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To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird

Starter Unit

Matt Amaral

www.teach4real.com

Hello and welcome to Teach 4 Real. My name is Matt Amaral and I have been blogging about Education, especially what it is like teaching in our low-income urban public schools, for a couple years now, and my articles on Education have been published in places like Teach Hub, EmPower Magazine, The Progressive Review, Education News, and New America Media. But my website is not just dedicated to showing the REAL face of our public schools. It is also a place where educators can come for help.

I have slowly been adding curriculum to the site, yet already THOUSANDS of educators have downloaded my Romeo and Juliet Starter Unit. I’ve found many of you are interested in my Famous Facebook Profiles for Character Analysis, which I have also included here with characters from To Kill a Mockingbird. Just like my very popular Romeo and Juliet Unit, this packet has quizzes, midterms, and a final exam, as well as a few strategies and handouts that might be helpful for new teachers, or teachers who are overwhelmed and unsupported (which seems to be almost all of us, right?).

This is not a full unit, and not meant to be representative of how I teach TKAM. There are just a few things here that I think would be a good place to start for good teachers to build on. I remember when I was a first year teacher thinking I would kill for a couple handouts, a quiz or two and a final exam. Well, that’s what I have here, and to me there isn’t any better book to teach than Harper Lee’s classic.

I hope it helps. Feel free to comment on TKAM page and tell me if it helped. And please subscribe to Teach 4 Real on the right hand side of my website. You will get one email every week (or two:) with one of my articles on what it is like teaching at a low-income urban public school. Plus many of my articles have links to curriculum I’ve developed, with Lesson Plans and Handouts.

This Packet Includes:

-Double Entry Journal Graphic Organizer (GO)

-Vocabulary for TKAM

-Trial Organizer GO

-Atticus’ Closing Argument GO

-Midterm Exam for Chapters 1-11 (Part One)

-TKAM Final Exam

-Matt’s Famous Facebook Profiles for Character Analysis (Newly Updated)

-From the Blog: Using Facebook Profiles for Character Analysis

-Sample of my full Mango Street Unit

Matt Amaral is a writer and high school English teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of California at Davis and an MFA in Creative Writing. Matt is a featured Blogger at EducationNews.org, a leading international website for Education, as well as a contributor to New America Media, the nation’s leading ethnic news organization. He is the former Editor-In-Chief of The Gnu Literary Journal. You can also read his work in recent issues of TeachHub, EmPower Magazine, The Dirty Napkin, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Eclectic Flash, Bird’s Eye ReView, TravelMag, Escape From America Magazine and InTravel Magazine.  Matt is a fellow of AmeriCorps TEAMS (Teacher Education for the Advancement of a Multicultural Society), and teaches summer courses at UC Berkeley’s ATDP Program. He has taught all high school grade levels and abilities, and is known to dive into fights between students, even though his wife doesn’t want him to.

Double-Entry Journal

Name_____________

Chapters _________

Dense Quote from the Text

Explanation and Significance

Vocabulary Words

Dense Quote from Text

Explanation and Significance

Vocabulary

Vocabulary To Kill a Mockingbird

____1. Predilection

a. Absent without permission

____2. Taciturn

b. A sign of success or favor

____3. Amble

c. Harmless, not evil

____4. Entailment

d. Continue despite difficulties

____5. Truant

e. Extremely sad

____6. Cordiality

f. Curious or inquiring

____7. Benign

g. A preference or special liking

____8. Auspicious

h. Unpredictably, irregularly

____9. Unfathomable

i. Confusion

____10. Inquisitive

j. Walk or move at a slow pace

____11. Assuaged

k. Speaking clearly

____12. Indigenous

l. Conduct, behavior

____13. Persevere

m. A law that establishes a property inheritance stays within the same family

____14. Melancholy

n. Habitually quiet, uncommunicative

____15. Perpetual

o. To persuade or arouse, to bring about

____16. Perplexity

p. Friendliness, hospitality

____17. Induce

q. Never-ending

____18. Deportment

r. Native to or originating from a specific place

____19. Articulate

s. To ease or satisfy; make less severe

____20. Erratically

t. Unknowable; not understandable

Trial Organizer To Kill a Mockingbird

Name___________________

Heck Tate

Quote from the witness

What evidence it presents

Bob Ewell



Mayella Ewell



Tom Robinson



Atticus’ Closing Argument

Name_________________

Quote from Atticus

Main Point he is trying to make

Vocabulary Words

What do you think about Atticus’ closing argument? What about the trial in general? Did Atticus do a good job of defending Tom Robinson? Write down your thoughts about what you think really happened that day. Finally, what do you think the outcome of the trial will be?

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

/50 PointsName_____________________________

Date_________________

To Kill a Mockingbird Midterm - Chapters 1-11

I. Character Matching: Match each character to the correct description (1 point each)

___1. Jem

A. Miss Rachael's nephew who visits in the summer

___2. Radley Place

B. Gossipy neighbor

___3. Boo

C. A lawyer; Scout's father

___4. Maycomb

D. Scout's brother

___5. Walter

E. One of The Ewells

___6. Atticus

F. Boo's home

___7. Scout

G. Narrator of the story

___8. S. Crawford

H. Finch family cook, maid & nanny

___9. Burris

I. Setting

___10. Dill

J. He never leaves his house

___11. Calpurnia

K. Scout's teacher

___12. Miss Caroline Fisher

L. One of The Cunninghams

II. Short Answer: Please write a 1-2 sentence response for each question (2 points each)

Chapters 1-3

1. What two mistakes did Miss Caroline make on the first day of school?

2. Scout said, " He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham." What did she mean by that, and what was Cal's answer?

