I just finished teaching my first literature based
unit to my group of ninth grade honors students. I read this book in high
school, as many have and continue to. I don’t remember disliking it, but I
don’t remember loving it either. This piece of lasting literature has meant
much to many in situations similar to those in the book.
After re-reading this story, this time with my
students in mind, the perspective I gained as the teacher has been quite
interesting. I had the opportunity to collaborate with another student teacher
in my department in creating this unit for our collection of over 200 ninth
graders. As we developed and planned and created and stressed, we ended up with
something that we felt pretty good about. At the end of our student teaching experience,
we were required to present a book of information compiling all that we did in
our unit and the results of our teaching. Personally, to understand something
fully, to see the vision completely, I have to have it physically in my hands
or laid out before me. I can narrow something done from way too much
information much easier than I can create something from not enough. Creating
this book was a great experience for me. My tangible example of the work put
into this unit for my students has been helpful in organizing my thoughts for
my review board as well as helping me think through what I would change if I
were to teach this unit to a new group of ninth graders. I passed, by the way.
This is the “Unit Overview” that was part of a
required section in my work sample portfolio. It is my explanation of the “big
picture” outlook on this unit, the “why is this valuable?”:
To
Kill a Mockingbird, is a powerful book to read with
fourteen and fifteen year olds. Ultimately, the goals behind introducing students
to this book are to grow students’ familiarity with classic literature, their
ability to connect literature to their own life, and most importantly to
introduce the concept of humanity and accountability for their choices. Through
themes in To Kill a Mockingbird,
students begin to recognize that their choices and their opinions affect their
world and the people around them. Students learn about times in our country’s
history that have been dark and how, as a nation, we have come out of them.
They learn about the seriousness of life and the factors that make a difference
in the characters’ lives and in their own lives as well, such as education,
family, gender issues, and social interactions. This book provides many great
opportunities to engage in class debates, discussions, and projects in which
the students learn to think critically and realize that their opinion is not
the only opinion. It in turn provides opportunities to practice expressing
these new ideas in writing, both analytical and persuasive. Just as To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age
story of the young characters in the book, students are allowed to embark on
their own coming of age process as they contemplate the important lessons
taught in this book alongside the clearly taught literary themes (symbolism,
flashback, stream of consciousness, dialect, etc.).
I do love To
Kill a Mockingbird. Somehow, in high school, my focus on life around me
overwhelmed some of my ability to experience literature like I do now. Always,
though, there was a spark. Always, the themes stayed in the back of my head,
just waiting for me to pick it up again. This time, when my focus was clear and
my mind, trained, I loved it. The characters created by Harper Lee represent a
unique aspect of life that can apply and teach each of us something. Scout is
the tempestuous little girl just beginning to deal with the reality of life.
Jem is the young man, trying to figure out his place in the world. Atticus is
the imperfect hero, doing all he can to succeed, but failing in the definitive
sense of the word. Atticus is a great success in the eyes of his friends,
however. Boo is misunderstood. Miss Maudie is a maternal hand. Calpurnia is the
glue that holds their family together. This entire world of characters, set to
the background of the real and igniting world of the time, presents us with a
sense of self and quality of life to live up to. The Finch-bar, set in morals
and values, is imperfect but attainable, requires hard work but gives much
hope. It is almost impossible to read this book and not come out wanting to
live a noble life.
One of my favorite days and activities in our unit was:
· Boo Radley day- Leading up to this day,
we created a character chart as a class and watched the development of the
different characters in the book. It ended up that Boo showed the greatest
change, as planned. As characters and students opinions of him wavered and then
changed, we began to discuss what this all means. Are our opinions and
treatment of others always correct? Boo Radley was grossly misunderstood and in
turn mistreated by those who could have loved him. How do we create "Boo Radleys" in our own little worlds.
On Boo Radley day, we began by
reviewing the literary term, symbol, and discussing the symbolic nature of the
mockingbird and Boo. I then divided students into groups of about 5 and told
them to stand in tight circles around the room with one person standing outside
of the circle. After quieting the excited-to-out-their-desks 14 year olds, I
gave them one very specific instruction, “People outside of the circle, your
job is to get into the circle.” As you can imagine, the fun began. Instantly,
the circles tightened, students bore down, held their ground while those
outside the circle jumped, rammed, ducked, and pushed to complete their goal.
14 year old are a little bit like dogs (and if you know me, you know that I
love dogs!). Tell them one thing, and they jump at it without knowing exactly
why. Do now, ask later.
Once people got into the circle,
cheered, and taunted those they believed to be the “losers”, we switched and
played the game again. Finally, using my newly discovered “teacher voice”, I
gathered the class back together, and restored order in my classroom. Although
they had fun, they were confused and intrigued. They required explanation,
“Miss that was random, why did we do that?”
“What were my instructions to you?”
“To not let them in the circle!”
they shouted in excited unison.
They were wrong however, and were
playing my game perfectly. I reminded them of my exact words, “People on the
outside, get into the circle”, not, “circles keep the others out.” We then
proceeded to discuss the applications of this activity to our lives. Why do we
naturally keep people out? Where do we see this happening at our school? How
can we stop creating “Boo Radleys”? This conversation turned serious and we
found real examples of this happening around us.
We then watched the cutest and most
inspirational YouTube clip of all time, “Kid President: Pep Talk”, and we
assigned them their project. Students were received a handout laying out a week
long assignment in which they were to figure out a way to either correct a
mistake or reach out to someone. They were to provide evidence somehow of their
effort but that was all. This project was to encourage intrinsic motivation. We
told them this was their opportunity to just do something good. The next week
was fantastic. Of course there were plenty of confusions and emergency emails
about the project the day before and the day of, but reading through those
personal stories and the efforts, that were huge to these kids, was amazing. I
had a unique opportunity to see inside the minds and emotions of so many of my
students. I will for sure do this project again.
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