During the Great Depression, two men travel through California, looking for work wherever they can find it and dreaming of a brighter future with a farm of their own. George, though the smaller man, is clearly the leader, trying to keep Lennie, a giant of a man with developmental delays, safe and out of trouble. But when they find themselves at a ranch where the boss's son is cruel and his wife is flirtatious, the two friends become tangled in more trouble than they could have ever imagined.

Reading Practice

• Alphabet Agencies (Grades 6-8; CCSS.CCRA.R.4)
• Covered in Dust (Grades 6-8; CCSS.CCRA.R.8)
• Young Cesar E. Chavez (Grades 9-10; CCSS.CCRA.R.5)
• The Grim Economics of Food Stamps (Grades 9-10; CCSS.CCRA.R.8)
• Multimedia Lesson: Scraping By (Grades 9-10; CCSS.CCRA.R.7)

Writing Lessons

• Perseverance: How do we overcome challenges in our country, our communities, and our lives?
• Money and Decisions: How does money affect our moral decision-making?
• Overcoming Obstacles: How do characters develop as they face conflicts and overcome obstacles?
• The Great Depression: Which of the attempted solutions to the Great Depression was most effective?

Direct Instruction

• Connections within an Informational Text (Grades 6-12; CCSS.CCRA.R.5)
• Themes (Grades 6-12; CCSS.CCRA.R.2)
• Characters (Grades 6-12; CCSS.CCRA.R.3)