Of Mice and Men: Friendship, Loneliness, and Dreams

Transcription

1 Of Mice and Men: Friendship, Loneliness, and Dreams Week 2, Plan 4: [90 mins.] Lesson Objectives SWBAT (bullet points under Unit Objectives COGNITIVE (know/understand) Students will know how an author uses characterization and setting to create a basic plot Students will know the basic plot of the first two sections of Of Mice and Men Students will understand the importance of setting and characters AFFECTIVE (feel/value) PERFORMANCE (do): Students will value the connections they make between Of Mice and Men and their own lives. Students will create story boards for the first two sections of Of Mice and Men to aid comprehension Students will discuss themes as they pertain to Section 1 SOL Objectives: [List with numbers portrayed in the SOL document] 10.3 The student will read, comprehend, and critique literary works. a) Identify text organization and structure. b) Identify main and supporting ideas. c) Make predictions, draw inferences, and connect prior knowledge to support reading comprehension. Procedures/Instructional Strategies [Explanatory Note: Words appearing in italics represent what I would actually say to students.] 1) Bridge [15 mins.] a) [15 mins.] SSR 2) Steps [60 mins.] Comment [J1]: I love starting class with SSR. It calms them down and gets them in the mindset that they are in class. Also, I think they like the routine of starting every class with SSR. a) [15 mins.] Individual Storyboarding Teacher will pass out storyboards with directions. There will be 4-6 boxes for each section, and students must draw what they see as the 4-6 most important events, characters, or settings in section 1. They may use their graphic organizers from Friday to help them decide what to include. Students must also include quotations and page numbers under their drawings to support what they draw.

2 Focus on why quotations are important so that they understand why they need to use quotes. Need to work on how you use quotations to support an argument, so we will do that orally instead. b) [15 mins.] Whole class storyboarding and going over the characterization handout Teacher should use this time to have a discussion with the students (and the text) in addition to storyboarding the plot, characters, and setting. Teacher will ask students to tell what to draw, and the teacher will draw it. Begin probing students with in the text questions to start (check for comprehension), and begin asking more higher-level thinking questions. These questions are more teacher-directed in order to lead them to the themes that we will discuss in the next 2 weeks. They will begin coming up with their own questions next week. 1. How does Steinbeck convey Lennie s animal-like qualities? 2. Why does Steinbeck describe the actions of Lennie s hands? 3. What is George s attitude toward Lennie in this section? Why does he stay with Lennie? 4. Explain the connection between Lennie s mouse and what happened in the town of Weed. 5. Describe George s dream in this section. 6. What suggests the dream of the farm is unrealistic 7. Give some examples of foreshadowing in this section. c) [20 min] Small Group Discussion [5 min.] Quick Write [5 min.] Introduce roles. These will be the individual s role for the rest of the week. The roles will switch on Monday. Students will each choose a role randomly by picking a corresponding letter for their group (p, r, s, t). Comment [J2]: I ended up scrapping this idea mid-lesson because the storyboard was helping students understand, and it seemed more important than having small group discussions. I modified the lesson so that students chose one of the discussion questions and wrote about it for the last part of class. (a) P=President- keeps the group going and on task (b) R=Recorder-keeps track of what the group talks about (there can be 2 of these) (c) S=Synthesizer- summarizes and shares what the group talked about (S and R can be combined if there are only 3 people at a table) (d) T=Time keeper- makes sure each member of the group (including self) has spoken within the time of 12 minutes. Each person gets no more than 2 minutes to share. Pass out a list of questions for students to consider. They have minutes to discuss whichever questions they want. Synthesizers will share with the rest of class to lead discussion. ii) What obligation does George have to Lennie? iii) Would it be immoral for George to leave Lennie behind? iv) What examples do you have in your life where you had a relationship that made you feel burdened or like you lost some of your freedom? v) Are people who are intellectually disabled second class citizens? How should they be treated?

