ADAPTED VERSION · dyslexia and neurodiverse students · B1

Session 6: Witches and ghosts for Halloween

Question: Why do witches and ghosts still frighten us?
Step 1

Goals

Step 2

Warm-up

Image analysis. Look at the painting for one minute in silence.
John William Waterhouse, The Magic Circle, 1886, Tate, London
John William Waterhouse, The Magic Circle, 1886, Tate, London. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
  1. What is the woman doing?
  2. Is she a witch? Why?
Class rule: we talk about the play, its characters, history and fiction only. Nobody shares a personal fear, a family story or anything private.
Step 3

Read

Short text. Many actors never say "Macbeth" in a theatre: they say "the Scottish play". It is an old superstition. The witches never tell Macbeth to kill. He decides.
Step 4

Tasks

Task a. List the Halloween elements in the play.
Task b. Mini debate: "The witches are guilty." Yes or no?
Task c. Plan of the final task.
Step 5

Sentence starters

  • In my opinion,...
  • The witches only...
  • Macbeth decides to...
  • I agree / I disagree because...
Step 6

Role play

Mock trial: Macbeth, a judge, a lawyer, one witch. Macbeth says: "The witches made me do it!"

Step 7

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: superstition · decides · guilty · Halloween · theatre · night
  1. Not saying "Macbeth" is a .
  2. Macbeth to kill.
  3. Who is ?
  4. Witches and ghosts are part of .
  5. Actors say "the Scottish play" in the .
  6. The play is full of scenes.
Answer key
  1. superstition
  2. decides
  3. guilty
  4. Halloween
  5. theatre
  6. night
Step 8

Homework

Write your final task.

Watch the film at home

  1. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), directed by Joel Coen, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, in black and white. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
  2. Macbeth (2015), directed by Justin Kurzel, with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Where to watch: JustWatch France.
  3. DVD: ask at your local library or médiathèque.
  4. Scenes to watch: the witches on the heath (Act I), the dagger and the murder of Duncan (Act II), the banquet and Banquo's ghost (Act III), the sleepwalking scene (Act V).

Watch with English subtitles if you can. The films contain violence.

Step 9

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
OpinionNoneSimpleClearClear with reason
InteractionSilentAnswersReactsReacts and argues

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