My first prac lesson

My first prac was at a co-educational high school in the Northern Rivers, NSW. It was a Year 10 class, studying Animal Farm. Don't be deceived by the title of my lesson - 'Lesson plan 2'. The first lesson was delivered by my mentor teacher, which I didn't get to observe.

My first class was by no means perfect. For some reason I set a research activity in the final period of a day - a great way for students to test out their new teacher! It proved to be a difficult class to manage and poor choice of learning method for the last period of a day.

I gave the students about 40 minutes of research time, which was a strain for them at that time of day. The more advanced groups studied the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, while the others covered simpler questions about Marx, Trotsky, Nicholas II and Stalin.

To improve comprehension, I should have contributed more to each discussion group, giving some more context of their subject in the Russian revolution to make it easier for them to link to the text. Separating the content by group ability worked well.

The questions I gave them on Karl Marx did not explore his theories enough, so it will be interesting to see how well they can link his philosophies to those of Old Major in following lessons.

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Lesson plan 2 - Animal Farm

In this lesson:

• We will look at Russian political leadership to get an idea of what Orwell wanted to say with his book Animal Farm
• Recap: what’s an allegory?[ST1] 

Reflecting on homework:

• Do you sympathise with the animals’ complaints [TL2] and goals[TL3] ? Why or why not?
• What is your reaction to the animals’ revolution?

Research character allegories

Many critics have matched in great detail the story’s characters to historical persons––for example, linking the power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball to the historical feuding between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky for control of the Soviet Union. Critics also believe that Old Major represents Karl Marx, who dies before realizing his dream. Other comparisons include Moses as the Russian Orthodox church, Boxer and Clover as workers, the sheep as the general public, Squealer as Stalin’s government news agency, the dogs as Stalin’s military police, and Farmer Jones as Czar Nicholas II. The farm’s neighbours, Pilkington and Frederick, are said to represent Great Britain and Germany, while Mollie suggests the old Russian aristocracy, which resists change.

Leon Trotsky, a military commander, believed in a world revolution – that communism was not for Russia alone, but a movement that would take the globe. He was a great orator and charismatic leader. When Lenin became sick in 1922, he indicated that Trotsky should lead and Stalin be removed. However, Stalin led a vindictive behind-the-scenes campaign against Trotsky, and managed to undermine his political support base. Instead, Stalin, who was considered Trotsky’s intellectual inferior, gained support and eventually control.

Research the following people in groups and list 5 to 10 important facts about each on the whiteboard, match to book characters:

• Joseph Stalin
• Karl Marx
• Leon Trotsky
• Czar Nicholas II
• Russian proletariat
• Bourgeoisie

(I actually posed specific questions on worksheets)

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 [ST1]A story in prose fiction, poetry, drama or visual language that has more than one level of meaning. The characters, events and situations can represent other characters, events and situations. For example, the witch trials in The Crucible are an allegory of the US HUAC hearings in the 1950s. Allegories often represent moral or political situations.

 [TL2]Complaints: eggs and young taken away, not enough food, sent to slaughter before old age, no freedom, poor conditions, aren’t rewarded for their labour, oppressed

 [TL3]Reap the rewards of their labour, freedom, more food, live longer, keep their young, improve their living conditions, become rich and free