A Raisin in the Sun Pre Reading Activities
Here are 10 To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activities to prepare students for historical context, literary elements, and key themes. To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activities orient students' imaginations. For many, a rural town in 1930's Alabama is an alien world. Furthermore, students benefit from preparation with key elements like symbolism, point of view, and theme.
one) Build on prior knowledge (Jim Crow and segregation).
An African-American youth at a segregated drinking fountain in Halifax, Due north Carolina, in 1938
Detect what students know about segregation, the Jim Crow era, and the civil rights Motion. Students build upon this knowledge by drawing master ideas and details from a video about Jim Crow.
Championship: Who was Jim Crow?
Common Cadre Standard: Reading Informational Texts 2 (objective summary)
Into:Ask students to brainstorm what they know near segregation and the Jim Crow era for a form chart. They should include everything from specific facts to general impressions. Encourage them to include information most how the Jim Crow era came to be and how it was opposed.
Students may need some prodding to realize how much they really know. Offering reminders equally necessary.
Through:Explain that they will be watching a video from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. They should take notes as they watch and so that they tin can write an objective summary. An objective summary should be written in the 3rd person betoken of view and not contain the author's thoughts or opinions.
Educatee notes on "The New Jim Crow Museum":
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- Principal idea:
- Supporting ideas:
- Key details:
(Alarm: Some especially upsetting are shown in minutes 7:25 – 8:55.)
Advisory: Gear up your students to appoint with this information with maturity and sensitivity. Remind them that these "jokes" dehumanized African Americans and encouraged persecution and murder.
Related mail service: "Should I teach To Impale a Mockingbird?"
Asks students to combine their viewing notes by identifying the principal idea, supporting ideas, and key details as a class. If time allows, add to the brainstorm chart.
Beyond:Summarize Dr. Pilgrim'southward analysis on the utilise of stereotypes. How were they used to propagate and perpetuate persecution and segregation? Why were people so enamored with these hateful representations?
Use your imagination and today'southward study to guess what To Kill a Mockingbird might be about. Think about the setting that we have identified. Story starter: Everything really goes out of command when…
two) Talk about growing up and changing points of view.
This To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activity starts students thinking about the theme topic of growing up. Students write a cursory personal essay on an event that inverse their point of view.
Championship: An Outcome that Changed My Betoken of View
Mutual Core Standard: Writing 2.B (developing a topic in informational writing)
Into: Quick-write:What does it hateful to be "grown up?" How do you know when you are an adult? What are unlike points of view on the significant of adulthood? Call up about legal, cultural (rites of passage), and personal points of view.
Through:Explain that one theme of the upcoming novel focuses on growing up. The kids in the story go through experiences that change their points of view. Tell the students that they will exist writing a short personal essay on an event from their own life that changed their point of view.
- Brainstorm events that fabricated you retrieve.
- Cull one to explore in detail.
- Listing important details: facts, definitions, quotes, or examples that aid explain your modify in point of view.
- Write your personal essay illustrating your change.
If time allows, allow students to share their personal essay for participation points.
Across:Make a prediction about the kids in the story. How practice you think their points of view might modify during the class of the novel?
3) Review symbolism.
Gear up students to think about symbols earlier they start reading. This is especially true if your culminating task focuses on how Lee uses symbols. This task asks pupil groups to nowadays on the meanings found in visual and literary symbols.
Title: Visual Symbols and Literary Symbols
Common Core Standard: Reading literature 2 (theme development)
Into: Utilise a slideshow to display pop visual symbols (the Smashing Seal of the United states of america, the peace sign, the bat symbol, the Nike swoosh, etc.) Accept the students yell out what the symbol represents. Encourage them to express abstract ideas, feelings, and connotations. For example, if they say that the swoosh symbolizes Nike, urge them on until someone says speed or agility.
Explain that visual symbols tin represent abstract thoughts or powerful feelings merely that literary symbols can be fifty-fifty more than complex. Literary symbols tin have multiple, complex, or even contradictory meanings.
Through:Have the students work in groups to create posters. Each grouping must nowadays 1 visual symbol and 1 literary symbol. The literary symbol can be from a book, poem, song, curt story, comic book, flick, or fifty-fifty Television receiver show. They might clarify the mockingjay in The Hunger Games, the apple tree in Snow White, onions in Shrek, Edgar Allen Poes' raven, and then on.
They must write a brief analysis of both symbols and present to the course. Remind them to recall about multiple meanings, connotations, and fifty-fifty contradictory meanings. (The bat in Batman represents the fear Bruce Wayne wants to instill just also (and secretly) his own fear).
Beyond:Create a plan for a short story that includes a symbol to aid develop the theme. Briefly outline the characters, setting, plot, and theme. Conceive and explain a literary symbol that conveys a message nearly life.
iv) Cover the controversy.
This To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activity gets students thinking most controversial literature. Students agree a debate on whether or not whatsoever text containing the n-word should exist studied in the classroom.
Title: Controversy in the Classroom
Common Core Standard: Writing 1 (writing statement)
Into: Quick-write: What makes a book a masterpiece? What types of books should be taught in schools? Who should decide? What types of books should be excluded from the classroom?
