Teacher: Chloe Richardson
Room #: F106
Lesson # in unit:
Topic: Macbeth; Iambic Pentameter
Lesson Objective and Assessment of the objective
By the end of the workshop, student will be able to:
Recognize passages written in iambic pentameter
Understand the literary context of iambic pentameter
Evaluate whether or not syllables are stressed or unstressed
Supporting Diverse Learners The lesson provides many visual and oral components to support all learners since iambic pentameter can
be difficult to understand. There is use of an infographic to support visualization of the lines, but also the choice to speak aloud and tap the
rhythm of the syllables to determine where the stressed syllables fall. Use of a video is also employed so students can better hear the
distinction.
Method(s) for Instruction
Class/Group Discussion
Cooperative Learning
Small Group
Guided Practice
Lab
Lecture or Direct Instruction
Question/Answer
Learning Stations
Readers/Writers Workshop
Teacher Modeling/Demo.
Journal writing
Role Play
Hands-on
Inquiry Learning
Game
Simulation/Role Playing
Independent Learning
Other
Use of Materials
Teacher’s Manual pg #
Student Text pg #
Picture Books
Handouts: Macbeth speech
Manipulative:
Related Equipment:
Other: 10 pieces of paper
with an iamb written on each
one for the living iambic
pentameter activity
Adapted materials
Use of Technology
Cell Phone
PollEverywhere.co
CPS Clickers
Elmo Document Camera
Software
Student Computers
Video Clips/DVD
Website
Web 2.0 tool
Other : infogr.am Infographic
Strategies/Activities Selected: “Infographic” interactive lesson, guided practice worksheet, Living Iambic Pentameter activity, whole and
small group discussion.
Lesson Agenda
Warm up: How will you support students in accessing prior knowledge, personal, real world and/or cultural connections?
Class will begin with a comprehensive infographic presentation where certain terms, such as iamb and pentameter are covered. Embedded
in the infographic is a YouTube video where students can begin to familiarize themselves with the idea and rhythm of iambic pentameter.
(I ended up not actually showing the YouTube video per Mrs. Robillard’s request. Instead of watching the video, the students participated
in an activity that was similar in fashion to how the video was explaining iambic pentameter. We called this a Living Iambic Pentameter
activity, and did this after the infographic instead of showing the video to the class.) We will go through the infographic as a class,
labeling lines with the stressed and unstressed syllable markings as needed, and answering any questions that arise from these unfamiliar
terms. Within the infographic, there will be example lines written in iambic pentameter and reasons explaining this choice made by
Shakespeare to write this way. The infographic will be interactive and allow the students to comprehend what iambic pentameter means
within the context of Macbeth.
Transitioning and Stating Objectives:
Transition to Instruction: What support strategies will you use to scaffold students learning so they meet or exceed targeted?
After the infographic, we will read lines aloud as a class. I will say the lines first, beating out the rhythm. After the students have heard me
read the line, we will read the line aloud as a class with the students tapping out the rhythm on their desk. After a line has been read a few
times, we will document it on the board, marking each syllable as either stressed or unstressed. We will do the lines used as examples in
the infographic first.
“I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” (This one was first because all of the words are one syllable; the iambs are easy to locate since
there are only 10 words, hence 10 iambs.)
“And wash this filthy witness from your hand.” (This one proved to be a bit more difficult because iambs were broken up; one word could
have multiple syllables, and each syllable could be in a different iamb. I am happy we started with the easier line as to make a clear
connection to the concept from the beginning. This line took a little longer to explain since there were multi-syllable words, but the
students caught on easily!)
We will go over the rhythm until the class seems to grasp the concept without too many questions.
(I didn’t exactly realize this when I first made my lesson plan, but it sort of came to me once I started teaching and served as one of the
main motivating metaphors that successfully drove the students understanding of iambic pentameter: It’s very much like music. We started
to talk about music, specifically rap, and how boring it would be if there was no variation in rhythm, beat, or inflection. Shakespeare’s
metric selections for his poetry weren’t that much different than the choices singers and songwriters make when writing and performing
music, and this is what makes this art interesting! I am so glad that this metaphor dawned on me because it really allowed me to make a
schematic parallel to the students, especially the ones who were musically inclined. This really drove home the big idea of iambic
pentameter and why it still matters today. If I were to teach this lesson in the future, I would definitely include a music section in the
lesson plan to further scaffold the learning in a way students could successfully relate to.)