3 3) Closure [15 mins.] Exit Slip By now, you ve now had multiple interactions with Steinbeck s Of Mice and Men. For the rest of class, write about any questions you still have, characters that intrigue you, or themes you notice or that interest you. Try to tie your discussion of the text to something in your own life. For example, you might juxtapose (compare something side-by-side) a relationship you have with someone in your life to that of Lennie and George. What is their relationship like? What is your relationship with this other person like? You may also choose to write about friendship, dreams, or something else that you talked about today in Of Mice and Men. Comment [J3]: These students still do not have much stamina when it comes to writing. I m not sure if it s because it s at the end of the class or if they actually cannot focus for that long to write. I need to give them more writing assignments and more feedback on their writing to help the writing process. Exit Slip This should be your best writing and demonstrate what you understand so far about the characters, themes, and story itself particularly in relation to your own life or your small group discussions. Directions: For the rest of class, write about any questions you still have, characters that intrigue you, or themes you notice or that interest you in your discussion of Of Mice and Men. Try to tie your discussion of and response to the text to something related in your own life. You must include and explain at least one quotation in your discussion of the text. This should be your best writing and demonstrate what you have learned from this class discussion. Comment [J4]: They resisted this idea. Materials Needed Formative: Butcher paper to write whole-class storyboard Storyboards for students Completed characterization sheets (from the last lesson) Graded papers to hand back Exit slip/freewrite Methods of Assessment Summative: Exit slip/freewrite Leading to a Socratic seminar and in-class writing activity paragraph Reflections (completed after lesson is taught) They resisted the idea of including quotations in their writing, but Sue had a good idea about making it relevant. I tried to justify the need for evidence by saying that it applies to any career (doctor, lawyer, construction, student, etc.), but the students just pretended like they did not want to do anything after high school. Sue suggested telling them that to make informed decisions as voters, they need to research the evidence not just propaganda. I also need to make sure that they know that students do not have a choice on this for once; quotations and support are necessary to write

4 logical, supported papers. I think students liked to see my awful drawing skills. It was entertaining for one, and it helped to show that I m certainly not good at everything or perfect by any means. I tried to lead the discussion toward certain themes by asking leading and probing questions, but my hope is that students will begin to ask questions themselves and see connections themselves during the reading. Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, overheads, powerpoints, handouts, etc. for this lesson):

5 Of Mice and Men: Focus on Main Characters and Characterization (from last class) Objective: Compare and contrast Lennie and George using the graphic organizer. Directions: Using supporting details from the story, record information about Lennie and George that improves your understanding of the character, his traits, and his role in the story so far. Turn in what you finish at the end of class. HOMEWORK: READ THE FIRST TWO SECTIONS BY THE NEXT CLASS. Character Traits (Describe the Character) Role in the Story Evidence from the text: (Supporting Quotations and page numbers) Lennie George

6 Continue on the back Visualizing George and Lennie Directions: Answer the following in a 3-4 sentence paragraph (OR draw a picture). Using your Character Chart on the previous page, compare and contrast Lennie and George. How are similar? How are they alike? Explain why George stays with Lennie. Characterization is the method used by a writer to develop a character. The method includes (1) showing the character's appearance, (2) displaying the character's actions, (3) revealing the character's thoughts, (4) letting the character speak, and (5) getting the reactions of others.

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8 Small Group Discussion Of Mice and Men Group Responsibilities Defined: P=President- keeps the group going and on task and asks for supporting quotations R=Recorder-keeps track of what the group talks about S=Synthesizer- summarizes and shares what the group talked about T=Time keeper- makes sure each member of the group (including self) has spoken within the time limit. Directions: Respond to the questions below as a small group. Make sure to offer quotations to support your claims when referring to the text. If these questions or your discussion prompt other questions, write them down on this page. 1. Which character is your favorite? why? Which character do you dislike? why? 2. Does anyone in this work remind you of anyone you know? Explain. 3. What quality(ies) of which character strikes you as a good characteristic to develop for yourself over the years? Why? How does this character demonstrate this quality? 4. What obligation does George have to Lennie? 5. Would it be immoral for George to leave Lennie behind? 6. Are people like Lennie second class citizens? 7. What is our responsibility to people like Lennie, who cannot make choices for themselves? Add your own questions here:

9 Exit Slip Directions: For the rest of class, choose one question to answer from the above question list that interests you (can be your own). You must include and explain at least one quotation in your discussion of the text. This should be your best writing and demonstrate what you have learned from this class discussion.