A series of three lessons on Chapter 5 of Of Mice and Men, with a focus on Curley’s Wife. These consider whether she is a victim or villain. With chapter 5 of this novel, I think it’s important to read the chapter all in one go. As such, the first of these lessons focuses on what our previous opinions were of her, and then has a reading session. At the end of the lesson, pupils are asked to summarise what Curley’s wife’s dream was in a paragraph. In the second lesson, pupils start to consider their own ideas about whether she can be considered a victim or a villain. Starting by looking at what other characters think of her, pupils consider that there are different perspectives from which to look at her character. From there, pupils can use a worksheet to find quotations to back up both sides of the argument, before summarising opinions of her in a paragraph. Attached to this download is an extract, looking at the description of her shortly after she has been killed. I find this works rather well as a homework task, as pupils work independently to analyse the extract and pick out quotations that prove different ideas about her, before writing a paragraph considering how she can be considered to be misunderstood. The third of these lessons looks at practising persuasive writing skills: pupils are tasked to write a persuasive speech, arguing whether Curley’s wife was a villain or a victim. The lesson starts with a short example piece of persuasive writing, which is about Curley, and pupils are asked to identify the persuasive techniques within it as a starter activity. From there, pupils discuss whether she is a villain or a victim (you might want to make two separate lists on the board during this). The majority of the lesson looks at persuasive writing, with pupils producing their own speech. You could end this lesson with self or peer assessment, with pupils spotting the persuasive techniques in their work, as they did in the starter activity. I’ve designed these lessons for a lower-ability GCSE class, so therefore they could easily suit KS3 too. You could comfortably make them more challenging by removing some of the examples given.

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.

A revision activity for the context of Of Mice and Men. Originally created for Edexcel IGCSE but could be easily adapted for other exam boards. It includes a task with guided questions for each area of context, an example of how context should be embedded, and a task for students to practice embedding context.

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.

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 resource used to support pupils in revision for Steinbeck's novel. Contains brief information on context, key quotations, plot and themes with spaces for pupils to add notes on characters.

Mindmap explaining why and how different themes are presented in Of Mice and Men: -Women -Prejudice -Dreams -Loneliness and Isolation -Destiny -Death

Of Mice and Men Revision Booklet including P.E.E. paragraphs and short questions.

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 engaging and interesting lesson aims to improve students' knowledge of the main themes (Dreams and Loneliness) in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. It also aims to build their skills in retrieving information from texts, understanding the writer's ideas and opinions, and making precise and confident interpretations about texts. The lesson uses a range of tasks, that require students to use their visual and interactive skills. It follows this learning journey: - Understanding what dreams and loneliness are, and how we each experience them; - Defining themes and understanding how writers use them; - Understanding how and why themes are used in other famous texts; - Retrieving evidence from the text to demonstrate where the characters experience dreams and loneliness; - Analysing how the themes are used to help get across John Steinbeck's ideas about 1930s America; - Evaluating each others' analytical attempts. The resource includes a comprehensive and visually engaging PowerPoint presentation, a worksheet for recording the retrieved quotations, a helpful template for the main task, and a lesson plan/ teacher guidance sheet. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation. You can choose to buy this resource alone, or as part of the 'Of Mice and Men - All Lessons and Scheme' bundle, which contains seven full lessons, resources, teachers notes, and PowerPoint presentations, plus a Pointless Of Mice and Men game, for just £5!

This essay demonstrates the importance of Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and is intended for use for WJEC GCSE English Literature examination preparation. This is a revision tool that could be used be for exemplar or good practice for students studying this qualification.

This essay demonstrates the importance of Crooks in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and is intended for use for WJEC GCSE English Literature examination preparation. This is a revision tool that could be used be for exemplar or good practice for students studying this qualification.

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.

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.

This essay demonstrates the importance of George in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and is intended for use for WJEC GCSE English Literature examination preparation. This is a revision tool that could be used be for exemplar or good practice for students studying this qualification.

Of Mice and Men revision quiz, covering characters, events, quotes

A revision game based on the BBC Quiz Show Pointless. Pick the question with the least popular answer. Incorrect answers automatically get 100 points. it's not hard to use, but you can download instructions on word.

A booklet helped to supplement class notes. Used in tutorial sessions. Not all work is my own.

Writing about quotes, literature, writing a lot about a little, Of Mice and Men, George, Lennie, Candy, Curley, Curley's Wife