Lesson: Voices in the head
Unit: Of Mice and Men chapter 6.
Length: fifty minutes
Space requirements: classroom
Age Level: 9th grade
Materials: copies of Of Mice and Men, large sheet of paper with an outline
of a body drawn on it, and two different color markers.
Overview: Students will explore the external forces and internal thoughts
of the two maincharacters of the book, Lenny and George. They will do
this through two theater exercises, role-on-the-wall and voices-in-the-head.
Objectives:
· Students will look at the story through Lenny's eyes
· Students will look at the story through George's eyes
· Students will physically act out parts of the story
· Students will gain a better understanding of the story
Plan:
· 15 minutes: read chapter six to the students out loud in class.
Then have them journal for five minutes on their response to the end
of the book.
· 20 minutes: voices-in-the-head- Brainstorm other characters
that may be in Lenny's head. Split the class in to groups of five and
have them write out what one of these characters would say to Lenny.
After all of the groups have finished have one person from each group
perform what they have written. Also pick someone to play Lenny and
act it out in the style described in the book.
· 10 minutes: role-on-the-wall- Tape the outlined figure on a
wall. Tell the students that the figure is George and that as a class
you are going to explore George's thoughts. Start with the outside of
the body. Have the students brainstorm all we know about his situation
(what goes on around him, what people said, events, etc). Use one color
to write all of these outside of the body outline. Then explore George's
internal thoughts and feelings and write those in a different color
on the inside of the body outline. Afterwards make connections between
the outside and inside words.
· 5 minutes: Have students read their journal from the beginning
of class and write how their thoughts have changed or expanded.
Accommodation: For this project students are learning to see through
other people's perspectives. They will learn to see more than outside
stereotypes and hopefully carry this over to their peer interaction.
All students, including those with disabilities will be able to participate
in these exercises. For the two main exercises they are working in groups
or as the whole class. If a student can not write they can discuss their
thoughts with the teacher or another student.
Assessment: Students will have a participation grade for the semester,
and how they participate in class will reflect on this grade. Also students
will receive 5 points for completing the journal entries. Students will
also be required to do a final project for the book, and this will be
graded on a point system.
