#2142. Animal Farm

Literature, level: Middle
Posted Tue Feb 20 00:35:00 PST 2001 by Mustafa Günözü (gunozu@yahoo.com).
Boðaziçi University, Istanbul Turkey
Materials Required: Worksheets,novel
Activity Time: 35 mins
Concepts Taught: literary appreciation and language

ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE
¨ Ss have read the novel untill page 37.
¨ They can respond to multiple-choice questions.
¨ They can put a text in a logical order. They are aware of coherence.
¨ They can use some the reading techniques to understand.
¨ They can read only to get the general meaning.
¨ They know how to consult other resources like books and dictionary.
¨ They can retell a story in a correct order.
¨ They have knowledge about the certain components of a novel like plot, characters..etc
¨ They know the characters from the text.
¨ They can make some inferences from the book related to its plot
¨ They are able to reason the actions of the characters.
¨ They can defend (a) character(s) on the basis of their actions and ideas.
¨ They can make inferences using textual clues.
¨ They can identify important aspects and theme in a novel.
¨ They can tell their own ideas and make comments on the nowels.
¨ They are able to discuss a topic with their friends.
¨ They are used to working in groups and pairs cooperatively.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
¨ Students will be able to answer the comprehension questions appropriately.
¨ Students will be able to learn the order of the events in the first part very well.
¨ Students will be able to understand the first part complately.
¨ Students will be able to learn the reasons for the the action (rebellion) entirely..
¨Students will be able to work cooperatively as agroup and explain their thoughts coherently.
¨Students will be able to discuss their ideas about the novel in groups.
¨Students will be able to feel a need to read the rest of the nowel.
¨Students will be able to make predictions on the basis of their reading.
ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS

¨Students may not have read the novel
¨Students may not understand the events in the novel.
¨Some students may not answer the questions.
¨Students may need more time to check their book to answer the questions.
¨Some students may not make predictions.
¨Classroom management may be difficult during the discussion.
¨They may be unwilling to participate into activities.

SOLUTIONS TO ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS

¨T prepares activities for unexpected situations. T uses Snowball activities to maintain an overview of the homereading. After Students retell the story in a chain. Then T makes the second unexpected activity. This is Summary with gaps activity. T doesn't check the learning but wants to be sure that they understanded the first part entirely. (This activity will provide them with an almost complete, and simply phrased, description of the main points of the section they are reading.)
¨ T clarifies some points no to lose the general flow of the novel during Snowball activities.
¨T gives very clear and comprehensible instructions and checks comprehension by eliciting their answers.
¨T walks among the students and tries to keep them involved in the lesson by making them
engaged in activities.
¨T states the allotted time for each activity so that students will be careful about timing
accordingly.

¨T tries to arouse students' curiosity and ask them to tell the class thgeir own ideas.
MATERIALS
¨Worksheets
¨The novel: Animal Farm

REFERENCE

Collie,J. And Slater, S.(1987) Literature in the class: A resource book of ideas and activities.Cambridge: CUP

QuestionWorksheetActivity(8min)
T greets the students and asks them whether they have read the novel.T asks them whether they liked the given part of the novel.T asks some guiding questions related to the topic, plot and animals in the novel.T asks about the characters of the novel. T asks which characters they liked most T elicits the answers.T gets a general idea about whether they have read or not.Then he asks them to work in pairs (in 2 minutes) and answer the questions related to home reading. T distributes first worksheet after giving instructions.T walks among the rows and help them understand the difficult ones.
Jumbled Events(7min)
After making sure that the students have checked/ corrected their answers, T gives students a list of certain events that occur in the home reading passage and asks them to place them in the correct sequence.T distributes the second work sheets. The instruction here also precedes the distributionT helps pairs if they need. Then teacher elicits the answers. T and the class together with the students complete the activity.
Discussion(12min)
T asks a few questions to make sure that they have really understood the novel until this time.T elicits the answers. T may want students to summarize the forth chapter very briefly.T makes a small explanation to create a discussion atmosphere.T divides the class into two. T assigns two students as jury. The groups are expected to defend and explain the reasons for the animals' rebellion and human's reaction to this respectively.The groups are told they should give examples or use quotes from the book.They are also told to refer back to their books when they need. After A few minutes of discussion among the groups the discussion starts. The jury asks them to clarify their explanations when it is necessary by giving examples from the book.T walks around the rows and manages the discussion.T treats fairly while giving students chance to talk.
Extra ActivityPrediction Activity(6min
T asks student to predict the likely course of the events after this moment. T gives two facts from the text, which will guide their predictions.T collects their answers to be reviewed after they studied the rest of the novel.

Homework(3 min)
T gives instructions clearly.T wants them to write a summary for the following two chapters.
worksheet 1:
Read pages between 1 and 38 of Animal Farm. Try to get the general meaning. You can look at your books and consult your dictionary for the words you are not sure about. Then thick the right answer for the questions below.

