ideas for group presentation on mice and men

For Laura, Lexi, and my group presentation, on Mice and Men, our first thought for a writing assignment was to have students write an alternate ending to the book. This assignment would come at the end of the book after we had read the whole thing. This type of assignment would be fun for the students, would force them to be creative, but would also show us that they have a grasp on the book and storyline, and can make something unique from it. The ending would have to be realistic, and completely relate to the story. Nothing like...Lennie gets taken away by aliens haha.

As for a few other ideas, we were thinking of maybe doing something with the history that is taking place in the story and having the students do a writing assignment on that somehow. Ex: maybe showing them a poster or picture of 2 migrant workers back in the 1930s or 40s and having them write about what they think those workers' life was like based on the picture and their knowledge of George and Lennie's experiences.

We probably won't do this unless we can make it more of an assignment, but we were also thinking of having students write about one of their best friends who they are very different from, and explain how they became friends and how they remain friends even though they are very different. We would then have them relate that back to George and Lennie's friendship and see if there are any similarities. This would give the students a fun assignment to do, but they would still be analyzing the characters in the book and their relationship to one another.

Multigenre Paper Ideas

1) Name of topic: How to get students to enjoy reading, writing, and interpreting poetry.

2) I know a lot about poetry, literary terms, how to read and interpret poetry, etc. I also know that a lot of students don't enjoy poetry because they think it might be boring, stupid, or pointless. They don't see how it is actually in their everyday lives. I believe that a lot of students aren't taught poetry in a way that will make them enjoy it, and I want to change that.

3) I want to learn some helpful techniques or learning strategies that I could use to get students involved in poetry, and enjoying it. I have some ideas of my own already, but I would like to learn a few more.

4) I like poetry a lot now, ever since I took a class in it my sophomore year of college. However, I never really liked it in high school, partially because it wasn't taught very much, and when it was, it wasn't taught well. My teachers never made it fun, or related it to my life in any way. I think poetry is under appreciated, so I want to know more about it and I want to teach people more about it because I think a better understanding of it will lead to a better appreciation for it, and will get students to enjoy it more.

5) Questions about my topic:

-How can I get students to see the importance of poetry?

-What are all the different types and forms of poetry?

-How is poetry used in our everyday lives?

-Who are some of the most famous world-wide poets?

-How do I grade poetry if it is supposed to be creative and original?

-What do I do if students aren't buying into what I'm saying?

6) In class source: "Spoon River Anthology" - I will use the Spoon River Anthology of poems to show students a very unique and creative form of poetry, and how poetry can tell a story just like a novel or short story can.

Outside source: article on how music is related to poetry - Many students like music, but many of them don't see how it connects to (and actually is) poetry. I think making them see this will show them that poetry is actually more fun than they think.

Of Mice and Men

"Of Mice and Men," written by John Steinbeck, is really just a novel about two good friends who work together on a ranch. No, it's actually a novel about mental disabilities. Scratch that, this novel's true lens is the importance of friendship and how it is necessary to have a best friend to share your life with and help you through the tough times.

Above are only a few of the possible lenses that this book could be viewed through, though some are more realistic than others. The lens I believe that the book should be looked at through is the 3rd one that I said, about friendship. This book is centered around George and Lennie, two good friends who rely heavily on one another. They are very close and have a tight friendship. I really liked the first half of this book, though I read it back in High School, but there was a lot of details that I had forgotten that I was reminded of after reading it the 2nd time.

The students could relate to this book because of all the friendship that it focuses on. The friendship between Lennie and George is such a strong one that students will most likely think about their own friendships as they read the book, which will help them relate to it. The book is also realistic enough with enough description that students could even put themselves in the shoes of Lennie or George and imagine what it would be like to have their life.