Chapters 4-7

3. What items did Scout and Jem find in the Radleys' tree? Later, why would there be no more surprises in the tree?

4. How did Jem lose his pants? What did he find when he went back for them? Who do they think is responsible?

Chapters 8-10

5. What happened to Miss Maudie's house? What was her reaction? What does this event show about Maycomb County?

6. Why was Aunt Alexandra, “fanatical on the subject of my [Scout’s] attire?”

7. What did Jem do when Mrs. Dubose said Atticus "lawed for niggers?” What was Jem's punishment?

III. Multiple Choice: choose the best answer for the question asked (2 points each)

1. Who is the president of the United States at the time that the events of the story occur?

a) Theodore Roosevelt

b) Harry Truman

c) Franklin D. Roosevelt

d) John F. Kennedy

2. What are some of the issues in the historical period in which the novel is set?

a) Racism; African Americans were denied basic Human and Civil Rights

b) Sexism; women were expected to act a certain way that included acting subservience, silence and weakness

c) Poverty; most Americans were poor and struggling through the depression

d) Both A and C, but not B

e) A, B and C

3. How would you describe Scout’s voice and persona?

a) Completely grown up

b) Extremely childish

c) Child-like, yet mature

d) Mocking

e) Both A and D

4. Which of the following is not a character trait of Scout?

a) Feminine

b) Adventurous

c) Tough

d) Inquisitive

e) Intelligent

5. Who founded Finch’s Landing?

a) Atticus

b) Simon Finch

c) Uncle Jack

d) Jasper Finch

6. How did Miss Caroline learn her educational techniques?

a) From long experience

b) From a magazine article

c) From talking to other teachers

d) From college

7. What is ironic about Atticus?

a) He is old but can still play football

b) He is the best shot in Maycomb County but doesn’t like guns

c) He reads a lot but is accused of teaching Scout how to read incorrectly

d) Both B and C

e) All of the above

8. From which point of view is the novel written?

a) First person

b) Second person

c) Third person

d) Fourth person

9. What literary device does the narrator use to tell the story?

a) Flashback

b) Metaphor

c) Personification

d) Soliloquy

e) Foreshadowing

10. Which are examples of Scout’s conflict/s?

a) She wants Boo Radley to come out but is afraid of what she’ll find

b) She is always fighting with Calpurnia but respects and believes in her

c) While she struggles with being lady-like and not fighting, she knows she must stand up for what she believes

d) Only A and C

e) A, B and C

11. Why are the children fascinated with the Radley House?

a) There are crazy stories surrounding Arthur’s true nature

b) The other family members are as mysterious, and almost as scary, as Boo himself

c) As all children their age, they have huge imaginations and know little about Boo, so they make it up

d) All of the above

12. Who originally brought the Finches to Montgomery?

a) Aunt Alexandra

b) Uncle Jack Finch

c) Atticus Finch

d) Simon Finch

e) Jeremy Finch

13. Why was Scout’s first day of first grade a horrible disappointment?

a) Burris Ewell had a very serious condition of cooties

b) Walter came over to their house to eat lunch

c) She started off on the wrong foot with Miss Fisher and Walter

d) The knot-hole was filled with cement

14. Why did Mr. Nathan say he filled knot-hole with cement?

a) The tree needed cement as a form of support for the branches higher

b) The tree was sick and that Jem should have known that was what you did with sick trees

c) He didn’t want anyone hiding things in it

d) He yelled at the kids and told them to leave him alone

e) Both A and C

15. What is a recurring theme in To Kill a Mockingbird?

a) Only people at the top of the social pyramid can influence justice.

b) It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all

c) Don’t judge someone until you have seen things from their point of view

d) Inheriting a family members name doesn’t condemn them to live the same lifestyle

e) a and b

f) c and d

16. Why was Mrs. Dubose the bravest person Atticus ever knew?

a) She earned his respect by overcoming addiction and dying clean

b) She was a veteran of the Civil War

c) She stood up against racism when it wasn’t popular to do so

d) All of the above

17. Why doesn’t Aunt Alexandra want Scout playing with Walter Cunningham?

a) The Cunninghams are not social equals of the Finches

b) She is afraid of Walter

c) Walter is a bad boy

d) Scout has been grounded

18. When (i)________ tells Jem that it is a sin to kill mockingbirds, (ii)__________explains the significance of the saying?

a) (i) Atticus; (ii) Aunt Alexandra

b) (i) Miss Maudie; (ii) Aunt Alexandra

c) (i) Atticus; (ii) Miss Maudie

d) (i) Miss Maudie; (ii) Atticus

19. Where does Dill live during the school year?

a) Arkansas

b) Mississippi

c) Georgia

d) Boston

20. What are Jem and Scout shocked to discover about Atticus?

a) That he can play the fiddle

b) That he can swim faster than any man in Maycomb

c) That he is the best shot in Maycomb County

d) That he is a prize-winning songwriter

21. How is Harper Lee’s early life similar to Scout?

a) She grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, a similar town to Maycomb