1. Which of the followings can be stated as the first initiator for the rebellion?
a) Napoleon's Dream
b) Old Mayor's Speech
c) Battle of the Crowshed
d) Seven commandments
2. Why do animals live in poverty and slavery according to the text?
a) It is realated to the nature of animals
b) The land is not very fertile
c) Men consumes all the product
d) Animals are not able to live on their own.
3. Which of the following animals were accepted as comrades after voting?
a) Dogs
b) Pigs
c) Rats
d) Hens

4. Which animals can be said as the fathers of Animalism?
a) Snowball, Squealer, Napoleon
b) Boxer, Snowball, Old Major
c) Jessie, Napoleon, Snowball
d) Clover, Mollie, Benjamin
5. What is Sugarcandy Mountain?
a) A game animals play in their spare time
b) The idea of animal heaven created by Moses the raven
c) The location of the story Mollie tells to the lambs
d) The mountain visible from Animal Farm
6. Which of the pigs is the best writer?
a) Napoleon
b) Squealer
c) Snowball
d) Churchie

7. Which of the followings does not take place among the principles of "The Seven Commandments"?
a) What ever goes upon two legs is enemy
b) All the habits of Men are evil
c) All animals are equal.
d) No animal shall sleep in a bed.

8. Why did the Animal Commites fail?
a) Most of the animals objected to it.
b) Snowball couldn't organized them effectively.
c) It was inharmonous with the nature of animals.
d) There were too much work to

9. Which of the following animals couldn't learn the Seven Commandments by heart?
a) Sheeps
b) Birds
c) Donkeys
d) Rats

10. Who reduces the ideals of Animalism to the phrase "Four legs good, two legs bad"?
a) Snowball
b) Napoleon
c) Squealer
d) Boxer
11. How does Squealer explain the reason why the pigs did not share the milk with other animals?
a) No other animals asked for the milk before.
b) Jones would come If the milk was not consumed.
c) The pigs need more milk than any other animal.
d) For they are managing the farm they need to eat.
e) . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .(write your idea)
12. What did animals after Mr Jones's attack to the farm?
a) They simply gave in and stopped the war.
b) They left the farm and went to Mr. Foxwood's farm.
c) They fought very bravely and expelled the atteckers.
d) They signed the seven commandments with Mr Jones.

WORKSHEET 2
Here is a list of the major events. Try to reorder the events according to given chapters. Put them in the right order so that they tell the novel as it happens. The first one has been done for you
Jumbled Events:
Chapter I &2
Napoleon and Snowball, together with a talkative pig named Squealer, formulated the principles of a philosophy called Animalism.
The pigs milk cows, and the animals observe the five buckets of milk with wonder.
Mr. Jones goes on a drunken festival and forgets to feed the animals or milk the cows.
The animals meet in the big barn to hear a speech by Old Major, the prize pig.
Mr. Jones, thinking that there is a fox in the yard, fires a shot into the side of the hayloft. The animals go to sleep, and all is quiet on the Manor Farm
Snowball replaces the script reading "Manor Farm" by the front gate with one reading "Animal Farm."
Old Major dies, and for three months the animals make secret preparations to remove Mr. Jones's control over the farm.
The old pig tells the farm animals that their lives are terrifying: they are horribly enslaved to the humans.
The cows break into the food stores, where the animals begin to feed. The animals attack Mr Jones and his men, and easily expel them from the farm.
The old pig teaches the animals a song called "Beasts of England," which paints a dramatic picture of the utopian animal community of Old Major's dream

Chapter 3&4
Snowball reduces commandments to one essential principle, which he says contains the heart of Animalism: "Four legs good, two legs bad."
Squealer explains to them that pigs need milk and apples in order to think well.
Snowball prepares a defense, and the men are easily routed. They lose only a single sheep, who is given a hero's burial.
The clever pigs think of ways for the animals to use the humans' tools.
A flight of pigeons brings the news to Animal Farm that Mr. Jones is attacking on the farm with some of Pilkingdon and Frederick's men.
When the dogs Jessie and Bluebell each give birth to puppies,Napoleon takes the puppies into his own care.
Snowball establishes a number of committees designed to re-educate the wild animals and teach all the farm animals how to read.
The farmers and Mr Jones spread rumors about the farm's inefficiency and moral reprehensibility.
workshhet 3
prediction activity
In the reading , we see the beginnings of conflicts between Napleon and Snowball. For example Ýn reading we have read the following statement "...It was noticed that these two were never in agreement; whatever suggestion either of them made, the other could object to it in itself..." (p.26)
From this we can foresee that................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................
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It was found that some animals can't even learn the Seven Commandments, so Snowball makes some changes and finds a way to reduce them to a single saying: Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad."
This shows, (In the future),. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .
.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
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