Transition Guided Practice:
After tapping the rhythms as a class using the examples above, we will then go over a speech by Macbeth (4.1.5160). Each student will receive a copy of the speech, and we will mark it together as a class using the stressed (/)
and unstressed (-) annotations. Each line will be read aloud, and then each iamb will be marked in order to ensure
that students understand iambic pentameter. (I will bold the stressed syllables on the first two lines in order to
make the concept more familiar as we move to marking the rest of the piece.) We will do this for the first 5 lines of
the speech, and then the students will independently mark the next 5 lines using the same annotations. As they are
marking, I will walk around to answer questions, and assess if the skill is being met.
Transition to Independent Practice and Conferencing:
Transition to Wrap up/Closing: How will you engage students in self-assessment and/or reflection on key concepts?
If time allows, we will then get students up in groups of 10 to read a line aloud. The students reading the unstressed
syllables will bend their knees, and the students reading the stressed syllables will rise on their toes. This creates a
visual interpretation of iambic pentameter; this way the rhythm can be visualized as moving up and down. We will
use the same sheet that we just marked, so I don’t anticipate students having trouble assessing whether or not a
syllable is stressed or unstressed.
(This activity “Living Iambic Pentameter” ended up being the second part of class, right after the infographic and
before the guided practice Macbeth speech. I had an iamb written out on its own piece of paper, all of the stressed
syllables on orange and the unstressed syllables on green. This way, there was a visual element to understanding
stressed vs. unstressed. I gave the stressed syllables to the more talkative students and the unstressed syllables to
the quieter students so it could sound as realistic as possible. They then read each syllable in order as many times
as their peers asked in order to hear what this concept sounds like. It was really successful and the students loved
the physical/social aspect of the lesson!)
Just before the bell rings, I will ask students to do either thumbs up or thumbs down to see if iambic pentameter
makes sense to them.
Daily Assessment How do you know your
students met your lesson objective(s) and to what
extent?
knowledge
comprehension
application
analysis
synthesis
evaluation
Formative:
Class discussion
CPS clickers
Email teacher
Entrance/Exit slip
Teacher Observe
Listened to conversations
Quiz
Thumbs up, neutral, or down
Homework check
Video quiz
Summative:
Test
Project
Report
Presentation
Final Exam
Other
Voting
Whiteboard Check
Other
Additional Teacher Preparation:
Copy: Speech by Macbeth to mark syllables. Locate: infographic online; Make 10 iambs of the line “And wash this
filthy witness from your hand.” On the green and orange paper.
Reflection:
Overall, I am very happy with the success of this lesson when I anticipated great challenges due to the complexity and
theoretical nature of the topic. (Not to mention I thought it was going to be severely boring, and I was pleased to see that the
students were actually engaged, debating, and having fun!) Looking back on my lesson, I wish I would have planned ahead
using the living iambic pentameter activity as a more central component of my lesson as I did when I actually went to teach it
at Pike. When I arrived, my cooperating teacher told me how she had been tweaking with the lesson and trying new things all
day, and I was more than welcome to try out what she had found to be successful. So during my lesson, we did first start with
an overview//purpose/context explanation of iambic pentameter via an infographic I made. After going through the logistics
of the infographic, we then diagrammed lines together on the board, clapping the syllables aloud and identifying what makes
a stressed vs. unstressed syllable. I had no idea how successful this activity would be! Even when I passed out the speech by
Macbeth for students to independently practice marking iambic pentameter, they were very animated and social when it came
to labeling the syllables. While I was excited that the students were this excited/interested in the activity, I wasn’t prepared
for such a debate among the students. When we were going over all of the lines as a whole class, one of my students Abbi
came up to the board and started writing out the lines and marking the syllables for her peers when they had questions. I
turned into merely a facilitator of knowledge while the students took control of their own learning! I hadn’t anticipated such
an engaged interest, so I wish that I had incorporated an even more social component for the lesson and classroom
environment as a whole from the start of my lesson planning. The attitude was almost completely different in 7th period,
where the students asked to do the living iambic pentameter activity a few more times and had few questions nor desire for as
much social interaction when they were diagramming the Macbeth speech. I did a formative assessment of thumbs up, thumbs
down as the students were leaving to assess their overall understanding, to which one of my students Yancy replied, “That
has been the easiest thing we’ve learned all year!” That made me really excited because I anticipated great struggles with
this concept, but it ended up turning out very nicely. My mentor teacher and I both were pleased with the success and student
engagement.