b) She grew up during the great depression

c) She saw first hand the racism and sexism against black people and women

d) all of the above

22. What year did the Great Depression start?

a) 1929

b) 1930

c) 1931

d) 1941

23. Who was president when the Great Depression hit?

a) Franklin D. Roosevelt

b) Theodore Roosevelt

c) Herbert Hoover

d) Calvin Coolidge

24. What was the first period of FDR’s presidency called that helped Americans begin to get out of the depression?

a) The first New Deal

b) The second New Deal

c) The Fireside Chat

d) Hoovertime

/83 points

To Kill a Mockingbird Final Exam

Name____________________

Date___________

Period_____

I. Character Matching: match each description to the correct character (1 point each)

1.___ Mrs. Dubose

a. doesn’t want the town to focus on Arthur Radley

2.___ Tom Robinson

b. suspected Bob Ewell broke into his house

3.___ Mayella Ewell

c. befriends Scout when Jem and Dill ignore her

4.___ Arthur Radley

d. hunts out of season, but the town doesn’t mind

5.___ Jean Louise Finch

e. married to a black woman

6.___ Aunt Alexandra

f. hates overalls

7.___ Atticus Finch

g. wants to marry Scout

8.___ Dill

h. the bravest person Atticus ever knew

9.___ Miss Maudie

i. could not have led with his left hand

10.___ Judge Taylor

j. was so very lonely

11.___ Bob Ewell

k. the protagonist

12.___ Dolphus Raymond

l. put a blanket on Scout during the fire at Miss Maudie’s house

13.___ Heck Tate

m. used to be the deadest shot in Maycomb County

II. Quote Explanation: Below are dense quotes from the text. Show your understanding of Harper Lee’s writing by explaining what the passage means, and any figurative meanings as well. Real students might even point out the humor in Lee’s tone, which really cracks me up. (5 points each)

1. “The remainder of my school days were no more auspicious than the first. Indeed, they were an endless project that slowly evolved into a Unit, in which miles of construction paper and wax crayon were expended by the State of Alabama in its well-meaning but fruitless efforts to teach me Group Dynamics. What Jem called the Dewey Decimal System was school-wide by the end of my first year, so I had no chance to compare it with other teaching techniques.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

2. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

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III. Multiple Choice Choose the best answer for each question (1 point each)

1. Who is the president of the United States at the time that the events of the story occur?

a) Theodore Roosevelt

b) Harry Truman

c) Franklin D. Roosevelt

d) John F. Kennedy

2. What are some of the issues in the historical period in which the novel is set?

a) Racism; African Americans were denied basic Human and Civil Rights

b) Sexism; women were expected to act a certain way that included acting subservience, silence and weakness

c) Poverty; most Americans were poor and struggling through the depression

d) Both A and C, but not B

e) A, B and C

3. How would you describe Scout’s voice and persona?

a) Completely grown up

b) Extremely childish

c) Child-like, yet mature

d) Mocking

e) Both A and D

4. Which of the following is not a character trait of Scout?

a) Feminine

b) Adventurous

c) Tough

d) Inquisitive

e) Intelligent

5. Who founded Finch’s Landing?

a) Atticus

b) Simon Finch

c) Uncle Jack

d) Jasper Finch

6. How did Miss Caroline learn her educational techniques?

a) From long experience

b) From a magazine article

c) From talking to other teachers

d) From college

7. What is ironic about Atticus?

a) He is old but can still play football

b) He is the best shot in Maycomb County but doesn’t like guns

c) He reads a lot but is accused of teaching Scout how to read incorrectly

d) Both B and C

e) All of the above

8. From which point of view is the novel written?

a) First person

b) Second person

c) Third person

d) Fourth person

9. What literary device does the narrator use to tell the story?

a) Flashback

b) Metaphor

c) Personification

d) Soliloquy

e) Foreshadowing

10. Which are examples of Scout’s conflict/s?

a) She wants Boo Radley to come out but is afraid of what she’ll find

b) She is always fighting with Calpurnia but respects and believes in her

c) While she struggles with being lady-like and not fighting, she knows she must stand up for what she believes

d) Only A and C

e) A, B and C

11. Why are the children fascinated with the Radley House?

a) There are crazy stories surrounding Arthur’s true nature

b) The other family members are as mysterious, and almost as scary, as Boo himself

c) As all children their age, they have huge imaginations and know little about Boo, so they make it up

d) All of the above

13. Why was Scout’s first day of first grade a horrible disappointment?

a) Burris Ewell had a very serious condition of cooties

b) Walter came over to their house to eat lunch

c) She started off on the wrong foot with Miss Fisher and Walter

d) The knot-hole was filled with cement

14. Why did Mr. Nathan say he filled knot-hole with cement?

a) The tree needed cement as a form of support for the branches higher

b) The tree was sick and that Jem should have known that was what you did with sick trees

c) He didn’t want anyone hiding things in it

d) He yelled at the kids and told them to leave him alone

e) Both A and C

15. What is a recurring theme in To Kill a Mockingbird?

a) Only people at the top of the social pyramid can influence justice.

b) It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all

c) Don’t judge someone until you have seen things from their point of view

d) Inheriting a family members name doesn’t condemn them to live the same lifestyle

e) a and b

f) c and d

16. Why was Mrs. Dubose the bravest person Atticus ever knew?

a) She earned his respect by overcoming addiction and dying clean

b) She was a veteran of the Civil War

c) She stood up against racism when it wasn’t popular to do so

d) All of the above

17. Why doesn’t Aunt Alexandra want Scout playing with Walter Cunningham?

a) Cunninghams’ are not social equals of the Finches.

b) She is afraid of Walter.

c) Walter is a bad boy.

d) Scout has been grounded.