Students share their ideas for participation points.
Explicate that To Kill a Mockingbird contains the north-discussion and characters who espouse hateful, racist stereotyping. Even though the book was written to argue against racism, many feel that the book may be a bad influence on some and emotionally harmful to others.
Through:Host a debate on whether or non whatever book containing the n-give-and-take should ever be taught in schools. Have the students move to the PRO side of the room and the CON side of the room so that they can form small groups. Yous may end upwards with uneven groups, simply information technology does not actually matter.
Proposed: No book containing the n-discussion should be taught in the classroom.
Each group needs to compose an argument including:
- Introduction (main thought and summary)
- Reasons and testify
- Last statement
- Anticipating counter arguments and offering rebuttal.
Accept the groups share their their arguments. Afterward all groups accept offered their arguments, requite all groups every bit chance for rebuttal (counterarguments).
Across:Did the debate brand you question your point of view or affirm your position? Explain your reply. Tin you appreciate both positions?
5) Explore the concept of hypocrisy with original skits.
This To Impale a Mockingbird pre-reading activity gets students thinking about hypocrisy. Student groups create brief skits to demonstrate a hypocrisy that they perceive. This task prepares students to watch for hypocrisy in Maycomb (the teacher arguing against intolerance in Germany, the trial, the missionary society, the honoring of Egyptian civilization, etc.)
Title: Hypocrites!
Common Core Standard: Speaking and Listening one (collaborate to limited ideas)
Into: Quick-write: Hypocrisy is when one claims to have moral standards that they do no actually follow (due east.g. a teacher who does not allow students to accept beverages in class just is always having a cup of coffee). Write about a hypocrisy that you see in life. Why is information technology hypocritical?
Students share-out for participation points.
Through:Explain that students will piece of work in cooperative groups to create a brief sit-in of a hypocrisy for the class. Perhaps a student gets in trouble for drinking a sports drink in class and argues that the punishment is unjust since the teacher is ever drinking coffee.
Tell the students that they practice not need to write a script so long as they are clear about the point of views, motivations, and actions in the skit. If the hypocrisy in the skit is not obvious, students may want to preface their skit with an explanation.
Students perform. If time allows, give audience members a run a risk to discuss after each skit.
Explicate that To Kill a Mockingbird uses examples of hypocrisy to help develop the themes (messages about life).
Beyond:Why is in that location then much hypocrisy in our lives? Why do people deed in means that are contradictory to their stated beliefs? What kind of hypocrisies might occur in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Related Mail: To Kill a Mockingbird Anticipation Guide / Introduction Activeness
Get students thinking almost context and key themes through lively discussion. Statements address agreement others, growing upward, prejudice, symbolism, and more. The PDF handout is ready to utilise.
6) Contour the forms of backbone.
Lee wants the reader to call back about the pregnant and forms of courage. This task encourages students to develop a more nuanced agreement by creating a affiche on i form of courage.
Title: One Form of Courage
Common Core Standard: Speaking and Listening 1.D (considering different points of view), Speaking and Listening 5 (visual displays)
Into: Quick-write:What is your definition of courage? Are there unlike types of backbone? Use examples to back up your answer.
Create a class chart of the different forms of courage (backbone to go against the oversupply, courage to risk your life to help others, backbone to try new things, etc.)
Through:Students are to create a affiche for the classroom on 1 blazon of courage. (You may want to organize option so that you end up with a variety of topics.) The poster could include the following:
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- Championship (type of courage)
- Case study (example of this courage from history or real life)
- Individual (a person who demonstrates this class of courage)
- Insightful quote
- Application (how others might show this type of courage in their lives)
Utilize a wall of the classroom to create a gallery of courage and display the student piece of work. If fourth dimension allows, conduct a gallery walk and ask students to reflect on the examples.
Beyond:Respond to this quote from To Kill a Mockingbird:
"'I wanted y'all to run across what real backbone is, instead of getting the idea that backbone is a human being with a gun in his hand. It'south when you know y'all're licked before y'all brainstorm, but you begin anyhow and see information technology through no matter what.'"
Do y'all agree? Make a guess most the what this character might exist talking well-nigh.
Reflect on the gallery walk. Which examples stood out to yous and why? Did you refine your own definition of backbone? Explain.
7) Make connections to The Scottsboro Thing.
Students compare articles about The Scottsboro Affair in order to contextualize the novel and consider point of view and purpose in nonfiction texts.
Championship: The Scottsboro Affair
Common Core Standard: Reading Informational Texts vi (point of view and purpose)
Into:Quick-write: What are some of the bug with our justice organization? In what means tin can the system fail? Think about the influences of prejudice and homo error.
Introduce the Scottsboro Affair:"The Scottsboro Boys" (video, 8 minutes) Professor Carol Anderson gives an overview of the case.
Through:Students will analyze and compare texts on the same topic to think most point of view, purpose, and bias.
In that location are many articles to consider, but here is an example of a biased article from an Alabama newspaper at the time of the trials:
Outbound link: More information on Scottsboro Affair articles
Outbound link: "The Scottsboro Affair" (article, 6 pages) from Facing History and Ourselves.
