Of Mice and Men Analysis

Tate Sterling

10th Grade English Composition

 Common Core Standards:

RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.9-10.2 Analyze literary text development.

a. Determine a theme of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the
text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.

b. Provide an objective summary of the text that includes theme and relevant story
elements.

RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance
the plot or develop the theme.

Lesson Summary:

Students will analyze the novel “Of Mice and Men” for character development, themes
present, and how to support their analysis through citing text to support these claims.
Students will be tested through technology.

Estimated Duration:

This lesson will take around 200 minutes to complete, it will be divided among 4 days with
three 50 minute periods.

Commentary: To get students hooked I will use the first day as a class discussion to get
students hooked. A challenge that may occur is trying to get students to think about
character and story development in a way they might have never thought about before.
Instructional Procedures:

Day 1:
First 10 minutes: As a class we will discuss “Of Mice and Men” as a recap of what we read
and what areas may need some clarification.
Next 30 minutes: Pre assessment will start, we will have a class discussion over what will be
covered during this lesson, students will be graded as a participation grade. This will
determine what will be covered heavily throughout the lesson and what needs less
attention.
Last 10 minutes: Students will access a key vocabulary that will cover the different
vocabulary words for this unit, we will go over them briefly as a class with definitions.
Day 2:
First 10 minutes: Students will be put into groups of 4, we will go over themes and how to
identify them in novels.
Next 10 minutes: Students will work in their groups to identify the themes present in the
novel. I will walk around the room, listen to discussions, answer questions, and ask
questions to the students.
Next 5 minutes: We will come back together and go over each group's answers and why
they work as themes in the story. This will allow students to take notes and see what other
groups think.
Next 10 minutes: We will go over character development and what ways we can identify
them.
Next 10 minutes: I will follow the same format as before to monitor the students and listen to
their understanding.
Last 5 minutes: We will come back together to review what students found and end class.
Day 3:
First 10 minutes: We will begin class with showing how to cite in text evidence to support the
claims they made yesterday.
Next 10 minutes: Students will begin looking through the text and finding evidence that they
can use in their homework assignments. I will answer questions and help students
throughout the process.
Next 5 minutes: Students will ask questions if they had any issues with formatting the
citations or finding them in the text.
Last 25 minutes: We will go over the quiz format and what topics will be covered on the
quiz. We will also go over the homework/review that is due the next class period to help with
their preparation. This will be the last class period for students to ask questions over the
materials we have covered.
Day 4:
Whole class period: Students will turn in their homework that was due that day. The rest of
the class will be time for students to take their end of unit quiz.

Pre-Assessment:

The pre-assessment for this class will be group discussion where we go over key concepts
that will be covered such as character development, citing sources, in text citations, and
story development. We will also discuss the text in depth to understand what students may
be struggling with.

Scoring Guidelines:

The scoring will largely be based on the participation of the students. Students participate
during the discussions in class and provide me feedback by raising/not raising their hands in
class votes and speaking in the discussion on things they've heard of or concepts they know
as well as concepts they've never heard of.

Post-Assessment:

The post assessment will be in the form of a quiz where students will be asked questions
regarding the overall theme, the character development of certain characters, and the story
development. The answers will be a mix of multiple choice and short response questions.

Scoring Guidelines:

The scoring will be a letter grade/percent. The grading for the multiple choice
questions will not be partial credit, but the short response will allow students to get
partial credit for answers.

Differentiated Instructional Support

Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of
gifted or accelerated students: Students will be given an extra assignment on Schoology
that will be a matching assignment. Students will match key vocabulary words to definitions
that go along with them
Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be
struggling with the material:

Extension
https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/English-Language-Art/Mo
del-Curriculum-for-English-Language-Arts/Grade-9-10-Revised-ELAMC-2020.pdf.aspx?lang
=en-US

This site is the learning topics for language arts students from 9th-10th grade. This link goes
in depth as to what students are expected to learn.

Homework Options and Home Connections

After students develop their claims on what each character's development is during the
story they will use the text to find and cite quotes that students will use to support their
claims. They will be provided a link with 5 characters and an area to add 2 quotes per
character totaling 10 quotes. They will use their Chromebooks to write down and submit
their answers via Schoology.

Interdisciplinary Connections

One subject to draw into would be the history of this time period, it is set during the great
depression and it would be useful for students to cover this time period to give more context
to the story. Talking about the ethical and moral issues in the novel would open a discussion
of racism among the African American character named “Crooks” or the sexism against the
only non named character who is only known as “Curley's Wife”.
Materials and Resources:

Computer
For teachers
Smart Board
Projector
“Of Mice and Men” book

“Of Mice and Men” book

For
students Chrome book (in classroom)
Paper
Pencils

Key Vocabulary

Theme: the central idea(s) that a piece of writing explores.

Character Development: The process of building a unique, three-dimensional character with
depth, personality, and clear motivations.
Story Development: The process you go through to take that kernel of thought and turn it
into a fully fleshed-out screenplay or pitch.
Source: A kind of information source.
Citation: A reference to a source used in your research.

Additional Notes
Prior to this students will have read “Of Mice and Men” so that they already understand the
material before we cover the information in this lesson.