1. We’ve been a little stalled in our progression through the unit because of reviews on essay writing. Before having students complete the rest of that essay (the fixing, editing, typing, and adding of referencing) I would like to review essays more, but we need to add a little life again into our English class so for now we’re going to keep on with reading.
2. Students were each given a copy of the novel Of Mice and Men. This book is a true classic and is one of the most famous to come out of American literature. The characters are tragic and easy for readers to connect with. Students were given a handout with chapter summaries of each of the six chapters, descriptions of all of the characters, chapter questions, and a place to list the novel’s themes as they come across them. We’ll discuss the questions when students return from the break. They were surprised that I asked them to read this novel over the holiday, but this novel is meant to be individually read and enjoyed and, being only six chapters long, should be a short project for them to keep them occupied. (They’ll have one class when we return to finish their reading – it may only take a short while for some.)
3. We read the first chapter together in about twenty minutes of reading. That leaves five chapters to finish over the break. We’ll watch the movie when you return.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/I7pyXEfRArE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] Here's a trailer for the movie.