In-Depth Learning Sessions for To Kill a Mockingbird Background

1. 11.13 today’s objectives • Journal • New Vocab Unit(Distribute Copies) • New Seats • Reading Strategies Activity • 7 Reading Strategies Handout • What strategies do you use to “Determine Importance” • Brainstorm on your post-it notes and place on board. • News Article/”You’ve Read it, Now What?” • 2nd Marking Period SSR explanation

2. 11.14 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • What do you consider the words ‘courage’ and ‘empathy’ to mean? (At least 4 lines). • Return papers/writing folders • Discuss • Background Videos • Great Depression Introduction • Jim Crow Laws • Scottsboro Boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tf7NAeSyI&feature=related HW: Vocab Due Thursday

3. 11.15 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Students will comprehend background information necessary to understanding To Kill a Mockingbird • Background Presentation HW: Weekly Quiz and SSR tomorrow

4. 11. 16 Today’s Objectives • Journal: Free Write Friday • Weekly Quiz on Monday! • SSR Early Dismissal

5. What was Jim Crow? Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system that operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. • More than just a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. • African-Americans were second-class citizens.

6. Jim Crow Rationalization • People who advocated Jim Crow Laws believed that Whites were superior to Blacks in all important ways—intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior. • They believed that violence should be used in order to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy.

7. Jim Crow Etiquette Norms • A Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a White male because it implied being socially equal. • A Black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape. • Blacks and whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.

8. Jim Crow Etiquette Norms (cont.) • Never assert that a White person is lying. • Never suggest that a White person is from an inferior class. • Never demonstrate superior knowledge or intelligence. • Never curse a White person. • Never laugh at a White person, or comment about his appearance. • If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck. • White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.

9. Jim Crow Violence • Violence was a method of social control • Most extreme form was lynching • Lynchings were • Public, sadistic, and carried out by mobs • Lynchings were viewed as distasteful, but necessary

10. The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys • No other crime in history produced as many trials, convictions, reversals, and retrials • Involved nine black teenage boys and two white girls on a Southern Railroad freight train run on March 25, 1931 • Hoboeing was a common pastime in Depression era • A bunch of white and black teens hopped the rail cars; a fight broke out. Nine black teens on the train were arrested and taken to Scottsboro.

11. The Scottsboro Trial (cont.) • Two millworkers from Huntsville, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were also on the train • Victoria told officials that she had been raped by six of the nine boys. • Officials concluded that the others had raped Ruby • Clarence Norris, one of the accused, called the girls liars and was struck by a bayonet • Defense lawyers were incompetent—they wanted all boys tried together. The cross-examination of Victoria Price was only a few minutes long, and the examining doctors weren’t even cross-examined.

12. The Scottsboro Trials (cont.) • Guilty verdicts were announced in the first trial • Four trials were over, eight of the nine Scottsboro Boys were convicted and sent to death. Mistrial declared for Roy Wright, just twelve years old at the time. • The NAACP, concerned about its image, stayed out of trial • Communist Party supported the boys’ perspetive—it wanted to unite southern blacks and northern liberals • Seven of the nine were held in jail for over six years without trial

13. The Scottsboro Boys (cont.) • Either through parole or escapes all of the Scottsboro Boys eventually found their way out of Alabama • On January 23, 1989, the last of the Scottsboro Boys died • Case is considered one of the most shameful examples of injustice in our history. The accused were presumed guilty unless they could prove their innocence beyond a reasonable doubt. • To jurors, black lives didn’t count for much.

14. Harper Lee • Born as Nelle in Monroeville, Alabama , August 28, 1926. • Father was a newspaper editor, then a lawyer • Lee was a tomboy and a precocious reader • Enjoyed the friendship of her schoolmate and neighbor, famous writer Truman Capote • Lee was five years old when in Scottsboro, Alabama, the first trials began surrounding the purported rapes of two white women by nine young black men • The defendants were nearly lynched before being brought to court

15. Lee’s Literary Career • Lee pursued a law degree at the University of Alabama, but did not finish. • She moved to New York City in 1950 • Worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines • Her friends Michael Brown and Joy Williams Brown funded her dream to become a writer. On Christmas in1956, they wrote Lee a note “You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.” • Within a year she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird.

16. To Kill a Mockingbird Reception • The novel was published in 1960; an immediate success • Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in1961. • In 1999, the novel was voted “Best Novel of the Century” in a poll conducted by the Library Journal • On October 30, 2007, President Bush has presented the nation's highest civilian award to eight people, including Harper Lee • In a letter published to Oprah Winfrey, Lee wrote about her life, “Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books.” • She’s also been recorded to say, “it’s better to be silent than to be a fool.”

17. 11.19 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Clips of “The Help”

18. 11.20 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Continue viewing “The Help” • Distribute books • Introduction sheet (On Display)

19. 11.21 objectives • Journal: • The Help • Distribute next Vocab Unit HW: Assign Homework over break and distribute books.

20. 11. 27 Today’s Objectives • Journal: (Put your homework out on your desk.)List the 3 most important parts of the chapter you read over break. Do this SILENTLY • Put maps on desk • Discuss • Fill in • Discuss book so far (guided questions will facilitate discussion.) • Discuss Vocab Unit 8 • Begin Ch.2 as a class.

21. 11.28 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Read Ch. 2 independently and answer guided questions in COMPLETE sentences in your journals as you read. • You may need to add additional notes aside from the questions.

22. 11.29 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Collect Vocabulary • Review upcoming schedule • Review Chapters 1 and 2 of TKAM • Review Game Weekly Quiz and SSR tomorrow!

