To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, but its messages remain just as true today as they were in Harper Lee's novel. Learners watch a video that details the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, who was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, and Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer who drew inspiration for social justice from the famous novel.

Concepts

to kill a mockingbird

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Follow the video with a prompt about whether students have ever read something differently at various ages
• Use in an interdisciplinary unit between American history and language arts

Classroom Considerations

• Part of The Great American Read program through PBS, which has since ended
• Provides a sensitivity warning for the content of the video

Pros

• Applies the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird with a modern example of wrongful imprisonment
• Video is short enough to make it a versatile classroom tool

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.6.2 RL.6.3 RL.7.2 RL.7.3 RL.8.2 RL.8.3 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 RL.9-10.5 RL.11-12.2 RL.11-12.3