You'd think I would have been introduced to Orwell during my college years, but it wasn't until one Thanksgiving that my brother-in-law turned on the film, 1984. Its dystopian visuals were a lot, so I was surprised when I learned that Animal Farm is a novel aimed at teens. It's obviously on the banned list for a reason, but not for reasons as intense as 1984.
We learned that when Animal Farm was published, many libraries stuck it in the kids' section thinking the title was literal. To say the least, parents complained.
The content is heavy. It is an allegory illustrating The Russian Revolution. It's beautifully written in the most dumbed-down way for the average reader to enjoy and comprehend.
We read many banned books, and for good reason. They're thinkers. They open your mind and offer new perspectives.
I like introducing novels about different cultures, various perspectives on history (outside of the typical textbook), and any realistic fiction that offers deep conversation. Animal Farm is all three of these.
We read the book over the span of three weeks and then saved the fourth week for additional discussion. We did several activities aside from reading the novel to reinforce which character was which and what battle was what.
It is obviously a tragedy, considering it revolves around war. Some might argue that Orwell's morphing of historical figures into animals makes the story less intense. I'll agree to disagree since my heart seems to break more for a bruised and battered horse than a grown man.
Each week began with vocabulary the kids may need to become more familiar with. They defined each word or found a synonym to help them better understand. Book questions were provided and followed up by discussions at the end of each week. All are provided for you in my free Google doc.
Teachers Pay Teachers always has excellent resources (some free) to supplement the novels. One activity I loved was an analysis of Old Major's speech. It was a foundation for understanding the good intentions behind the impossible utopian philosophy of Communism.
Additionally, the kids did character analysis and dug deep into popular quotes from the book. The only person they were familiar with was Leon Trotsky (Snowball) since he had an affair with Frida Kahlo, who we are well-researched.
In my Google doc is a video and a printable that spells out who each character represents in real life.
We did attempt to watch the film version, but it was just so bad, in our opinion. We only made it five minutes through. The book is always better anyway, so there is no loss there.
I'll admit, the kids liked this novel the least from what we've read so far. War, even between "farm animals," isn't their favorite theme. They would have liked it even less had we avoided discussion, so be sure to include that part if you decide to read it!