IB English B Class activities for 'Animal Farm'

1. Mini Reading Quiz!
DATE NAME
1.
2.
3. (one word answer)
4.
5.

2. Mini Reading Quiz!
1. Why does Mr. Jones forget to shut the popholes of the hen-houses?
a) …because he is old
b) …because he is drunk
c) …because he is stupid
2. Why does Major want to talk to the animals?
a) …because he is lonely
b) …because something strange happened on the farm
c) …because he had a strange dream on the previous night
3. During Old Major’s speech, what does he say is the cause of all the animals’
problems? (write one word for your answer)

3. Mini Reading Quiz!
4. Which of the following is a rule or commandment
that Major gives the animals?
a) …that no animal shall sleep in a bed
b) …that no animal shall drive a car
c) …that no animal shall speak the human language
5. What do all the animals do at the end of chapter one?
a) …they sing a song
b) …they make a manifesto
c) …they kill Mr. Jones

4. Chapter One

5. Chapter One: Old Major’s Speech
LO: to understand and be able to use the key persuasive devices
of a speech
CO: to develop listening skills in the context of a speech

6. LO: to understand and be able to use the key persuasive devices of a speech
CO: to develop listening skills in the context of a speech
In 3 minutes, write down all
the techniques for effective
public speaking you can
think of.

7. Chapter One: Old Major’s Speech
Now listen to Old Major’s speech from
chapter one, and match the
techniques he uses to the ones you
wrote down.

8. Now over to you!
In groups, you are going to write a persuasive pubic speech. It could be…
1. A speech to convince your parents to let you…go out for the night with
friends/buy you a new phone/send you to university abroad etc.
2. A speech to convince the school to…allow you to focus on the IB and not
national exams too!/give you complete freedom over what subjects you
study/stop giving you so many exams
3. A speech to the Mayor of Guayaquil to convince him to…make Guayaquil a
more eco-friendly city, reduce crime, make people drive more safely
4. Or something else (but check with me)!

9. Now over to you!
It must include….
• a MINIMUM OF 8 examples of persuasive speaking techniques
• enough material to speak for at least 3 minutes
Everyone in the group is going to deliver an equal part of the
speech!

10. Chapter Two & Three

11. Mini Reading Quiz chapters 2-3!
DATE NAME (Parallel)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

12. Mini Reading Quiz!
1. What do the other animals say about the fat pig Squealer?
a) …that he could turn black into white
b) …that he could turn water into wine
c) …that he could turn your heart into stone
2. What makes the animals finally rebel against Mr. Jones?
a) …he kills one of the animals
b) …Old Major organises a battle
c) …he forgets to feed them
3. What mystical country does Moses the Raven describe to the aniamls?
a) …Milk and Barley Pasture
b) …Ever Rest Hills
c) …Sugarcandy Mountain

13. Mini Reading Quiz!
4. What maxim does Snowball say the seven commandments can be reduced to?
a) …‘Up with animals, down with humans.’
b) …‘Four legs good, two legs bad.’
c) …‘Rule by the animals, for the animals.’
5. And why does Snowball reduce the commandments to this maxim?
a) …because he likes to be creative with words
b) …because Old Major told him to in a dream
c) …because some animals couldn’t learn the commandments

14. CO: to create a class definition of democracy, understand the essential ingredients
of democracy and the challenges it faces.
LO: to practise speaking skills
How would you define democracy?

15. CO: to create a class definition of democracy, understand the essential ingredients
of democracy and the challenges it faces.
LO: to practise speaking skills
• What would you say are the main challenges
facing democracy?

16. Now read this quote…
“The death of democracy is not likely to be
an assassination from ambush. It will be a
slow extinction from apathy, indifference,
and undernourishment.”
Robert M. Hutchins

17. Reread this quote…
“The death of democracy is not likely to be
an assassination from ambush. It will be a
slow extinction from apathy, indifference,
and undernourishment.”
Robert M. Hutchins
CO: to analyse how the behavior of characters in ‘Animal Farm’ undermines the
potential for democracy.
LO: to practise the reading skill of scanning the text for specific information.

18. What elements of democracy do you see emerging in chapters 2 and
3?
• they make a set of
commandments, which is
similar to a constitution
• one of the commandments is
‘All animals are equal’
• they have the ‘Meeting’, where
‘resolutions were put forward
and debated.’
• They have ‘committees’, which
resemble government
departments.
CO: to analyse how the behavior of characters in ‘Animal Farm’ undermines the
potential for democracy.
LO: to practise the reading skill of scanning the text for specific information.

