This 23-slide lesson explores Chapter 1 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about Steinbeck’s idyllic opening setting and how the tranquil calm of nature is shattered by the arrival of two nomadic men with a mysterious past. The lesson invites students to analyse the juxtaposition of Lennie and George and to predict what will be their fate in the rest of the novella based on the key themes introduced in this opening chapter. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students in a PowerPoint that could easily stretch across two lessons. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A series of four lessons on chapter 2 of Of Mice and Men, looking at characters, hierarchy and building up to writing an essay - with an example. The first of these lessons focuses on the setting, with pupils comparing the setting of the second chapter to the more tranquil and peaceful opening. In the second lesson, pupils focus on the concept of hierarchy, and as they start to meet characters they start putting them into hierarchical order. In the third lesson, we meet Curley’s wife and Slim, and consider how they are presented as characters that the reader is supposed to either like or dislike. There is opportunity to discuss the extent to which the reader’s opinion of Curley’s wife is tainted by the expectations we have of her following Candy’s description of her as a ‘tart’ previously. In the fourth of these lessons, pupils plan and prepare to write an essay looking at the society of the ranch. They return to the previous ideas about ranch hierarchy and there is opportunity to see if their ideas about the hierarchy have changed now that they have read a little more: you could make this as interactive as you like, depending on the class. I’ve provided a planning sheet with clear paragraph ideas, and an example essay that perfectly matches it: you could use it prior to writing the essay, or use it as a self-assessment tool following essay writing. I’ve created these lessons for GCSE pupils, and they could be easily tweaked up or down to suit your group.

The ‘Of Mice and Men Bundle’ is a complete resource package for a profound understanding of John Steinbeck’s novella. It includes seven essential documents: Revision Workbook (25 Pages): Scene-by-scene analysis, questions, author and setting details, character profiles, favorite quote reflections, and an exploration of heroes/villains. Character Charts: Character images and questions to reveal character motivations and roles. End of Novel Test: 25 multiple-choice and critical thinking questions, plus Junior Cycle question options with a teacher’s answer key. Junior Cycle Sample Answers: 13 pages of sample answers to past questions. Key Moments: Detailed analysis of five pivotal moments with suggested questions and supporting quotes. Key Quotes: Exploration of 12 significant quotes with brief explanations. Key Themes: In-depth examination of five central themes in the novella. This bundle is your ultimate companion for a comprehensive study of ‘Of Mice and Men,’ suitable for students and teachers.

A comprehensive study of the novella (over 100 slides) including revision materials, over 50 possible essay questions, quote banks, context revision, etc. All initial lessons are planned chronologically to use alongside reading the text. Revision materials then look at character, theme, context, etc.

23 Lessons with Edexcel GCSE Assessment Objectives for Y9 class

A set of 27 PowerPoints aimed at a low ability year 9 class. Ideal for students to prepare for GCSEs. Reading each lesson. Key quotations throughout. Scaffold for exam style answers.

A series of four lessons on chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men, with focuses on Slim, Candy’s dog, dreams, and the fight at the end of the chapter. This series of lessons starts with a lesson on Slim, which compares him to Curley and then goes on to look at why Slim has as much power as he does. There is opportunity for pupils to analyse some key quotations, which therefore provides a useful quotation list for revision. The second lesson looks and Candy’s dog’s death and the concept of survival of the fittest, and ends with a comparison between the relationship between Candy and his dog with that between George and Lennie, allowing pupils the possibility to predict what will come later in the novel. The third lesson focuses on the description of the dream that we see in this chapter, in which George goes into much more detail about what their plans are. There is a worksheet with an extract for pupils to annotate, with some questions to guide their annotation as a support. Finally this series of lessons ends with a look at the fight scene at the end of the chapter, and considers how Candy, who has been an observer for much of the action of this chapter, has reacted to it all with a diary task. I’ve used these lessons for a couple of years now, with classes of mixed ability. Prompt questions can be removed to make things more challenging for the more able. Moreover, I’ve used these lessons when we’ve been working in the classroom and remotely, and have found that they’ve translated quite well into remote-learning: for example, the annotation activity can be done on Google Docs or similar, with pupils using the comments function to make their notes.