18. When (i)________ tells Jem that it is a sin to kill mockingbirds, (ii)__________explains the significance of the saying?

a) (i) Atticus; (ii) Aunt Alexandra

b) (i) Miss Maudie; (ii) Aunt Alexandra

c) (i) Atticus; (ii) Miss Maudie

d) (i) Miss Maudie; (ii) Atticus

19. Where does Dill live during the school year?

a) Arkansas

b) Mississippi

c) Georgia

d) Boston

20. What are Jem and Scout shocked to discover about Atticus?

a) That he can play the fiddle

b) That he can swim faster than any man in Maycomb

c) That he is the best shot in Maycomb County

d) That he is a prize-winning songwriter

21. How is Harper Lee’s early life similar to Scout?

a) She grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, a similar town to Maycomb

b) She grew up during the great depression

c) She saw first hand the racism and sexism against black people and women

d) all of the above

22. What year did the Great Depression start?

a) 1929

b) 1930

c) 1931

d) 1941

23. Who was president when the Great Depression hit?

a) Franklin D. Roosevelt

b) Theodore Roosevelt

c) Herbert Hoover

d) Calvin Coolidge

24. What is a Bull Market?

a) A time when investors believe the economy will grow

b) A time when investors believe the economy will shrink

c) A place Atticus goes to buy beef

d) A place on the Cunningham farm

25. What does it mean to “run on the banks”?

a) A time when people put all their money in the banks

b) A time when investors put money in different banks to protect themselves

c) A time when people take their money out of banks

d) Occupy Wall Street

26. Who were the three B’s that the American public blamed the Crash on?

a) Bankers, Businessmen, FarmBoys

b) Bankers, Businessmen, Billionaires

c) Bankers, Brokers, Businessmen

d) Bankers, Brokers, Billionaires

27. What was the first period of FDR’s presidency called that helped Americans begin to get out of the depression?

a) The first New Deal

b) The second New Deal

c) The Fireside Chat

d) Hoovertime

28. What radio show caused widespread panic when the American public thought it was actual news and not a fictional story written by HG Wells?

a) Mars Attacks

b) Brave New World

c) War of the Worlds

d) Clockwork Orange

29. Hobos were defined as:

a) Men who had once been successful who had been struck down by the misfortune of the depression

b) Men who wore suits and hats but were homeless

c) Men who road railroad trains West looking for work

d) all of the above

e) b and c

30. Atticus said that in ________all men are treated equally.

a) your own house

b) a court

c) school

d) society

31. Who was Mr. Tate talking about when he said "taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight to me, that is a sin."?

a. Atticus

b. Arthur

c. Bob

d. Jem.

32. The advent of radio and then television in the 1930s began what important part of today’s world?

a. The Great Recession we are now in after the Bush years

b. The 24 hour news cycle and a media that shapes public opinion

c. Science fiction stories about aliens coming to earth, and the Sci-Fi channel

d. Marathon dancing, which has led to Dancing with the Stars

33. Who did Atticus think killed Bob Ewell?

a. Boo Radley

b. Scout

c. Jem

d. Tom Robinson

34. How was Bob Ewell killed?

a. Hit his head on the ground

b. Boo squeezed him to death

c. Scout got hold of a knife and stabbed him

d. He stumbled, fell and landed on a knife.

e. none of the above

35. When the missionary women met in Atticus' house, who did they talk about being their favorite male hero?

a. Atticus Finch

b. Heck Tate

c. J. Grimes Evertt

d. Harold Johnson

36. Why do you think Atticus never used a gun unless necessary?

a. he felt uncertain of himself

b. he felt he had an unfair advantage

c. he wasn't a good shot

d. his eyes were too bad to shoot

37. Mayella Ewell said that Tom Robinson

a. raped her

b. strangled her

c. beat her

d. all of the above

38. A unique facet of Atticus' relationship with his children is that he never:

a. talks down to them

b. doesn’t love them

c. spanks them to keep order

d. doesn’t know what they do with their free time.

39. What issues was Harper Lee highlighting by writing this novel?

a) The treatment of African-Americans

b) The gender-roles of women

c) Some problems in our Educational System

d) All of the above

40. Who reinforces the idea that a person is only good as the family they are born to?

a) Miss Maudie

b) Atticus Finch

c) Aunt Alexandra

d) Tom Robinson

IV. Vocabulary: Match each word to the correct definition- Try not to fail at this part, know what I’m saying? (1 point each)

____1. Predilection

a. Walk or move at a slow pace

____2. Taciturn

b. A sign of success or favor

____3. Amble

c. To persuade or arouse, to bring about

____4. Entailment

d. Continue despite difficulties

____5. Truant

e. Extremely sad

____6. Cordiality

f. To ease or satisfy; make less severe

____7. Benign

g. A preference or special liking

____8. Auspicious

h. Unpredictably, irregularly

____9. Unfathomable

i. Native to or originating from a specific place

____10. Inquisitive

j. Absent without permission

____11. Assuaged

k. Speaking clearly

____12. Indigenous

l. Conduct, behavior

____13. Persevere

m. A law that establishes a property inheritance stays within the same family

____14. Melancholy

n. Habitually quiet, uncommunicative

____15. Perpetual

o. Harmless, not evil

____16. Perplexity

p. Friendliness, hospitality

____17. Induce

q. Never-ending

____18. Deportment

r. Confusion

____19. Articulate

s. Curious or inquiring

____20. Erratically

t. Unknowable; not understandable

Lesson Plan: Using Facebook Profiles for Character Analysis

As teachers of low-income, sheltered, and/or ELL students, we know how important it is to build background and make our class and our lessons culturally relevant. This activity is the best way I have of teaching the specific content standards about Character Traits and Interactions. No matter a student’s grade level, background, or ability, we know one thing for certain: They have a Facebook Profile. You want to get buy in from students while at the same time getting them to analyze, evaluated, and deliver oral presentations? This is it—one of those lessons that makes the students think, but doesn’t seem like work—something we can rarely say. And remember, it’s okay if they use text talk and online abbreviations, that is what this activity is all about. In fact, the really good ones will be a combination of language from the text and colloquial internet speak. Romeo lamenting in Act III “I like it not in Mantua- FML” might not be appropriate in most cases, but you’re probably going to have to accept it here. Just enjoy it, that is hella funny!