23. 11.30 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Weekly Quiz • SSR

24. 12. 3 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • New Vocab Unit • Students will listen to the audio of Ch.3 and will answer questions in complete sentences in their notes. HW: Vocab due Thursday Finish Ch. 3 and 4 by Thursday and answer questions/update notes

25. 12.4 Today’s Objectives • No Journal: Keystone Schedule • Time to read Ch.3 and 4 for THURSDAY • Work on Vocab

26. 12.5 Today’s Objectives • Me Out • Time to read Ch.3 and 4 for tomorrow. • Work on Vocab

27. 12.6 ObjectivesAdapted schedule for keystones • Journal: • Collect Vocab HW • Check Guided Questions • Students will demonstrate comprehension of Ch. 3 and 4 through class discussion of questions. HW: Quiz and SSR tomorrow!

28. 12.7 Today’s Objectives • Journal: Free write Friday • Weekly Quiz • SSR

29. 12.10 Objectives • Journal • New Vocab Unit • Begin audio of CH. 5. HW: Vocab HW due Thursday Finish reading CH 5 and answer guided questions.

30. 12.11 Today’s Objectives • Journal • Check CH. 5 Q’s. Break into groups to read Ch. 6 and answer Q’s together. • Students will demonstrate comprehension through completing 10 word recap as a group….It’s harder than you think!! • Summary must be EXACTLY 10 Words • Best summary wins an extra credit point  HW: Vocab Sentences due Thursday

31. 12.12 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Discuss Static and Dynamic Characters • Students will listen to the audio of Ch. 7 and will update questions as they read. HW: Vocabulary Due tomorrow

32. Dynamic vs. Static Characters • Characters experience varying amounts of change over the course of a story. Two types of characters are • Static characters that do not experience basic character changes during the course of the story. • Dynamic characters that experience changes throughout the plot of a story. Although the change may be sudden, it is expected based on the story’s events. • A story’s characters fall within a range—from very static characters that experience no change to very dynamic characters that undergo one or more major changes.

33. 12.13 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Collect/Discuss Vocabulary • Review Ch. 7 • Students will complete Ch. 8 Lit Circle in their groups and will pause to complete guided questions. HW: Weekly Quiz and SSR tomorrow!

34. 12.14 Today’s Objectives • Journal: Free write Friday • Weekly Quiz • SSR

35. 12.17 today’s Objectives • Journal: • NO VOCAB THIS WEEK! Happy Holidays  • 10 minutes to finish lit. circle • Students will demonstrate comprehension through discussion and completion of “A Change is Gonna Come” worksheet in their groups. HW: Finish back of worksheet

36. 12.18 Today’s Objectives • NO Journal: Collecting for Nov/Dec grade • Review “A Change in Gonna Come” Worksheet. • Students will listen to the audio of Ch. 9 and will update notes. HW: Finish Ch.9 and questions.

37. 12.19 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Review CH. 9 and questions • Students will read Ch. 10 aloud as a class and will update notes. HW: Finish Ch.10 and questions.

38. 12.20 Today’s Objectives • Journal:NO JOURNAL…COLLECT JOURNALS! • Review CH. 10 and questions • Distribute Part 1 Test Review Sheet • Test on Tuesday 1/8/13 • Students will read Ch. 11 independently HW: Finish Ch.11 and questions and complete study guide over break. KEEP UP WITH SSR book!

39. 12.21 Today’s Objectives • Holiday Holla

40. 1.2 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Check/Discuss Ch.11 • Distribute Study Guides • Discuss Irony • Begin viewing TKAM Part 1 Movie. • Test on TUESDAY 1/8/13!

41. 3 Types of Irony • Verbal irony (also called sarcasm) -- a writer makes a statement in which the actual meaning differs from the meaning that the words appear to express. • Situational irony -- accidental events occur that seem oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a TV weather presenter getting caught in a surprise rainstorm. • Dramatic irony -- a narrative in which the reader knows something about present or future circumstances that a character in the story does not know.

42. 1.3.13 Today’s objectives • Journal: • TKAM Movie • Review for test. HW:SSR tomorrow! No weekly Quiz

43. 1.4. 13 Today’s objectives • Journal • SSR • (Shortened periods) • Pep Rally • 1.7 MAP TESTING • Part 1 Test 1/8

44. 1.7.13 • MAP TESTING

45. 1.8.13 • TKAM Part 1 Test

46. TKAM Part 1 RevIEW Each person in your group will choose a number from 1-4. For your assigned word you will write down one fact you know about the word that relates to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” When I say so, you will pass your sheet to the right, and then next person has to add onto what you have written. (The information added on has to be completely new information. Jem Scout Dill Calpurnia Atticus Racism Great Depression Ms. Caroline Fisher Boo Radley Empathy Miss Maudie Miss Stephanie Crawford Jack Finch Alexandra Finch Rabid Dog Tom Robinson

47. 1.8.13 Today’s Objectives • Clear your desk of everything except a pencil. • TKAM Part 1 Test • You will have One period to complete.

48. 1.9 Today’s Objectives • Journal • Discuss the SHIFT that takes place in Part 2 of the novel. • Listen to Ch. 12 Audio, discuss questions. HW: Finish Ch. 12 and questions

49. 1.10 Today’s Objectives • Journal: • Put Completed Ch. 12 Questions on your desk. • Students will demonstrate comprehension through discussion. • Students will begin reading Ch. 13 through popcorning. SSR tomorrow SSR POSTERS DUE TOMORROW Finish Ch.13 by MONDAY

50. 1.11 today’s objectives • Journal: Free Write Friday • COLLECT SSR POSTERS • Get a Rubric • Put your name on in • Staple to your CHART (don’t staple to your poster) • I WILL COLLECT IT FROM YOU • SSR