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Reading schedule · Grades 8–12

Macbeth in 5 Weeks: A Reading Schedule

A five-week plan for reading Shakespeare's Macbeth, one act a week. Each week gives the reading, a short summary of what happens, three discussion questions and the escape room that goes with it. For grades 8–12, in class or at home.

Pacing

One act a week suits most high school classes. Read the act across the first part of the week, in class or at home and ideally with some of it read aloud, then use the questions for discussion or a short written response and finish the week with the escape room. Acts vary in length, so give a long act an extra lesson if it needs one: nothing is lost by stretching a week.

Each week ends with an escape room on that week's reading: seven self-checking locks that run in any browser, with no logins, and progress is saved, so a room can be finished another day. Every room has free taster locks to try, and members can open them all.

Print this schedule Escape rooms on Macbeth

Week 1: Act 1

Read: Act 1

Returning from battle, Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches who hail Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and future king, and the first prophecy comes true almost at once. Lady Macbeth reads his letter, resolves that he will take the crown and talks him round when he wavers over killing Duncan, who is staying with them as their guest.

Discussion questions

1. Why does the first prophecy coming true make the second more dangerous?
2. How do Macbeth and Banquo react differently to the witches?
3. What arguments does Lady Macbeth use to change her husband's mind, and why do they work?

Escape room: The Prophecy (lockedlessons.com/rooms/macbeth-act-1/)

Week 2: Act 2

Read: Act 2

Macbeth sees a dagger in the air before him, then kills Duncan as he sleeps, and Lady Macbeth has to return the daggers when he cannot. Knocking at the gate brings the drunken Porter and the discovery of the body; Duncan's sons flee, and strange signs in nature follow the murder.

Discussion questions

1. Is the dagger a supernatural sign or a product of Macbeth's mind, and does it matter?
2. How does the Porter's comic scene change the mood after the murder?
3. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain run, and how does their flight help Macbeth?

Escape room: Is This a Dagger (lockedlessons.com/rooms/macbeth-act-2/)

Week 3: Act 3

Read: Act 3

Now king, Macbeth fears Banquo and his heirs and hires murderers to kill him and his son; Banquo dies, but Fleance escapes. At the banquet Banquo's ghost takes Macbeth's place at the table, and by the end of the act Scottish lords are beginning to turn against the new king.

Discussion questions

1. Why does Macbeth not tell Lady Macbeth about the plan to kill Banquo?
2. What does the banquet scene show about Macbeth's state of mind and his hold on power?
3. How has the partnership between Macbeth and his wife changed since Act 1?

Escape room: The Banquet (lockedlessons.com/rooms/macbeth-act-3/)

Week 4: Act 4

Read: Act 4

Macbeth returns to the witches, whose apparitions warn him against Macduff but promise that no man born of woman can harm him and that he is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. He has Macduff's wife and son murdered, while in England Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty before they agree to march on Scotland.

Discussion questions

1. Why do the apparitions make Macbeth more confident rather than more careful?
2. What does the murder of Lady Macduff and her son show about how far Macbeth has fallen?
3. Why does Malcolm test Macduff by pretending to be wicked?

Escape room: Toil and Trouble (lockedlessons.com/rooms/macbeth-act-4/)

Week 5: Act 5

Read: Act 5

Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep, trying to wash away blood that is not there, and later dies. The army marching on Dunsinane cuts boughs from Birnam Wood as cover, Macduff reveals the truth about his birth and kills Macbeth, and Malcolm is hailed as king.

Discussion questions

1. How does Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking contrast with her confidence in Act 1?
2. How do the witches' promises turn against Macbeth in this act?
3. Is Macbeth wholly a villain by the end, or does he keep any of our sympathy?

Escape room: Out, Damned Spot (lockedlessons.com/rooms/macbeth-act-5/)