Content Standards focus:

2.0 Reading Comprehension

Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They analyze the organizational patterns, arguments, and positions advanced.

2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.

3.0 Literary Response and Analysis

Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text 

3.3 Analyze interactions between main and subordinate characters in a literary text (e.g., internal and external conflicts, motivations, relationships, influences) and explain the way those interactions affect the plot. 

3.4 Determine characters' traits by what the characters say about themselves in narration, dialogue, dramatic monologue, and soliloquy.

Language Standards focus:

1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies

1.7 Use props, visual aids, graphs, and electronic media to enhance the appeal and accuracy

of presentations.

1.9 Analyze the occasion and the interests of the audience and choose effective verbal and nonverbal techniques (e.g., voice, gestures, eye contact) for presentations.

2.0 Speaking Applications

2.2 Deliver Expository Presentations

a. Marshal evidence in support of a thesis and related claims, including information on

all relevant perspectives.

b. Convey information and ideas from primary and secondary sources accurately and

coherently.

c. Make distinctions between the relative value and significance of specific data, facts,

and ideas.

d. Include visual aids by employing appropriate technology to organize and display

information on charts, maps, and graphs.

f. Use technical terms and notations accurately.

Objectives:

Students will be able to-

-Extend ideas about character traits of characters in a work through original analysis and evaluation

-Understand how characters influence each other and the plot by analyzing their interactions in the culturally relevant scenario of Facebook Profiles

-Create a Facebook Profile as a synthesis of the Standards 3.3 and 3.4 as it applies to the work and the characters within that work

-Present to an audience using appropriate verbal and non-verbal techniques

-Make an expository presentation using visual aids, conveyinig information and explaining the significance of their project and its relation to the text

Anticipatory Set:

-Review previous scenes precluding the scene about to be read

-Ask for student volunteers who earn participation credit by participating by reading out of their journals or responding verbally.

-Demonstrate finished Facebook profiles so students can see examples of what the instructor is looking for.

Activities:

-Students create Facebook profiles for main characters in a work. Students should be provided with markers, crayons or colored pencils.

-Usually done in groups of three, each member is assigned one character, or each member contributes to each profile-group is graded together

-Students have 1 period to work on the profiles, the rest can be homework.

Things to consider:

-One side is the character’s Bio page (Profile Page), the other is their Homepage, there are distinct differences you need to know.

-Profile pics within each group should be the same, therefore, if Romeo comments on all four papers in a group of four, his profile pic should be constant on each group members sheet of paper

-Pics should be in full color for full credit

-The comments and info need to show an understanding of the character from the work

Assessment of student learning:

-Students turn Facebook at beginning of next class period

-Groups present their profiles in front of class

-Were students able to:

-Extend ideas about character traits of characters in a work through original analysis and evaluation

-Understand how characters influence each other and the plot by analyzing their interactions in the culturally relevant scenario of Facebook Profiles

-Create a Facebook profile as a synthesis of the Standards 3.3 and 3.4 as it applies to the work and the characters within that work

-Present to an audience using appropriate verbal and non-verbal techniques

-Make an expository presentation using visual aids, conveyinig information and explaining the significance of their project and its relation to the text

Extended Activity: NEWSFEED

During the group work in class, there is another aspect of Facebook you can include—The Newsfeed:

Post a giant piece of butcher paper at the front of the room, and design it just like the character Homepage, which has boxes for pictures and lines where people comment. Label “Newsfeed” on the top and tell the class we have a class-wide Newsfeed. Assign each group a character from the novel, and as the other groups work on the assignment, have the groups go one at a time up to the butcher paper and make a post. It should be the character’s latest post viewable on the Newsfeed of anyone who is friends with them.

At the end of class, this is a great way to bring the discussion back to the front of the room, and also gives the students a chance to speak in front of the class. Ask for each group to read their post and answer why they made the post they did and what that has to do with the character and the story.

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Studied at

Profile Page

Lives in

About Me:

Username:

Email:

IM Screen Names:

Phones:

Add phone

Website:

Sex:

Birthday:

Current City:

Hometown:

Cousins:

Uncles/Aunts:

Parents:

Siblings:

Relationship:

Interested in:

Languages:

Political:

Religion:

Activities:

Interests:

Sports:

Music:

TV Shows:

Books:

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Jean Louise Finch’s Wall

Jem Finch

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Dill

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Comments:

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Atticus Finch’s Wall

Jem Finch

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Scout Finch

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Jack Finch

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________________(Choose a character)

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Boo Radley’s Wall

Dill

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Scout Finch

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Comments:

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Boo Radley

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Comments:

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Jem Finch’s Wall

Atticus Finch

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Scout Finch

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Comments:

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Calpurnia

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Tom Robinson’s Wall

Helen Robinson

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Atticus Finch

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One From the Blog: Using Facebook Profiles for Character Analysis

If Romeo Montague had a Facebook profile, who would the last four posts be from? Well, all of them might be from Juliet, saying things like, “It’s been five minutes since my last post and I still miss u <3!” Or perhaps Friar Laurence will be trying to contact Romeo in Mantua, saying, “Friar John left yesterday, you should be hearing from him soon. Good news! There is strength in men again!” Maybe the last post on Romeo’s profile page will be a status update from Romeo himself, saying, like one of my students thought up, “I like it not in Mantua. FML.”

