Summary for lesson 2:
What did we cover
– Reflected on last lesson
– Recapped the first half of the play
– Discussed important context (i.e. King James I’s belief in witchcraft, Shakespeare’s
edits to the original story)
– Worked through the questions for the second half of Macbeth
– Debated essay questions (i.e. ‘is Lady Macbeth responsible for the tragic events’)
Class report
It was a real pleasure to teach this group of students again today; the commitment and
thought they have demonstrated across our first two lessons has been wonderful, and I am
incredibly excited to continue our progress together as we work through Shakespeare’s texts.
We began our lesson by having a student recap the story so far, then we spent some time
discussing how the play would have been received differently by Shakespeare’s audience
(particularly in relation to the far more widespread belief in the supernatural). The knowledge
that many of the students had of the play, Shakespeare, and 1600’s England was hugely
impressive; many of them made very thoughtful comments, and it was a wonderful start to our
lesson.
As we worked through the VIPERS questions, we stopped to dive deeper into some of the
more complex questions (notably those which touched on the notion of responsibility). I was
very impressed by how well the students could ‘think-on-the-spot’ and produce some very
insightful answers.
We finished the lesson by debating as a group some essay-style questions. Again, it was
fantastic to see how enthusiastic the students were when it came to offering up their thoughts;
the variety and depth of the students’ ideas made for a hugely rich and intriguing debate, and
it was clear that they were all learning from each other.
Having seen how bright and keen these students are, I am very much looking forward to
starting our next text, Romeo and Juliet, with them next week. I have every confidence that
they are going to continue to grow and develop, and I also believe it will be a hugely enjoyable
and positive experience for all involved.

Home work for lesson 2:
Imagine that Lady Macbeth wrote a letter to Macbeth just before she died. Write the letter:think about what she would want to tell him or ask him to do.
OR
Write a short response to the following question: What part of the story did you find most interesting and why?

VIPERS questions for lesson 3 to be discussed on Thur