Project Exchange

ACTIVITY: Accessing and Interpreting a Challenging Text

Project: Macbeth

SUMMARY

Goals

 

Details

Duration: 45 minutes

Assessments: Student discussions, Student writing

Materials: projector - to project Lady Macbeth's soliloquy After the first individual read-through, students could model on the projector strategies used for decoding the text, or the teacher could model the metacognitive process.

 

Description

The primary goal of this activity is to use metacognitive strategies to decode a difficult text. A secondary goal is to provide students with a context for the play. Students will read Act I, Scene V (Lady Macbeth's soliloquy). As they read, they should "talk to the text" (i.e. - highlight, underline, ask questions, paraphrase, etc.).

Preparation: Students should have previous "talking to the text" experience.

ACTIVITY RESOURCES

(e.g. rubrics, examplars, websites, etc.)


REFLECTIONS & COMMENTS

Author Reflections

This worked quite well, but we did not have the opportunity to dissect the soliloquy as much as I would have liked. I would suggest following up this activity with a small group, line-by-line analysis and whole class discussion.

ALL PROJECT ACTIVITIES

  1. Introduction to the Bard
  2. Accessing and Interpreting a Challenging Text
  3. Status Roles Introduction
  4. Project Benchmarks
  5. Exhibition Preparation
  6. Production Design
  7. Scene Analysis and Constructing New Interpretations
  8. Character Narrative
  9. Storyboards
  10. Scene Run-Throughs
  11. Filming