For classes tackling To Kill a Mockingbird, this lesson plan sets readers up for discussions or essay writing with questions and prompts. The prompts encourage individuals to explore beyond the novel itself, looking at photographs from the great depression era and at primary sources related to the Scottsboro Boys trial.

Concepts

novels, close reading, textual evidence

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Use some of the prompts for discussion, and use others as essay questions
• For a collection of primary sources about the Scottsboro Boys trial, google "PBS Scottsboro Trials"

Classroom Considerations

• If you want to have class members explore the photographs linked in the lesson, it will be helpful if they have technology unless you pre-select the photos and distribute them physically.

Pros

• Encourages an exploration of multiple kinds of sources
• Opens up good avenues of discussion about the relationship between fiction and history
• Having students read To Kill a Mockingbird in conjunction with learning about the historic Scottsboro Boys trial is a great way to promote interdisciplinary learning.

Cons

• One of the prompts has readers memorizing a passage from the book, and it's not clear how the memorization benefits the learner
• There is a "terminology" section at the end which doesn't hurt, but it's not clear what the purpose of the section is in the context of the lesson

Common Core

RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 RI.9-10.2 W.9-10.2.a SL.9-10.2 L.9-10.4.a