An updated collection of my top 20 most popular resources on Macbeth updated for the 2023 exam. Check out the wide range of previews.
Includes the following:
9 high grade model answers to GCSE questions.
104 slide PowerPoint providing annotations for every scene of the play
20+ lessons covering almost all scenes in the play.
100 question Knowledge quiz with answers
various revision/quotation knowledge organisers
Various revision cards
20 key extracts revision booklet
Revision of big ideas in the play
7 writing frames for 7 exam-style questions
50 key quotation task with answer question
Scene plot questions with answer sheet
Sample exam-style questions
Quotation revision game
A worksheet to help explore Act 3 Scene 4.
Read the scene
Task 1. Find quotations to support each point.
Task 2: Convert 3 quotations in PEE paragraphs
Extension:
Give acting directions to Macbeth and draw an image of the scene on stage.
Worksheet 2: Analyse the impact of Macbeth’s word choices when speaking to the ghost.
A quotation revision game for Macbeth and A Christmas Carol. There are 98 key quotations on the board (49 from each text).
To advance, students roll the dice and must explain the quotation.
This is a follow up to my other game which reverses the process and prompts students to think of the quotations.
Currently in A4 but you may wish to enlarge it to A3.
A 16 slide PowerPoint which contains detailed animated annotations for 6 soliloquies from the play along with modern translations and follow up comprehension questions on each speech.
Act 1 Scene 5 (Unsex me here)
Act 1 Scene 7 (If it were done)
Act 2 Scene 1 (Is this a dagger)
Act 3 Scene 1 (To be thus is nothing)
Act 5 Scene 3 (Seyton! I am sick at heart)
Act 5 Scene 5 (She should have died hereafter)
‘A thesis-style introduction that demonstrates your understanding of the question can be a really helpful way of starting your answer. It shows that you are ‘in charge’ of your essay and that you know what you think. It can provide a strong foundation for the rest of the essay. Keep referring back to the introduction to create a coherent response.’ AQA examiner’s report 2022
Creating a thesis-style introduction is a challenge for many students but is essential in helping students to reach levels 4-6 in the mark scheme. I have produced a simple 3 point structure to help students quickly generate a thesis statement in timed exam conditions. There is an example of the 3 point structure being used and then students attempt to imitate the structure for 4 other exam-style questions.
Examples apply for Lord of the Flies, Macbeth and A Christmas Carol.
Use for a final revision lesson on Macbeth.
Present students with the 6 big ideas about the play.
Give students the attached top 50 quotations revision sheet.
Ask them to make notes on each big idea using the sheet.
Then go through the model answers on the PowerPoint. Each answer appears on a mouse click so you can talk through each answer one by one.
Also includes 6 exam questions to plan on one printer-friendly planning sheet.
Also includes a 100 question quiz on the play with accompanying answer sheet that is useful to use throughout Year 11 to assist with knowledge retention.
Also contains the top 100 quotations with a brief explanation to help students get started with developing their inferences on each quotation. Alternatively, ask students to use a code to link each quotation to one or more themes such as a for ambition, g for guilt, s for supernatural.
Also includes theme and character revision cards.
The 50 quotation quiz comes in two forms. One will take a full lesson while one is ideal as a repeatable recap activity (spaced learning).
Lesson exploring the importance of Fezziwig in the novel.
There is a differentiated starter with answers followed by analysis of 8 quotations. Once again possible answers are provided.
Then students attempt to write an analytical paragraph using one or more of the quotations.
Lesson analysing 4 more obscure extracts from A Christmas Carol. Over time, examiners tend to set more challenging extracts. This features 4 of the more obscure extracts that could come up in May 2021 or May 2022.
Boat out at sea (Stave 3)
Facetious snowball (Stave 3)
Fred’s Party (Stave 3)
Cheap funeral (Stave 4)
Each extract includes exploratory questions, answers and there is a model paragraph for the first 3 extracts.
A handy worksheet for getting students to find out the definitions of the challenging vocabulary in A Christmas Carol. There are 127 words to find definitions for.
Complete lesson analysing Fred’s character in A Christmas Carol.
Differentiated starter activity.
Detailed annotation of 8 key Fred quotations with 4 detailed inferences for each quotation. The annotations are animated to appear one by one so you can talk them through.
Students are then given a model paragraph and asked to use their notes to write the next paragraph(s).
The plenary invites students to consider the strengths and weaknesses of Dickens’ characterisation and asks students to think about Fred’s one-dimensionality.
Lesson analysing the initial description of The Ghost of Christmas Past.
Includes a differentiated starter, detailed analysis of 5 key quotations, activity to boost analytical word power followed by an analytical writing task.
A planning sheet and example grade 7 response answering the following exam-style extract-based question on Macbeth.
Starting with this extract from Act 4 Scene 2, how does Shakespeare present women in the play?
Also includes some annotations to help students see the positive features of the response.
A lesson which explores how women characters are presented in A Christmas Carol. It looks at key quotations from Belle, Mrs Cratchit, Mrs Fezziwig, Fan and other characters. Then it encourages to examine and evaluate whether or not Dickens presents women characters in a positive or problematic way in the novel.
3 intervention catch-up sessions aimed at Paper 2 Question 3.
Each session looks at a short extract and includes annotations, a model paragraph and a writing frame for students who require it.
Students then use the model to attempt their own paragraph in the same style on a different quotation.
Lesson on Act 1 Scene 2. Includes a recap starter with sample answers, annotations of the scene, scene summary and an example paragraph to help students craft their own analysis of how Macbeth is presented in this scene.
A description writing lesson based on the Tempest.
Students complete exercises which encourages them to make conscious choices about their sentence lengths, sentence types, sentence openers and use of punctuation.
Use the 9 Step Plan to help students structure their responses to 4 different questions on A Christmas Carol.
Also includes a quote revision sheet to help students plan the answers.
Step 1: Explain why the given extract is a pivotal moment in the novel. (A01)
Step 2: Analyse 3 quotes from the extract. (A02)
Step 3: link to extract to Dickens’ purpose/context (A03)
Step 4: Choose a 2nd part of the novel linked to the question. How is is similar and different (A01)
Step 5: Analyse up to 3 quotes from second part of novel. (A02)
Step 6: Link 2nd extract to Dickens’ purpose/context (A03)
Step 7: Choose a 3rd part of the novel linked to the question. How is is similar and different (A01)
Step 8: Analyse up to 3 quotes from 3rd part of novel. (A02)
Step 9: Link 3rd extract to Dickens’ purpose/context (A03)
New for 2024 is a resource which offers 3 levels of differentiation to help guide students on how to structure a full length response on the following 4 themes/topics: children, materialism, ghosts, Christmas.
Tier 1 difficulty (I do): Big idea, topic sentences and quotations are provided. Students add the analysis of the quotations.
Tier 2 difficulty (We do): Students must choose 2 quotations to support each topic sentence and analyse the quotations.
Tier 3 difficulty (You do): Students have to generate the big idea, the topic sentences, 2 quotations a paragraph and the quotation analysis.
3 Grade 9 model responses to Eduqas GCSE style exam questions to analyse and annotate. Includes the question and extract.
Essay topics.
1. Supernatural
2. Bob Cratchit
3. Christmas
Ideal for lower ability students or students responding to an AQA exam question on A Christmas Carol for the first time, this writing frame guides students through the process of responding to a question about Scrooge’s lack of humanity. The sentence stems invite students to respond to outside of the extract as well as inside the extract and include opportunities to make links to context.