Prepare for your Socratic Seminar!

9th Grade English:

Students will have the opportunity to discuss Of Mice and Men in a Socratic Seminar on Monday, 2/10. This in-class discussion will prepare students to write an essay analyzing a significant theme in Steinbeck's novel. We will write essays in class on Tuesday (2/11) and Wednesday, (2/12)

**ALL students will be expected to participate in the discussion and take notes.**

To prepare to thoughtfully discuss the book, students must do the following, in their writer's notebook:

1. Brainstorm questions you genuinely have about the book. Consider theme, characters, conflict, setting, and author choices regarding language, plot, symbols, or anything else that sparked your curiosity as a reader. 
Questions should: 
**Be good for class discussion (i.e., no straightforward "right" or "wrong" answer, no questions like "Where did Lennie and George get run out of town?"); 
**Require the text for evidence to answer the question (i.e., no "What do you think happened to Slim after the end of the book?")

2. From this list of questions, choose the top three you think would make good discussion questions. Answer the questions yourself, using specific page numbers and passages to support your ideas. Use PEEL strategy for exceptional responses, and to learn the strategy better!

Come on Monday, prepared to discuss the text, listen to others' ideas, and take notes to help you with your in-class essay.