Have students analyze 2 or more articles in terms of…
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- Point of view
- Purpose and audience
- Rhetoric and bias
Across:As consumers of information, why is it important that nosotros be mindful of point of view, purpose, and audience? What are some of the ways that we can exist misled if we are not careful? How can misinformation lead to injustice?
eight) Jigsaw historical enquiry in lodge to explore the novel's context.
This To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activity allows students to practice research methods while gaining understanding of the novel's context. Students acquit inquiry regarding the women'due south movement, segregation, and The Great Low.
NOTE: This task requires access to technology or reference materials.
Championship: 1930'southward America
Common Core Standard: Writing seven (enquiry questions)
Into: Quick-write: Generate research questions on one or more of the post-obit topics.
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- Feminism in the 1930'south
- Segregation in America
- The Great Depression
Chart student responses as a grade. Explain that they might start by asking straightforward, simple questions merely ultimately want to make it at open-ended questions that require a thoughtful reply. For example, they might motion from "Could a black person marry a white person?" to "What were the factors impeding interracial marriage?"
Explain that we are building understanding of the context of To Impale a Mockingbird.
Through:Students are to conduct a short enquiry project based on a inquiry question of their choosing. As research proceeds, information technology is typical to fine-melody, narrow, broaden, or redirect the enquiry question.
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- Preliminary research question
- Preliminary inquiry
- Final research question
- Formal research (Decide how formal you lot want this to be regarding citation etc.)
- Limerick
Across:Students organize their research into a presentation for the class.
9) Debate the jury system.
This To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activity gets students to argue nigh one element of our criminal justice organization: the jury. Students fence on whether or not this system is the best method of deciding guilt.
Note: Access to research technology is helpful but not essential for this To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activity.
Title: Jury System on Trial
Common Core Standard: Writing 1 (writing argument)
Into: Quick-write: Maybe y'all have heard people talking positively or negatively well-nigh jury duty. Would y'all want to serve on a jury or would y'all endeavour to notice a way to go out of it? Explicate your reasons.
Explicate that the American criminal justice organization decides guilt based on the conclusions of a jury of twelve ordinary people from the community. The two sides present information and the jury must achieve a unanimous conclusion: guilty (across a reasonable doubt) or not guilty. The judge then rules on the punishment.
Outbound link: "This is Why Juries Shouldn't Decide Court Cases" from Business organisation Insider
Outbound link: "Why Juries Piece of work Best" from The Guardian
Through:Students will form groups in order to conduct a debate on the proposition.
Proposed: The jury system is then flawed that the government must take actions to implement a new organisation to make up one's mind guilt in criminal cases.
Remind students that even if they are personally unsure of their position, they tin can still fence information technology finer.
Each grouping needs to compose an argument including:
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- Introduction (main idea and summary)
- Reasons and evidence
- Last statement
- Anticipating counter arguments and offering rebuttal.
Across: Which side won the debate and why? Have you fabricated up your own mind about the jury arrangement? Explain.
Related Post:To Kill a Mockingbird Unit Plan (Course 8 to Grade 10)
10) Reflect on inclusion. (How Accepting Are You?)
Students will do some introspection in this To Impale a Mockingbird pre-reading activity. They will use a lesson adjusted from Teaching Tolerance to think about being more inclusive and understanding.
Championship: Tolerance and Understanding in School
Common Cadre Standard: Speaking and Listening 1 (collaboration and discussion)
Into: "How accepting are you?" Quiz
Rate each statement on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 = very true).
- I do not have time for people who practice not see things my style.
- I do not innovate myself to new people in my school or neighborhood.
- I ever sit with the same people at lunch or during activities.
- I tend to estimate people based on how they dress.
- My group of friends is tight-knit and does not like others butting in.
- I do not associate with people if they are unpopular with my group.
- I worry about being seen with some people.
- I oftentimes make fun of others to their face.
- I frequently brand fun of people behind their back.
- I am not concerned about hurting people'southward feeling online.
- I feel that people who are picked on bring it on themselves.
- I do not need to sympathize others because others do not try to understand me.
- I can tell everything I need to know near someone past looking at them.
- I enjoy it when others are mocked or criticized.
- I know that my betoken of view is the right point of view.
Discuss the quiz results as a class and explain that a major theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is about accepting others.
Through / Across: "Cliques in schools" from Teaching Tolerance
To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading activities summary:
- Build on prior knowledge (Jim Crow and segregation)
- Growing up (point of view)
- Review symbolism
- Explore the controversy
- Hypocrisy skits
- Profiles in courage
- The Scottsboro Affair
- Jigsaw research
- Debate the Jury System
- How Accepting Are You?
Thank you for checking out To Kill a Mockingbird Pre-reading Activities!
I hope that this post has given yous some ideas that yous can use to set up students for reading To Kill a Mockingbird. The book will hateful more to the students when they can contextualize the novel and appoint with the key elements.
Related post: 15 To Kill a Mockingbird Project Ideas
Related post: To Kill a Mockingbird Anticipation Guide
Featured image by Unhurt Centre Theatre
Source: https://teachnovels.com/mockingbird-pre-reading-activities/