To Kill A Mockingbird: Pre-reading Group Research Activity
Objectives: Students will participate with group members in presenting an oral report of research on a topic related to our next novel: To Kill A Mockingbird. Students will utilize teamwork and leadership skills in order to produce a high quality, engaging presentation. Students will properly use technology to assist in their research, and they will properly MLA cite all of their sources used. Students will listen to, take notes on, and provide comments on the presentations given.
Projects
- #1 The Depression Era
- #2 Life in The South in The 1930s
- #3 Civil Rights Movement Part 1
- #4 Civil Rights Movement Part 2
- #5 Civil Rights Movement Part 3
- #6 Scottsboro Boys Trial; The 6th Amendment
- #7 Harper Lee
- #8 Then, Then, & Now
- #9 Language & vocabulary
–Whichever topic you are assigned, your task is to:
- Create a clear, engaging presentation with visuals
- (a ppt, prezi, brochure, video you make, etc…)
- Clearly explain your topic and its significance based on your researched
- Use a minimum of 3 reliable sources for information
- Visit Mswrightreads.wordpress.com for resources
- Include all of your sources on a works cited page that is properly formatted in MLA format
- Please refer to your handout, me, & also purdue owl for help (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/)
- Give your information of logical sequence of events
- Give a presentation of appropriate:
- Length (5-9 minutes)
- Volume (loud enough so everyone can hear)
- Engagement (you interest the audience in your topic, & hold their interest; participation)
- Clarity in Visuals (make sure the font and colors are easy to read)
You MUST be prepared to turn in & present projection on the following dates, no exceptions.
Period 1: Tuesday 12/11
Period 3, 4: Wednesday 12/12
Period 5, 6: Thursday 12/13
MLA HELP: Purdue Owl or download another copy of the MLA Handout
- Historical Background of To Kill A Mockingbird
- Historical Context of To Kill A Mockingbird- The Big Read
- Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents
- To Kill A Mockingbird & Harper Lee
- A Map of Alabama
The Scottsboro Trials
- Famous American Trials “The Scottsboro Boys” Trials 1931 – 1937
- The First Scottsboro Trials, & A History of the case
- The Scottsboro Trials- Historical Context
- The 6th Amendment
- Right to Counsel
- Right to A Jury Trial
- Legal Dictionary- The 6th Amendment
- Juries in the 1930s
The Great Depression
- The Great Depression- PBS Article
- The Great Depression – PBS Timeline
- The Great Depression- The History Channel
- The Great Depression
Civil Rights History
- The Missouri Compromise– Library of Congress
- The Missouri Compromise- PBS
- The Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford)- PBS
- The Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford)
- John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry- PBS
- John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry- The Library of Virginia
- John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry- The History Chanel
- The American Civil War- The History Chanel
- The American Civil War- U.S. Dept of the Interior
- The Reconstruction Period – the History Chanel
- The Reconstruction Period- Sparksnotes
- The Emancipation Proclamation- PBS
- The Emancipation Proclamation- National Archives and Records Administration
- The Plessy v. Ferguson decision- PBS
- The Plessy v. Ferguson decision
- The Plessy v. Ferguson decision- enotes
- The Jim Crow Laws- PBS
- The Jim Crow Laws- U.S. Dept of the Interior
- The Jim Crow Laws- Ferris University
- The Brown v. the Board of Education decision- The U.S. dept of the Interior
- The Brown v. the Board of Education decision
- The Brown v. the Board of Education decision- PBS
- The Little Rock Nine
- The Little Rock Nine
- Emmett Till- PBS
- Emmett Till- Biography.com
- Rosa Parks
- Rosa Parks: Scholastic 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- the Montgomery Bus Boycott- History Chanel
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- the March on Washington
- The March on Washington
- The March on Washington
- Behind The March on Washington
- The March on Washington- Life Magazine
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Civil Rights Movement
- The Civil Rights Era- Sparksnotes
- Additional Resources
The South in the 1930s
- Growing up White in the South in the 1930s
- Growing up Black in the South in the 1930s
- Race Relations in the South in the 1930s
- American Cultural History
- Encyclopedia of Alabama- Poverty
- Alabama History Timeline
- Southern Culture
- Southern Culture PPT or PDF version
- Alabama in the 1930s
- Roles of Southern Women
- Southern Women Trailblazers (hover over the story tab at the top right for drop-down options: Suffrage, Education, Workforce, Civil Rights Movement)
- Narratives from people who lived in the south
- Multiple resources with information on the 1930s
- Farming in The 1930s
- America in The 1930s
- Documenting the American South
- Religion and the US South
The 1950s & Now
- American Culture of the 1950s
- American History: Life in the 1950s– Voice of America
- 1950s- The History Chanel
- Popular 20th Century Foods
- 2012 [This is the only point you can use Wikipedia.com – it is to help you find information you will then look up using other, reliable resources]
Harper Lee
- Harper Lee
- Harper Lee’s Novel Achievement- The Smithsonian
- Harper Lee (About)- The Big Read
- Harper Lee- Biography.com
- To Kill A Mockingbird Publishing History
- Harper Lee Interview #1
- Harper Lee Interview #2
- Monroe, Alabama
- Truman Capote & Harper Lee
To Kill A Mockingbird Vocabulary & Language
- To Kill A Mockingbird Vocabulary database
- What is an Idiom
- Idioms in To Kill A Mockingbird
- Alternate Idiom website for To Kill A Mockingbird
- To Kill A Mockingbird Student Survival Guide
- Allusions made in To Kill A Mockingbird
- To Kill A Mockingbird vocabulary
mswrightreads 
Leave a comment