MYPNA_TE_G12_U3_web.pdf

TEACH

DECIDE AND PLAN

PERSONALIZE FOR LEARNING

Text Complexity Rubric: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act V

Quantitative Measures

Lexile: NP Text Length: 18,031 words in the entire play

Qualitative Measures

Knowledge Demands

1 2 3 4 5

Multiple themes are addressed that are very sophisticated and complex (corruption of ambition, gender

and relationship to violence, guilt and retribution, conflicts of right and wrong)

Structure

1 2 3 4 5

Dialogue 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 5

Language is figurative and archaic (Elizabethan English of 16th and 17th centuries) with unfamiliar

syntax and vocabulary. Students will be more familiar with the language patterns by now.

Levels of Meaning/Purpose

1 2 3 4 5

This 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 V

English Language Support

Provide English Learners with support for

meaning and knowledge demands as they

read the selection.

Language Review the chart you made with

language items and the modern equivalents

(see English Language Support, Acts I and

II). Challenge students to write original

sentences using the pronouns thee, thou,

thine, and other words from the chart.

Knowledge Demands Review the

words you listed in Act I that relate to the

themes: prophecy, prediction, fate, guilt,

punishment, ambition, gender. Together

write statements about the themes. For

example, The witches appear in Acts I, II,

and IV. They tell Macbeth prophecies about

his future. Macbeth can’t escape his fate,

and all the prophecies come true.

Strategic Support

Provide students with strategic support

to ensure that they can successfully read

the text.

Meaning Clarify any meanings that may

be confusing, for example, how Macbeth

was tricked by the prophecies in Act IV

that came true in Act V. The woods rise up

because soldiers advance carrying branches

to disguise themselves.

Language Discuss the challenge students

took on to try to understand the language

of Shakespeare and congratulate them on

how well they did! Pair students and have

partners select one or two sentences from

each act of the play and write out how you

would say them in modern English. Ask

pairs to share their sentences with the class.

Challenge

Provide students who need to be challenged

with ideas for how they can go beyond a

simple interpretation of the text.

Text Analysis With students, list some

of the themes in Macbeth, for example

ambition and corruption, conflict between

right and wrong, fate (prophecies) and

controlling our destiny, and guilt and

retribution for one’s actions. Pair students

and have them choose one theme and

discuss how it was shown in the play. As a

group, ask pairs to share their thoughts.

Written Response Ask students to choose

one of the themes that they found most

relevant or interesting. Ask them to write

what they found interesting about it and

tell why they think it is relevant today,

and where else they have seen the theme

displayed in literature, movies, or other

media.

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.

334C UNIT 3 • FACING THE FUTURE, CONFIRMING THE PAST

LIT17_TE12_U03_A5_WC_INTER.indd 3 4/9/16 2:26 PM