Yes, it is that time of year again when teachers across the country are teaching Romeo and Juliet to confused 9th graders. Every year we struggle with the best way to teach such a difficult play to students who are wondering why why why. Introducing them to Middle English, and having them memorize the meaning of words like “anon,” seem ridiculous at times seeing as most of them have no idea what the difference is between “there”, “their”, or “they’re.” Yet every year we invoke the Great Bard for another generation of youth, and try to convince them Shakespeare is worth reading.

I’ve written a lot about Shakespeare over the last year. Whether it is my introductory Shakespeare Unit for teachers, available here at Teach4Real, or my post on the beauty of teaching African-American boys these plays, I always enjoy the end of winter and the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, or Othello, or Hamlet.

No matter which play I’m teaching to what grade level, I’ve found some interesting ways of making Shakespeare relevant to today’s inner-city students. As usual, I didn’t come up with these strategies myself, but have blatantly stolen them, and changed them to my own liking. I encourage you to do the same.

A few years ago a colleague came up with the great idea of using blank MySpace profile sheets as a tool for character analysis. It was a wonderful idea, back when people still used MySpace and wooly mammoths walked the earth. I used these archaic MySpace dittos and sat back and watched as my students created “About Me” bios, listed “Favorite Movies”, and drew profile pics and wrote posts on the characters’ walls. It worked great back then, and today, it works just as well with one big difference. I now use Facebook.

Using the Facebook template, I have created Profile pages for each of the important characters in Romeo and Juliet. Keep in mind, I have created the Profile page, not the News Feed. I encourage each student to think about who the last five or six people to post on that character’s wall would be and what they would say. Here are some great nuances to this activity that show just how deep the students can go into character analysis and character interaction (LRA Standards 3.3 and 3.4 for 9-10th graders, which are essential standards and some of the most tested types of questions).

-Students can get symbolic with the profile pics, choosing concrete objects that represent a deeper idea or characteristic.

-Students can earn extra points for using Elizabethan English, or a mixture of text-talk. Remember, it should still sound like a Facebook page. I encourage them to use this mixture, as that is when it is the most fun. I’m sorry, but “I like it not here in Mantua. FML” is freaking hilarious.

-Make sure the students pay attention to the chronology of the posts. On most pages, the latest posts are from “thirty seconds ago” to “a day ago”. This is important, because if you’re in Act IV, you could still have Mercutio and Tybalt make a post, because they were still alive a day ago. The chronology takes them back in the play, and the posts should reflect that.

-This year I had them work in groups, and gave them a group grade. I make sure each student in the group has a different character, and they have to help each other out. Some groups actually have the same Profile Pics on each person’s page, so when Juliet posts on the other pages, visually I can see where Juliet is.

-Other years I have taken this one step further and assigned as many characters as I could around the room (you won’t have enough in a class of thirty, but that’s okay) and have the students get up out of their seats and walk around the class making posts on each other’s walls. So if Juan and Mikey both are assigned Romeo, they walk around the room and write on other people’s profiles as that character (how awesome is that?). Also, if you do it this way, you can create a News Feed out of butcher paper and require each student to make a post at the front of the room.

-On the back of their Profile page, I usually have them write an “About Me” paragraph, and maybe add boxes for “Favorite Movies” “Music” and other things that are on the Info page. This forces them to think about the characters deeply. You’ll get some cool answers, like Friar Laurence’s favorite author will be William Shakespeare. Or Romeo’s favorite actor might be Leonardo DiCaprio.

When you do this activity I promise you the students will love it. I don’t make many promises in inner-city education, but this is one of them. My students told me it was fun, it made them think about the characters, it made them see the characters in a new way, and it didn’t feel like work. This activity is everything a good lesson should be. So whether you’re teaching Romeo and Juliet, or any book, novel, short story, play, or epic poem, think about using Facebook for character analysis. Try using Facebook in the classroom, you use it for everything else, right?

Matthew Amaral

www.teach4real.com

If you liked my To Kill a Mockingbird Starter Packet, you should check out my full unit “Teaching House on Mango Street.” At over 90 pages, it is the defining unit on teaching Autobiographical Narratives and Literary Analysis with Sandra Cisneros’ classic. With a focus on culture-based writing, you can pick it up at www.teach4real.com for less than you pay for frappaccinos at Starbucks!

Below is a sneak preview of my full unit “Teaching House on Mango Street.” As opposed to everything else out there, this is a unit made for teachers by teachers who are still working full time. In fact, Dan and I are teaching this unit right now!

for real teachers

What did you say? You just got hired at a high school yesterday, and you start teaching tomorrow? It’s your first time teaching 9th grade English (or your first time teaching ever) and you’re looking for something to start with?

Don’t worry, we got you.

It is with YOU in mind that Dan and I here at Teach4Real have created our House on Mango Street Unit. We’re going to give you a little breathing room. A little time to decorate your room, get organized, find out where the bathrooms are—so you know where to go at 4 pm when you finally have time to use them. We’re going to let you get settled. Calm down. Sit tight. And leave the planning and curriculum to us for your first week, and then your first month.

