TEACH
DECIDE AND PLAN
PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING
Read and Respond
Have students do their first read of the selection. Then have them complete their close read. Finally,
work with them on the Making Meaning, Language Development, and Effective Expression activities.English Language Support
Provide English learners with support for
language and meaning as they read the
selection.
Language Review the English Language
Support chart, Act I. Then add more words
that students will see in this act: wherefore,
pray, prithee, morrow and their meanings
(why, beg/ask, please, tomorrow).
Meaning Review the plot events of Act I
before continuing to Act II. Preview
significant moments of the act, for example,
Macbeth’s speech about the dagger in
Act II, Scene i. Read several lines at a time
and stop to explain meaning as needed. For
example, make sure students understand
that Macbeth is seeing a vision of a dagger
and wrestling with his conscience about the
murder.Strategic Support
Provide students with strategic support
to ensure that they can successfully read
the text.
Language Study short sections to analyze
the language with students, explaining
words and meaning as needed. Remind
them not to stop at the end of lines but to
read whole sentences. Have them practice
reading sentences aloud.
Meaning Ask several students to take
turns reading aloud the speech Macbeth
gives about the dagger, Act II, Scene i. Ask
questions to help them understand the
meaning. For example, call out the lines: I
have thee not, and yet I see thee still. / Art
thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as
to sight, or art thou but / A dagger of the
mind, a false creation. Ask students if they
think this is a real dagger or his imagination.
Then ask what they think he may be feeling
about the murder.Challenge
Provide students who need to be challenged
with ideas for how they can go beyond a
simple interpretation of the text.
Text Analysis As a group, discuss the
meaning of the dagger speech in Scene i,
and the idea of Macbeth wrestling with his
conscience and imagining the dagger. Have
pairs of students take turns reading aloud the
speech. Their partner should listen and give
feedback, for example, commenting on the
phrasing of sentences and expression in the
voice. Challenge volunteers to memorize part
of the speech and perform it for the class.
Written Response Ask students to write a
short essay on the the way that conscience
impacts action. Have them analyze the
actions of either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.
Students should consider what impels the
characters to commit evil and predict what
might happen if the conscience of these
characters had been stronger.Text Complexity Rubric: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act II
Quantitative MeasuresLexile: NP Text Length: 18,031 words in the entire playQualitative MeasuresKnowledge Demands
1 2 3 4 5Multiple themes are addressed that are very sophisticated and complex, including corruption of
ambition; relationship to violence; guilt and retribution; and conflicts of right and wrong.Structure
1 2 3 4 5Dialogue is structured with line breaks, as in poetry. Both prose and verse are included. Use of rhythm
and rhyme is irregular, with varying meter. Characters mostly speak in unrhymed, iambic pentameter
(blank verse).
Language Conventionality and Clarity
1 2 3 4 5Students will need to become familiar with Shakespeare’s language (especially if reading for the
first time). Language is figurative and archaic (Elizabethan English of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries), with unfamiliar syntax and vocabulary.
Levels of Meaning/Purpose
1 2 3 4 5This play, as with all Shakespeare plays, is full of symbolism and multiple meanings that are difficult to
identify and interpret and require extensive analysis.Reading Support
WHOLE-CLASS LEARNING • The Tragedy of MacbeTh, Act II280C UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFRONTING THE PAST
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