Grade 9
q What kinds of circumstances are truly beyond an individual’s
control and what options are truly within the realm of personal choice?
q As a society, what is our responsibility to people whose
circumstances are beyond their control?
q What is our responsibility to those people, like Lennie, who cannot make choices for themselves?
q What is the meaning of friendship, loneliness and being an
outsider?
q How can friendship/companionship combat loneliness?
q Do our friends have to look and act like us?
q What is our responsibility to the “friendless?” (less
fortunate/less able people)
q Can murder ever be justified? What’s the difference
between murder and mercy-killing? Who decides?
q What is the importance of our dreams?
q Do the best-laid plans often go awry?
q What happens if our dreams are never realized?
q What is the most important relationship in your life? What
makes this relationship important to you? How would your life be different if
the relationship had not occurred and how would you be affected if the
relationship ended? How does the relationship affect your decisions and
actions? Does it interfere with your freedom?
q Consider
the nature of man: what parts of human
nature are valuable, what parts are unavoidable but despicable?
q What separates man from animal?
q What is humanity?
q When are tough answers the right answers?
q How do avoid eye for an eye punishments and visceral
responses to misdeeds? Are there
alternatives?
q What is my vision of paradise? Does paradise exist?
q What is the American Dream?
How is this dream a universal dream?
What is your vision of this dream?
q How does Steinbeck present the issues of the novel? How does he show setting? character? conflict? What elements are included in each of these
items?
q How does my background affect my understanding of the novel?
q When I write, how can I use some of these conventions to
guide my understanding?
q What does perspective really mean and how does it apply to
this study?
q Do we or should we make excuses and exceptions for
handicapped individuals?
q What are the handicaps discussed in the novel?
q What issues are unique to women?
q What issues are unique to African Americans?
q What issues are unique to mentally challenged individuals?
q What role does allegory play in the novel?
q What connections if any can be made to the Bible?
·
Short essays
·
Research
Project/Presentation
·
·
A vocabulary test
·
An interactive notebook containing
journal entries, drawings and reflections.
·
Frequent quizzes on
factual information in the novel, vocabulary and grammar/structural components.
·
Regular participation
in classroom discussion.
Activities may take the form of individual or group effort.
·
Students will do a research on
John Steinbeck & The Great Depression in
the
·
Students will interview an
underprivileged worker and write an essay about that.
·
Students will write a response to
explain what an important personal relationship means to them.
·
Students will complete a graphic
organizer to show the dream George and Lennie
share, obstacles in the way of the dream, and the outcome of the dream.
·
Students will write an epilogue to
the book to suggest what happens to George after Lennie
dies: How is George's life different? Is he alone? Does he need/care for
others?
·
Students will file materials in
their portfolios/writing folders.
·
Students will write a personal
response to each death to place in their portfolios/writing folders.
·
Students will design and produce a
flier listing legal, medical, educational, social, and/or religious services
available to the people who suffer homelessness, poverty, mental disability,
discrimination, or who work as migrants.
·
Students will write an editorial
concerning the plight of one group of the underprivileged in the
·
Read sections of the Bible,
in particular sections from Genesis.
(Onken)
q
Steinbeck, John "Of Mice and
Men"
Library of Congress Web site: http://www.lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
q
Biographical info on
John Steinbeck:
http://users.dedot.com/mchs/steinbeck.html
http://www.steinbeck.org/index2.html
q
Selections from The
Bible
q
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/mice/
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/mice/micetg.html (Ms. Rundell)
Art
·
Create a new book jacket for the
novel.
·
Take black and white photographs
that reflect the social issues in the novel.
Drama
·
Dramatize scenes from the novel
using the published play version or the text of the novel.
Healthful Living
·
Research what Americans had to eat
during this era.
·
Create a menu for a family for a
week.
Math
·
Research Depression-era income and
expenses. Create a monthly budget for a family of four based on the research.
Music
·
Find a song to represent one of
the characters. Make a copy of the lyrics. Write a paragraph to explain how the
character and the song fit together. Refer to the song lyrics often in order to
develop this paragraph fully.
Social Studies
·
Research and report on biographies
of famous people from this era.
·
Research and discuss significant
court cases involving social issues such as segregation, the mentally disabled,
etc.
·
Create a map of northern
Character Education
·
Explore and analyze the character
education traits caring/kindness, fairness/justice, and citizenship/civic
virtue found in the novel.