And guess what? You are going to absolutely tear it up.

Because Dan and I are still both in the classroom teaching full-time (and overtime), we understand the myriad of problems faced by new teachers teaching new books. We know what it feels like to be reading a book for the first time WITH your class. This begs the question: How am I supposed to plan curriculum for a book I haven’t even read yet? Even if you are only a couple chapters ahead of your class, this still means you are flying by the seat of your pants, designing lessons that will take place the very next day—forget about long-term goals, right?

Well, Dan and I have been at this teaching thing a long time and we know we can help, not just with some general lesson plans, but with a Unit that works in every kind of classroom—especially a low-income urban one—because this is where Dan and I have taught our entire careers, and we have to say—we know what works.

Matt Amaral is a writer and high school English teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of California at Davis and an MFA in Creative Writing. Matt is a featured Blogger at EducationNews.org, a leading international website for Education, as well as a contributor to New America Media, the nation’s leading ethnic news organization. He is the former Editor-In-Chief of The Gnu Literary Journal. You can also read his work in the 2010 issues of TeachHub, EmPower Magazine, The Dirty Napkin, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Eclectic Flash, Bird’s Eye ReView, TravelMag, Escape From America Magazine and InTravel Magazine.  Matt is a fellow of AmeriCorps TEAMS (Teacher Education for the Advancement of a Multicultural Society), and teaches summer courses at UC Berkeley’s ATDP Program. He has taught all high school grade levels and abilities, and is known to dive into fights between students, even though his wife doesn’t want him to.

Daniel Guerrero is a teacher and lecturer in the San Francisco Bay Area. He received his B.A. in Philosophy at California State University, Hayward, his M.A. in Education and teaching credential from the University of California at Berkeley's, Graduate School of Education in the Multicultural Urban Secondary English Program (MUSE). Daniel teaches 9th and 10th grade English, as well as, 11th grade AP English Language and Composition. He also presents workshops at the Puente Program’s semi-annual statewide conferences, which regularly features the nation’s top educators. Puente is a statewide program, funded by the University of California, designed to provide low-income, underrepresented students with a rigorous pre-AP English Language Arts curriculum. Daniel is also a summer writing instructor at UC Berkeley’s Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) in the GSE. In addition, Daniel is a part-time lecturer at the Bay Area Teacher Center (BATC) at Lick-Wilmerding H.S., (accredited through San Francisco State University) where he prepares new teachers to enter the profession.

table of contents

-Pedagogical Philosophy for teaching Autobiographical Narratives with House on Mango Street by Matt Amaral

-Pedagogical Philosophy for teaching Literary Analysis with House on Mango Street by Dan Guerrero

Introduction to our Pacing Guide

-6-week Unit Pacing Guide/Scope and Sequence

Autobiographical Narratives

-Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting and Prompts by Chapter

-Autobiographical Narrative Lesson Plans and Corresponding Handouts

-Lesson Plan: My House

+Prewriting Handout

-Lesson Plan: Hairs

+Prewriting Handout

-Lesson Plan: My Name

+Prewriting Handout

-Lesson Plan: My Neighbor

+Prewriting Handout

-2 Day Lesson Plan: Avoiding Cliches/ Simile Battle

+Handout: Writing Devices

Extra Lesson Plans

-Lesson Plan: Sally

-Lesson Plan: My Street Says Goodbye

Literary Analysis

-Literary Analysis Lesson Plans and Corresponding Handouts

-Lesson Plan: Marking It Up

+Example

-Lesson Plan: Inference Tables

+Handouts/Examples

+Components of a Literary Analysis Paragraph

+Handout Writing a Literary Analysis Paragraph Using Your Inference Tables

-Lesson Plan: LitMaps

+Handout

+Student Examples

-Protocols for Editing/ Workshops/Project/Essay/Exam

-Vignette Project

-Lesson Plan: Editing Narratives

+Editing Guide for Students and Teacher

-Lesson Plan: Writing Workshops

+Handout

-Literary Analysis Essay

+Handout: Writing Paragraphs

+Peer Editing Rubric

-HOMS Final Exam

-Vocabulary Warmup/ Cooldown/ Filler

-Lesson Plan: Vocab Cheat Sheet

+Handout

+Teacher Participation Log

-Emergency Lesson Plan/ Filler for Ghetto Students

-Lesson Plan: Balancing Your Ghetto

-Teaching Tips from Matt’s Blog:

A Lesson on Urban Identity

Working the Rows

Pedagogical Philosophy for Teaching Autobiographical Narratives with House on Mango Street

by Matthew Amaral

I want to invoke Flossie Lewis whose words capture the essence of autobiographical writing at the high school level. “Autobiographical writing needs to be from the heart, and if it isn’t from the heart, it won’t be good writing.” It is this idea that is the basis of our HOMS unit.

Beginning the year with Autobiographical Narratives is necessary for many, many reasons. The first is that it is the easiest genre of writing students encounter in high school—this is not to say Auto-Bio writing is easy, it is just easier for high school students to get something on paper because it is about their favorite subject—themselves. I honestly believe you can’t start 9th grade any other way.

9th graders are at a crossroads in their lives, and it is NOW, right now on the first day of school, that you are going to set them on the path to being a curious, thoughtful, analytical, descriptive writer; or—they may become someone whom, as the students say, hates writing essays. Because to them, everything is an essay, even Autobiographical Narratives. We feel that it is in Auto-Bio writing that we can effectively bridge the gap of engagement, make writing relevant by basing it on their lives and cultures, and get students to think of writing as more than just writing essays.

