The lesson offered a wonderful example of teaching a text as a coherent whole as well as the value of ‘low threshold, high ceiling’ approaches to engage and challenge a mixed attainment class with a wide range of abilities (and attention spans).
A framing question
Framed by a guiding question, ‘How does Macbeth talk about murder?’, the teaching kept a sharp focus on both language and character. The lesson was explicitly situated within a broader sequence of lessons, signalling to students that their thinking would develop over time (with Lady Macbeth’s language as the focus for the following lesson). This sense of direction helped reinforce the idea of the play as a connected narrative, rather than a collection of key moments.
Free writing
One of the most effective strategies was the use of creative writing. Students were given twelve words extracted from the dagger speech and asked to craft their own Macbeth-style monologue (they had watched the whole play but not yet read or studied this scene). The instruction was to ‘free write’, keeping the pen moving. If they got stuck, they were to simply repeat the last few words until they got going again. These instructions removed pressure and focused on writing for thinking. Because students were already familiar with this approach from anthology poetry lessons with Joe, they engaged quickly and with confidence.
Some teachers shy away from this kind of task thinking it doesn’t lead to close analysis, not realising that the key to getting to the deep thinking in this work is in what happens afterwards. In this case, Joe asked students to select and share a phrase from their writing which felt ‘particularly Macbeth-like’ and explain their choice. In whole class feedback, one student read out their line, ‘Should I knife myself?’. Initially this seemed a little off-track. However, through careful questioning, the teacher drew out the student’s quite nuanced understanding of Macbeth’s indecision, guilt and inner conflict at various moments in the play (showing the advantage of having watched the whole thing before starting close analysis). This interaction also exemplified the power of responsive questioning – not to correct, but to both validate and extend thinking.
The way several students had used the word ‘business’ in their free writing drew their attention to Macbeth’s euphemism in using the word to refer to murder. They thought about real-world examples of euphemism and could grasp how this kind of language can distance the speaker from moral responsibility or truths they are reluctant to face. This led to discussion about Macbeth’s inability to say ‘Amen’ and students began to link language, theme, and context, recognising Macbeth’s growing separation from God. These are precisely the kinds of layered insights that underpin success in GCSE responses.
Reflection task
A final reflection task using a four-quadrant structure (the murder of Duncan/the murder of Banquo; before/after) revealed impressive understanding. Students were able to articulate ideas about guilt, hallucination, obsession, and irreversibility, supported by precise textual references.
I would stress that this was not a top set with super-keen, compliant students, just an everyday mixed attainment class. It was such a pleasure to observe an intellectually rich lesson characterised by high engagement and thoughtful discussion. Perhaps most striking was the classroom culture: students were willing to take risks, share tentative ideas, and embrace uncertainty. Some people might argue that the same learning could have been achieved, perhaps more efficiently even, by students taking notes while the teacher annotated Macbeth’s speech under a visualiser. I would disagree. Here there was a sense of students developing authentic responses, ‘owning’ their ideas and gaining a deep understanding of the play and I’m certain that the learning from this lesson will be memorable too. As a result, they will be well-prepared for their GCSE, but, more than that, to be students of literature in a way that would be recognisable in the study of English at any level.
