Title of Lesson Animal Farm
Grade Level 9th Grade
Curriculum Area Language Arts
Time Frame Three weeks
Developed By Maria Debowska & Jill Friedman
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Standards
Language Arts Literacy
LAL 3.1 Reading – A, B, C, D, E, F, F, G, and H
LAL 3.2 Writing – A, B, C, and D
LAL 3.3 Speaking – A, B, C, and D
LAL 3.4 Listening – A and B
LAL 3.5 Viewing and Media Literacy – A, B, and C
Technological Literacy
TL 8.1
TL 8.2 A, B, and C
Understandings
Overarching Understanding
• Leadership is a necessary ingredient of political revolution and the social order that evolves from it.
• People’s ignorance contributes to their political and social oppression.
• In society individuals are not treated equally.
Related Misconceptions
- Power corrupts all those that possess it.
- Revolutuions are usually short-lived.
- All members of society would be willing to work harder if it would lead to a sense of equality among people.
- Equality is something every member of any society would desire.
Essential Questions - Overarching
• What is power?
• What is leadership?
• What are control techniques?
• What are capitalism, communism, democracy, and totalitarianism?
• What does Animal Farm have to say about oppression and the responsibility of those who rule?
Essential Questions - Topical
• How do the struggles between Animal Farm compare with those between rival nations?
• How is propaganda used in Animal Farm?
• How is propaganda used in our daily lives?
• Why do the pigs enter into trade with humans?
• What does this say about developing nations and their problems in dealing with the world’s economic order?
Knowledge
Students will know…
• The plot of Animal Farm.
• The way the actions and beliefs of the animals correspond to human actions and beliefs.
• The allegorical symbols found in the novel.
• The ways propaganda is used in the novel.
Skills
Students will be able to...
• Identify the themes.
• Discuss how Animal Farm, a seemingly unbelievable story, makes a political point about the real world.
• Consider how Animal Farm closely parallels Soviet history.
• Examine how Animal Farm is an excellent example of political satire.
• Identify and explain the meanings of the animals’ names and why Orwell chose them.
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description
Goal
Using the Internet, research the Russian Revolution and the individuals involved in it. Make sure you also research life immediately before and after the Revolution. Once you gather your information, figure out one aspect, event, or person that interests you the most and create a Mash Video to present your findings to the rest of the class. Use at least four direct quotes from your research. For your last slide, site the sources that you used in your video.
Role You are to teach a mini-history lesson on the Russian Revolution to your peers.
Audience All the members of the class.
Situation You will have to teach a ten minute class.
Product/Performance Mash Video
Standards
LAL 3.1 H 1. Select appropriate electronic media for research and evaluate the quality of the information received.
LAL 3.1 H 3. Develop increased ability to critically select works to support a research topic. LAL 3.5 C 1. Use print and electronic media texts to explore human relationships, new ideas, and aspects of culture.
LT 8.1 All students will use computer applications to gather and organize information and to solve problems.
Other Evidence
1. Since it’s an election year – analyze and critique the presidential candidatesʼ televised debates. Next, compare the candidatesʼ effective versus ineffective public speaking techniques, and use the effective techniques from the debates as a model for creating in-class debates between Snowball and Napoleon. Afterward, students will write a reflection paper stating which candidate should win and why.
2. Before the class begins the novel, a class discussion will take place about the specific opinions the students have about many of the themes treated in the novel. The main objective of this activity is to have students formulate, discuss, listen to, and respect each other’s opinions about the issues. The themes that will be discussed are:
• Power corrupts those who possess it.
• People’s ignorance contributes to their political and social oppression.
• Revolutions may result in a change of political power, but often the lives of the majority of people stay about the same.
• In society individuals are not treated equal.
3. As a listening activity – take notes on the lecture the teacher will give on the background of Orwell. Of course, pertinent topics will also be written on the board.
4. In a journal, record your impressions, reactions, and questions about the assigned reading.
5. Design a perfect society for a group that is currently oppressed. Describe five components of the oppressed society (such as education, government, economy, family life, and personal life) and how you would change them.
6. Identify and explain in a short essay the meanings of the animals’ names. Why did Orwell choose them? Can animals be stereotyped?
7. Graph conditions on Animal Farm over time. Choose at least three conditions (such as productivity, contentment, and equality) to measure. Graph these conditions at five different times, starting with before the rebellion and ending with the pigs’ party.
8. Create a list of allegorical symbols found in the novel. Then briefly explain how the persons, objects, or events in the book and in Russian history are similar.
9. In a short essay explain the use of propaganda in the novel. Additionally, discuss how people, specifically leaders, can use tactics to manipulate and control society.
10. Write a composition on the conflicts found in the novel, including the opponents involved, with an explanation of their motivations.
11. Animal Farm was published in August 1945. Make a timeline of important events that occurred worldwide during that year and in a short essay explain whether the publication date helped or hurt Orwell’s message.
12. Create a three-page Newsletter covering the life and times of George Orwell. Be certain to use clipart and have several sections appear in the newsletter – not only editorials.
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going?
Many questions in relation to themes and the lessons of the day will be asked of the students and later discussed after they have had time to think about them. Each student will be involved in the class discussion – whether they will volunteer their answers or be called on randomly. They will know where they are going because the daily objectives will be listed on the board.
How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?
Before beginning the reading of Animal Farm, we will show the students a few minutes of the animated version of Animal Farm. This will hook them in as they find the movie humorous, but then we’ll explain how there is a real and serious side to it. This will be followed by several pre-reading questions, such as: Do you think anyone will ever create a utopian society? Why do you think the author chose to use animal characters in a book which criticizes human politics? How do you think people should react when their rights are violated?
What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
The class will tackle big questions about power, control, oppression, and propaganda. They will be equipped to answer these questions as they evaluate the actions of the characters and compare and contrast them to other individuals in society with similar characteristics, after we explore and discuss several examples as a class.
How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work?
We will expect our students to reflect and rethink as they write their journal. Since the journal writing is an on-going assignment, as we read the novel, we will expect our students to have a reflection as a daily entry. We will model at least one example (early on in the novel) of how our own thought processes have changed, due to our rethinking; hence, as they read they should find something to reflect and rethink on their own as well.
How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the unit?
As the novel is read daily, the students will have to keep a journal exhibiting their thoughts about that day’s reading. The entries will be reflections of their growing knowledge or question they may have that they should ask the next day, before we continue reading.
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
There will be many varied assignments to meet the needs of all the students, so it is not all about discussing, writing, or presenting. But instead, there will be a wider variety of tasks, so that each student’s style of learning will be addressed.
How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students?
Since the novel will be read daily, we can pace the class in such a way that no one feels overwhelmed or lost. Each chapter will be discussed and essential notes will be written on the board. All assignments will be given during the appropriate times. For example, we will start with a class discussion on specific opinions that students have about many of the themes treated in this play. Next, the Russian Revolution must be examined, so when the students read Animal Farm, they can compare the animals to Russian leaders. On the other hand, an essay discussing propaganda in the novel could be left towards the end because by then the students will have been exposed to all the tactics; whereas, if it was assigned earlier, they wouldn’t have gotten the full picture yet.
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)
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