Writing Autobiographical Narratives is essentially Creative Writing. We want students to use all the writing techniques real writers and storytellers use when narrating important events. As teachers, we can go on forever about how to write a story, but in this unit, we are going to focus on a couple of avenues in which to enhance their storytelling abilities. The first is that we are going to get them Writing from the Heart, because culture-based writing is an immediate way of building community and getting buy-in (this is why you should start the year with Mango). Then we will get them to begin thinking about the balance between Summary and Scene. Finally, we want them to put their Figurative Language on steroids. At the end of their Vignette Project, which is the integral summative assessment of this unit, if they can tell the story of their life balancing narration, their own thoughts, narrating anecdotes in a “play by play” fashion, and using similes and metaphors that are not clichés, then we are going to be stoked. That is why we love HOMS, there is no better book to show them figurative language and balancing summary and scene.

From a pedagogical point of view, we’re going to throw you some strategies to put in your art of teaching arsenal. We’re very big on Teacher Modeling, so beginning with the Hairs Lesson Plan, you will be writing in front of your class. We encourage this practice, and while we may not have you model in more than one or two lesson plans, we feel you should be writing in front of your students constantly, because they need to see how the best writer in the room writes—and yes, that is YOU!

Let’s forget about the flowery aspirations for a second and get real. If you want your students to become better readers and writers, there are only two ways to do it—they need to do a lot of reading and a lot of writing. HOMS isn’t too much reading to start with, which is good for 9th graders who are more interested in the looks and smells of the kids packed so close to them in your tiny classroom. It isn’t too intimidating a text with which to start the year. But you are going to have to get them to sit quietly and write if you want this to work. Every day they should have an expectation of coming in, settling down, and getting some writing done. I can’t say that enough. You need them to know your room is a place where they come to WRITE, and you need to do it right away. So from day one we are going to have them writing and we are not going to stop. And if you can do it right, this pattern shouldn’t end until June. So bear with us, because we believe in what we’re doing, we believe in what we’re teaching, and we believe that if you want tough kids in urban classrooms to buy into writing, you need to make sure it is from the heart.

Matthew Amaral

Founder of www.teach4real.com

A Blog for Real Teachers in our Toughest Schools

Pedagogical Philosophy for Teaching Literary Analysis with House on Mango Street

by Dan Guerrero

My entire pedagogical, philosophical, educational and social justice outlook in regards to teaching and learning in public schools boils down to one thing: College! I use the word college to mean more than simply ‘the university;’ it represents an academic disposition and way of being in the classroom and in the world. It means pride, integrity, perseverance, struggle, hope, love and, ultimately, success…academic success! However, even if we use the general understanding of the word, in order to get our students to successfully realize their ‘college’ dreams, they need to be able to read challenging, complex texts and write in an academic manner that approximates college writing; I loosely refer to that style of writing as literary analysis.

Literary analysis writing essentially synthesizes the information deduced from close reading analysis and uses evidence from a text to illustrate a theme. Ok…that’s the academic pretentiousness of the little voices in my mind talking…lets get to the meat of the matter: Literary analysis is about reading, analyzing, understanding and making a claim about a text’s meaning; in order to do that, a writer must be able to make inferences and provide evidence from the text to prove their interpretation!

This is why House On Mango Street is the perfect the novel to use to teach the two essential genres that 9th grade students must know by the time they walk outside of our doors to summer at the end of the year! After starting the year with auto-bio, and assuming your students are already used to reading and writing everyday about themselves, the next step is to write about other people and the ideas of others! The most important part of teaching literary analysis, just as in autobiographical writing, is giving students the tools to analyze literature without merely summarizing.

Since House On Mango Street lends itself to both genres so well, the expectation is that teachers will read many of the chapters with their students analyzing for both components of autobiographical writing (i.e., figurative language devices, sensory details, etc.) and literary analysis (character, subject, setting, theme, tone/mood, conflict and symbol). So, integral to this unit, is our focus on three different aspects of literary analysis writing that will improve our students academic writing: The first is using Literary Terminology to Mark-Up a text. Then we are going to get them Analyze and Synthesize texts using Litmaps and Inference Tables, rather than simply summarizing a text as they did in middle school! Writing relevant interpretations of the texts is an essential skill and we use inference tables, a graphic organizer to combine concrete details (CS) & commentary (CM). In this respect, litmaps and inference tables are designed to help students learn to read and annotate for both genres simultaneously in preparation for portfolio writing, which is addressed specifically in this unit. Finally, if our students can recognize the difference between Autobiographical writing and Literary Analysis writing (aka, Response to Literature) then they will be prepared for the Rigorous Expectations of AP classes.

Literary analysis writing is about evaluating literature and creating an argument based on inquiry and exploration of the significance of a character, theme, symbols (effectively representations of themes themselves) and conflict.

Teaching literary analysis writing to 9th graders may be the first step in the academic path of many of our students. In this sense, it is an inherently scholastic skill in regards to both form and function; literary analysis is usually considered rather mechanistic and formulaic in nature and is an illustration of a writers’ ability to analyze and synthesize the ideas of other writers. Yet, when the instruction of literary analysis is combined with the development of a student’s auto-biographical and figurative writing skills, then our students will begin to write beyond the cold, robotic style of typical five-paragraph writing lore that so many teachers loathe …Our students will write well on their way to college!

Dan Guerrero

Contributor to www.teach4real.com

A Blog for Real Teachers in our Toughest School

Get “Teaching House on Mango Street” here, or go to:

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