

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MACBETH AND THE WITCHES Group Project and Presentation

This resource is to be used when students complete their study of Act 4, Scene 1 of Macbeth.

• This is a creative group project that requires students to study the witches' song, the apparitions' prophecies, and Macbeth's reactions, and complete the following tasks:

• ---Compose a song listing ingredients that a modern-day witch would drop in the cauldron
• ---Create a poster of the prophecies noting symbolism and message
• ---Write a diary entry for Macbeth revealing his musings over the prophecies and his thoughts about the throne.

• I provide a scoring rubric.

• I usually give groups three class periods (about an hour and 45 minutes) to prepare their props and "rehearse" their presentation.

• Kids love this project, and it is a fun way to discuss characterization, plot, and symbolism.

Creative Characterization Cell Phone Activity

• The directions for the activity are as follows:

• Imagine that your character exists in our society.

• Imagine a phone homepage that displays his or her apps.

• Choose apps from the following options, and then complete the illustration/discussion component for each. (Brief description= 154-259 words).

• Accurately represent your character’s traits as we’ve discussed them so far in the play.

• You will be evaluated on creativity and evidence of your understanding of the plot and character.---

• I provide a blank cell phone where students draw or paste a background.

• They must then choose options under categories that include:

---Entertainment

---social connections

---shopping online

---legitimate news

---self-indulgence (selfies, ringtones, games).

Students are required to discuss why their character would have accessed or posted various items.

The kids really love this project and I get awesome results.

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MACBETH Final Guided Essay

• This final essay activity guides students through the process of writing an analytical essay about Macbeth.

• There are two choices for the thesis: Macbeth’s ambition is fair and foul, and Macbeth’s choices lead to his tragedy.

• Provided are two skeletal outlines requiring kids to fill in

• ---Thesis
• ---Main points (I include suggestions)
• ---Introduction paragraph
• ---Introduction of quotes
• ---Citations
• ---Analysis of quote and support of the thesis
• ---Conclusion

• This activity has proven especially helpful to their eventually being able to independently create an outline as prewriting for essays.

Also included in this resource is the class’s “Writing About Literature” handout, which discusses and provides examples of

• --Titles
• --Tense
• --Quotation rules
• --Ellipses
• --Other technicalities of formal writing

• I've also included a Peer Editing Checklist and a Teacher's Scoring Rubric

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Macbeth Final Objective Test

• This Macbeth final test consists of 100 multiple choice questions about

• PLOT

• CHARACTER

• IMAGERY

• THEME

• 25 QUOTES FOR INTERPRETATION

• Each question has four choices from which to choose.

• Following the multiple-choice section there is a list of seven concepts:

• AMBITION

• FATE AND FREE WILL

• POWER

• VERSIONS OF REALITY

• VIOLENCE

• TIME

• Students are required to expand the concept to a theme.

• For example Ambition can be good or bad; it can motivate you to achieve something, or it can compel you to do evil to achieve your goals.

• Then students must describe an event that illustrates the theme in the play.

• For example Macbeth’s ambition is strong. He kills Duncan to acquire the throne.

• Ambition served him well on the battlefield, but he became too ambitious and resorted to evil to reach his goals.

• I provide an answer sheet for students and an identical key for easy grading.

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Macbeth Bookmarks

• Five bookmarks per page to print out and distribute to students.

View individual activities, previews, and descriptions in my Macbeth Store

O Some Great Stuff for English Teachers Macbeth Resources.

If you are interested in just Comprehension and Analysis Questions for the individual acts, please click below:

Macbeth Questions for Comprehension and Analysis Act Packets Bundled.

When we complete the play, I have the students complete a collaborative research project titled “Corrupted by Power” where they research other world leaders who became tragic heroes because of their obsessive ambition and desire for power.

Click below to see that resource:

Collaborative Research Project—Corrupted by Power.

Thank you for considering these resources.

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