This 21-slide lesson explores Chapter 3 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about the pathos created via the death of Candy’s dog, and how George and Lennie’s fate continues to be foreshadowed. Significant focus is placed on Lennie’s fight with Curley, which leads students to an extract-based essay question to answer. Top tips for how to approach the extract question are included here, plus an exemplar introduction and analytical paragraph as a model for students. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The extract-based question is also included in this resource. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

We look at Of Mice and Men and Chapter One, with a focus on the relationship between Lennie and George and how John Steinbeck uses his language to get across their relationship and their personalities to the reader at the beginning of the novella. Additionally, we look at how Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to hint at the rest of the plot. A really useful lesson for students preparing for Literature exams but easily adaptable for younger students as well. Fully differentiated and resourced.

A series of three lessons on the final chapter of Of Mice and Men, with the chapter being read in the first, and the following lessons looking at themes. As the final chapter of the novel is the shortest, and the fastest-paced, I feel it makes sense to read it in its entirety in one lesson, which isn’t my usual style with this novel. The first of these lessons includes reading time, and then a chance to reflect on the use of foreshadowing within the novel. The second lesson looks more closely at the imagery of light and dark in the novel, and asks pupils to look at a quotation about light and dark and consider what it means. You could make this easier or harder by choosing whether or not to tell them where in the novel this quotation can be found. To do this on paper, I’d just print the slides and ask pupils to write directly onto them; it can also work digitally by sharing the powerpoint with pupils. The final lessons focuses on dreams and the characters’ different dreams, thinking specifically about why none of them work out. There are two different versions of the worksheet, one where the quotations have already been provided for a bit of support, and another where pupils are expected to find them themselves.

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Literary Features; - The Origins of the Book Title. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in exam revision, comprehension tasks, or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of students towards meeting the KS4 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework - this makes the tasks suitable for all examining bodies. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that students gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - ‘Context: The Great Depression’ - to aid students with ‘Drawing on knowledge of the purpose, audience and context of the writing, including its social, historical and cultural context and the literary tradition to which it belongs, to inform evaluation;’ - ‘Steinbeck’s Description’ - to aid students with ‘Analysing a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features, and evaluating their effectiveness and impact;’ - ‘Curley’s Wife’ - to aid students with ‘Seeking evidence in the text to support a point of view, including justifying inferences with evidence;’ - ‘Editing the Text’ - to aid students with ‘Making an informed personal response, recognising that other responses to a text are possible and evaluating these.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is around 30 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).

This 28-slide lesson on ‘Of Mice and Men’ introduces the key context vital to understanding Steinbeck’s classic novella, as well as functioning as a general introduction to studying the text. The lesson includes key information about the Depression, the Dust Bowl, racism, patriarchal pressures and other prejudice during the 1930s in America. Steinbeck’s own life is also covered, as well as the meaning behind the text’s title, and students are invited to analyse various book jacket designs for the novella. Key themes are explored alongside a comprehensive introduction to the American Dream and its role in the novella. Questions and tasks are also included for students to tackle. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 18-slide lesson explores Chapter 6 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about the iconic ending of the novella, considering how Steinbeck has led to this moment. George and Lennie’s relationship is discussed at length, and the key themes of dreams, hope, fate, loneliness and friendship are debated. Students always love to dissect the ending in detail! Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An extended essay question and creative writing tasks are featured at the end of the lesson. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

5 PowerPoints focusing on Chapter 2 of the text. A variety of activities, including close textual analysis and a mid unit assessment on the presentation of Curley's Wife. Designed for a mixed ability Yr 9 class.

revision aid

This booklet has been designed to assist pupils in their study of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”. Each chapter has been broken down into separate sections, each with specific questions to help guide pupils through their reading of the novel and extract important quotes to document and analyse in their exercise books / notebooks. There is also a “Theme Tracker” throughout each section to help students engage thematically with the novel and organise thieir notes.

Please leave feedback. Connotations of key words. Model answer. C/D borderline pupils.

A helpful revision or learning activity focusing on mindmapping elements of John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. This map is structured with reference to both themes and characters in the novel.