19. • Today, we are going to use a series of quotes from political
texts to analyse elements of democracy in the novel, and how
the behaviour of certain characters in chapters 2 and (and
chapter one if you want) challenges the potential for
democracy on the farm
• In groups, you will annotate the text with examples from
‘Animal Farm’
CO: to analyse how the behavior of characters in ‘Animal Farm’ undermines the
potential for democracy.
LO: to practise the reading skill of scanning the text for specific information.

20. “The common theme in the thinking of Aristotle, Fortescue and Machiavelli is that
[…] politics remains intimately connected to dispute, debate and some notion of self-
government, and this tradition is maintained today in a revival of the idea that
deliberation, rather than simply voting, provides the key aspect of democratic
decision-making.”
“[Boxer and Clover]
had great difficulty in
thinking anything out
for themselves, but
having once accepted
the pigs as their
teachers, they
absorbed everything
they were told (p. 14)
“The other animals
understood how to
vote, but could never
think of any
resolutions of their
own.” (p. 22)
“Snowball and
Napoleon were by far
the most active in the
debates. But it was
noticed that these
two were never in
agreement…” (p. 22)
“About the rebellion
and its results he
[Benjamin] would
express no opinion.”
(p. 22)
“There were only four
dissentients, the
three dogs and the
cat, who was
afterwards discovered
to have voted on both
sides. (p. 22)

21. Chapter Four & Five

22. Mini Reading Quiz chapters 4-5!
DATE NAME (Parallel)
1. (one short sentence answer)
2. (one short sentence answer)
3. (one short sentence answer)
4. (one short sentence answer)
5. (one short sentence answer)
6. (one short sentence answer)

23. Mini Reading Quiz!
1. In chapter 4, how do Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick feel about the
revolution on Animal Farm?
2. In chapter 4, what action do the human beings take?
3. In chapter 4, what does Boxer the horse think he has done, that makes
him cry?
4. In chapter 5, what happens to Mollie the horse?
5. In chapter 5, what happens to Snowball the pig when he is speaking in
the barn?
6. Name one change that Napoleon makes on the farm.

24. CO: to revise the structure and rhetorical devices of a speech.
LO: to understand and use contrast to write interesting sentences.

25. CO: to revise the structure and rhetorical devices of a speech.
LO: to understand and use contrast to write interesting sentences.
As a class, we are going to read Malala’s speech. We will then
complete the following activities in pairs…
1. the ‘Text handling’ exercises on p. 77
2. the ‘General comprehension’ question on p. 79
3. the ‘Grammar in context’ exercise on sentence structure on p. 81

26. CO: to make historical connections between ‘Animal Farm’ and the Russian
revolution.
LO: to understand and be able to use the passive voice.

27. CO: to make historical connections between ‘Animal Farm’ and the Russian revolution.
LO: to understand and be able to use the passive voice.

28. CO: to make historical connections between ‘Animal Farm’ and the Russian revolution.
LO: to understand and be able to use the passive voice.
In pencil, fill in the worksheet with the events
from ‘Animal Farm’ that you have read so far that
correspond to the historical events of the Russian
revolution.

29. So why do we use the passive voice?
1. we want to emphasize the receiver of the action:
Russia was ruled by a Tsar
(active): A Tsar ruled Russia.
3. we think the agent is not important or interesting:
The keys were thrown on the floor.
(active): Mr. Lumby (who is not important or interesting) threw the
keys on the floor.
2. we don't know who did the action (the agent):
Tsar Nicholas is murdered.
(active): Somebody murders Tsar Nicholas.

30. CO: to make historical connections between ‘Animal Farm’ and the Russian revolution.
LO: to understand and be able to use the passive voice.
tense subject ‘to be’ Main verb
(past
participle)
by agent
Present
simple
Present
perfect
Present
continuous
Past simple
Past perfect
Past
continuous
Future simple

31. Reread the passage at the end of chapter 4 which
begins “The animals had now reassembled in the
wildest…” to the end of the chapter.
Underline all the examples you can find of the
passive voice. Be ready to share them with the
class.

