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To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1930s

Grade Focus
Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Age Level
13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Subject
Literature
Technology Integration Activity
Video Productions
Estimated Time of Completion
3-4 hours
Author: DeTonyah Parham Last modified: 05/01/2010

To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1930s

Downloads for this lesson plan

Introduction

In this lesson, students will study the era of the 1930s to gain a better understanding of the setting of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  They will also complete a poem for two voices which will illustrate their understanding of two different perspectives of the time period as seen through the eyes of two characters from To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Prerequisite Experience

Students should know:

  • How to navigate the internet
  • Use of Audacity
  • Use of Photostory

Teacher Prep Time

 Time:  varies

Allot the time needed to read through each of the articles related to the Webquest and familiarize yourself with the use of Audacity and Photostory.

Assessment/Grading

Rubric

Time Management Tips

Familiarize yourself with each site so you can easily assist students with finding information.

Have microphones and instructions on how to use Audacity and Photostory easily accessible to students so they can attempt to use these programs on their own before asking for assistance. 

I'd advise having no more than 4 students working together for the group work portion of the project.  if you have larger classes, consider assigning pairs to research together. 

Lesson Plan Details

Engage

Journal topic:  Read this example of a poem for two voices http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/fear/poem2.html. Discuss how the perspectives of the student and teacher differ.  How do you think your perspective of education would differ from that of your teachers? 

Essential Questions:  To what extent does a person’s life experience affect how he/she perceives a situation? 

To what extent is our behavior defined by societal expectations?

Explore

Students will complete a Webquest in which they find information on Jim Crow laws, life of Whites, minorities, and women during the 1930s, and the Scottsboro Trials.  The Webquest will be done in small groups, with each student studying a different aspect of the 1930s.

Explain

Students will share their findings with the other members of their group. 

 Students will participate in a whole class fishbowl discussion in which they discuss reactions to their research.

Elaborate

Students will evaluate two characters from To Kill a Mockingbird.  They will use their research to chart what society’s expectations for each of these characters would have been and specific actions of the character in the story that either goes against or supports these expectations.

Evaluate

Students will work in pairs to write a poem in two voices which focuses on two different perspectives of the 1930s based on their research of the 1930s and study of characters from To Kill a Mockingbird.  They will record their poem using Audacity and upload it into a Photostory presentation which will allow them to illustrate the poem to bring out the tone and themes.

Extend

Students will take the same two characters from To Kill a Mockingbird they used for their poem in two voices and write a short essay discussing how these characters will fit into our current society if they had the same personality and followed the same expectations as those expected of them in the 1930s.