Y8: Week 8 | Introducing 'Of Mice and Men'

Hello Year 8!

Just one more week before we're back in school - and we've got a great book lined up for you to complete our novel unit: John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

This week, we'll introduce you to the context of the novella (a little novel) and get you started on the first chapter. When we're back next week, we'll expect you to:

a) understand some key contextual factors, and...

b) have an understanding of the two main characters.

Here are a few interesting facts about the book:

• It was published in 1937.
• It is set in California during the Great Depression.
• The town mentioned at the start of the novel, Soledad, means 'solitude' or loneliness in Spanish. This is an important detail.
• It is a novella, but in some ways it feels like a play and it was adapted for the theatre shortly after its release. It continues to be performed on stage to this day.
• The title comes from a poem called 'To a Mouse' by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. We'll read it later.
• Steinbeck's original title was simply 'Something That Happened.'
• Steinbeck's dog, Toby, ate an early draft of the story! 🤦‍♂️😲🐶

On that bombshell, let's get started!

 

Lesson 1:

 

Write the title: Of Mice and Men - Context

TASK: Use the documents and video clips below (and explore further online if you like) to research and make beautiful and detailed notes on the following three contextual issues:

• The American Dream
• The Great Depression
• The Dust Bowl

Perhaps you could do a Cornell Notes page for each bullet point?

Alternatively, you could do a spider diagram for each issue. Or something else entirely. You decide how you want to present it!

Here are the resources:

Download document here


Watch this mini-documentary on the context of Of Mice and Men:

• Of Mice and Men - In Context (Part 1)
• Of Mice and Men - In Context (Part 2) 

There's some good stuff on BBC Bitesize.

This doc might help too:

Download document here



Feel free to use any other useful resources you find.

 

Lesson 2:

 

1) Make sure you've completed your beautiful notes from lesson 1. Your assignment this week will be to share some images of your notes. You can go to the assignment by clicking here.

2) Read Chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men. You can use the document below (up to page 18), download a copy of the whole text, or try the next link. Scroll down for a link to an audiobook too.

Alternative version:

https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.507266?ref=ol#page/n11/mode/2up

Here's an audiobook. Why not read along as you listen? Chapter 1 ends at 34 minutes and 34 seconds.

Optional extra task for lesson 2:

Answer the questions on this worksheet:

Explore the setting of the novella on Google Maps

 

Lesson 3:

 

Have a go at the ‘summarise’, ‘create’ and 'test yourself' tasks on this powerpoint:

Well done folks! That's it for this introduction to Of Mice and Men. Make sure you're ready to discuss what you've learnt in class next week, especially the context and the main characters.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email your teacher if you have any problems or questions.

Stay safe, y'all!

Mr M