32. tense subject ‘to be’ Main verb
(past
participle)
by agent

33. CO: to analyze the key features of a news article.
LO: to develop reading skills for Paper 1 of the IB exam.
Write down 10 key
words that you
think will appear in
the article.
Now skim read the
aritcle in 5 minutes
to check your
predictions .

34. CO: to analyze the key features of a news article.
LO: to develop reading skills for Paper 1 of the IB exam.
The sentences below are either true or false. Tick [] the correct response
then justify it with a relevant brief quotation from the text. Both a tick []
and a quotation are required for one mark.
Example:
1. The trouble occurred mainly in the big cities.
Justification:
True False

Unrest has been reported across Ecuador

35. 1. One person was killed.
Justification:
FalseTrue
2. Schools closed because of the danger.
Justification:
FalseTrue
3. The police were angry due to issues with their pay.
Justification:
FalseTrue
4. Correa agreed to compromise with the police.
Justification:
FalseTrue
5. Correa thought the police were the original cause of the
unrest.
Justification:
FalseTrue

36. Now read the article again, and underline all the examples
of the passive voice (I found eighteen!!!)
CO: to plan a news article about events in ‘Animal Farm’.
LO: to revise the passive voice.

37. (past participle)
Present
simple
Government buildings
Mr Correa (is in danger)
are
of being
occupied
killed
Present
perfect
A state of emergency
Unrest
Mr Correa
has been
has been
has
declared
Reported
received
Past simple Treatment
Mr Correa
Mr Correa
He
One person
Several others
This
The National Assembly
Mr Correa
Tear gas
The president
after being
was
was
was
was
were
could not be
was (also)
was
was
was (later)
hit
hit
taken
trapped
killed
injured
(immediately) confirmed
occupied
forced
fired
treated
by protesters
Past
perfect
He had been attacked
Conditional The police force would be removed

38. Now you are going to plan a news report,
reporting on a key event in chapter 4 or 5 of
‘Animal Farm’
I will use the ‘top ten tips worksheet’ as a rubric,
except number 7…

39. CATEGORY POINTS TOTAL
Chosen interesting
event
/0.5
First paragraph
sums up story
/1
Next few paragraphs
add detail
/0.5
WH & H questions /2
Quotes /1
Not too long (500-
600 words)
/1
Facts /0.5
Spelling /0.5
Good headline /0.5
Passive voice /2
Presentation /0.5 /10

40. To start planning your news report, think about
tips 1, 4 & 5 and write your ideas on paper…
1. What event are you going to report on? (The Battle of the
Cowshed, Napoleon and Snowball’s rivalry, Snowball’s expulsion, the
windmill plan…)
4. Answer the six WH and H questions.
5. What quotes will you include in your report?

41. To start planning your news report, think about
tips 1, 4 & 5 and write your ideas on paper…
1. What event are you going to report on? (The Battle of the
Cowshed, Napoleon and Snowball’s rivalry, Snowball’s expulsion, the
windmill plan…)
4. Answer the six WH and H questions.
5. What quotes will you include in your report?

42. You must give me your finished news report on
Thursday. It must be..
• A printed word document
• 500-600 words long

43. Chapters 6 & 7

44. CO:
LO:
“Who controls the past
controls the future, who
controls the present
controls the past.”
George Orwell
Agree? Go and
stand over
there!
Disagree? Go
and stand over
there!

45. CO:
LO:
Listen AND read to the section of chapter 6 “One
Sunday morning […] no complaint was made
about that.”
While you listen and read,
think carefully about Orwell’s
observation: “Who controls the
past controls the future, who
controls the present controls
the past.” How des it relate to
this section of the text?

46. 1. override (para. 1)
2. burden (para. 2)
3. faintly (para. 3)
4. dread (para. 4)
5. inscribed (para. 5)
6. repose (para. 6)
A. fear
B. jump
C. hardship
D. paid
E. written
F. entertainment
G. excitement
H. somewhat
I. question
J. rest
K. sleepily
L. veto
Find the word in the right column which is closest in
meaning to one of the words on the left.

47. Vocabulary.com
Guam:
http://vocab.com/join/36
D42KD

48. Vocabulary.com
New Hampshire:
http://vocab.com/join/19
42H25

49. Vocabulary.com
Puerto Rico:
http://vocab.com/join/2J
WGXTQ

50. Vocabulary.com
Wyoming:
http://vocab.com/join/2S
F4583

51. Vocabulary.com
Chapter 6 vocabulary:
http://vocab.com/lists/678501