To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Lesson Plan

EDIS 5400: English Education

Context:
Course name: To Kill a Mockingbird
Grade level: 10th grade
Length of lesson: 90 mins
Description of setting, students, and curriculum and any other important
contextual characteristics
This lesson is designed for a standard English 10 th class of 23. There are 4 ELL
students in the class. Demographics of the class: half white and half African
American with some Latino students.
Virginia SOL(s):
10.3 Make predictions, draw inferences, and connect prior knowledge to support
reading comprehension.
Common Core State Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Objectives (KUD format):
U1 Students will understand the importance of connecting to text while reading.
K1 Students will know that double entry journals will help them connect to text
while reading.
D1 Students will be able to make predictions about the text.
Assessments: Methods for evaluating each of the specific objectives
listed above.
Diagnostic: Students will demonstrate what they already know by
- Participating in class discussions: This will include participating in the hook
activity (opening title of To Kill a Mockingbird) and the anticipation guide
activity. Both are activities that require students to share with the class their
background knowledge to establish a shared background for which to connect
the text with.
Formative: Students will show their progress toward today's objectives by
- Completing the anticipation guide (individually first and then sharing with
small groups, before sharing with the whole class)
o VA SOL 10.3 + U1
- Completing the Double Entry Journal for Chapter 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird:
Journal entry will require students to jot down specific quotes/passages
and give their comments/reactions about them.
o CCSS 9-10.1
Summative: Students will ultimately be assessed (today or in a future lesson) on
these standards by...
- Completing the prediction assignment handout: the activity will assess all
the lesson objectives. The assignment will require the students predict
what will happen later in the story based on the opening title video, the
anticipation guide, as well as the first chapter they read. The assignment
will ask them to justify their predictions by citing specific passages from

the novel. They can also refer to specific instances in the video or one of
the anticipation questions.
o VA SOL 10.3 + CCSS9-10.1 + KUDs
Materials Needed:
- To Kill a Mockingbird opening title: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Wwf96OEaYBg
- Anticipation guide (handout)
- First pages of To Kill a Mockingbird (handout)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Double Entry Journal template (handout)
- Prediction template
- Doc cam
- Smart board
- Pen
Instructional Steps (Procedures): Detail student and teacher behavior.
Beginning Room Arrangement:
[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the
plan]
I.

Welcome/greeting/announcements
Good afternoon everyone! I hope you all had fun at the game this weekend!
You may notice that there are some handouts on your tables. Please do not
touch them yet. Thank you. Today we are starting a new novel called To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The novel was published in 1960 and is loosely
based on the authors observations as well as on an event that occurred near
her hometown in 1936. The novel is written from the point of view of the
protagonist, Scout, who is a six-year-old girl and takes place during the Great
Depression in 1933- 1935. So now lets start out the class with a video!
II.

Hook/ bridge/ opening to lesson

Movie opening title - 35 minutes

I am going to show you the opening title of the movie To Kill a
Mockingbird. I will show you the video twice. I want you to be very
observant about what you see in the video. After the first time around, I
want everyone to share an observation about the video.
(Play video the first time 3 minutes)
After the video is played, start asking the students questions. Use cold calling so
everyone has a chance to talk. Also, it is okay if not all the students get to talk
after the first time the video is played. Ask students who did not share to share
after the second viewing of the video. 15-20 minutes
Possible teacher-student conversations:
T: What did you notice about the video?
S: Its old.
T: Its old? How do we know that?
S: Because it is in black and white.
S: Yeah, and old movies are in black and white and dont have colors.
T: Thats a good observation! What else do people see?
S: There was a box at the beginning of the video.

T: What kind of box was it?

S: I dunno. A box to put things in it?
S: It was a box to keep things in it.
S: It was a box to keep important things, I think theres a word for it?
T: A keepsake box?
S: Yeah, thats it, a keep-sake box.
T: How do you think they were important things?
S: Because she kept it in a box?
S: Right, why would she put it in a box if they were not important?
T: Thats true. So what important things were in the box?
S: Crayons.
S: A clock or watch?
S: No, its a pocket-watch, my grandfather has one too.
T: What else?
S: Marbles. Black and white marbles.
S: And those dolls.
S: Wooden dolls of a girl and a boy.
S: An ink pen.
S: I think there was also a pocketknife in there.
S: Yes, I saw that too!
S: And there were also coins, but I couldnt tell how much they were.
T: Is that everything we remember in the box?
(Students nod)
T: Okay, what else did you see in the video besides the things in the box?
S: The little girl drawing.
S: She drew To Kill a Mockingbird with the crayons.
T: What else did she draw?
S: Oh, a bird.
S: I think the bird might be a mockingbird.
S: I have never seen a mockingbird before, but yeah, I guess it might be.
S: I think it is, because she also crossed it out. Like she was killing it.
S: Yeah and then she also ripped it out.
S: Definitely the mockingbird then.
T: Did she draw anything else?
S: I think she drew some wiggly lines.
S: Yeah, I saw that too. At first I thought she was drawing a river or clouds but
they were just lines.
S: I wonder what the lines might mean.
These are some very good observations! Now I want you to hold on to all
these good ideas while we watch the video for a second time. This time, I want
you to find one thing that you are drawn to or it can be something you think will
be important in the story. I want you to draw that one thing on this handout
(show them the handout) in the first column that says, Draw a picture. After
that, I want you to right in the next column what the object makes you think
about.
(Play the video for the second time 3 minutes)
Now go ahead make your drawings and fill in the This makes me think of
column. If you are done, I want you to turn to the person next to you and share
what your object was and what it makes you think of.
Give students 5-7 minutes to draw and fill in the handout. Then ask students to
turn to their partners and share (just the person next to them is fine).

III.

Instructional steps

Anticipation Guide (Pre-reading activity) about 30 minutes

Now we will move on to our anticipation guide for the novel. Does anyone
remember what anticipation guides are?
Possible teacher-student conversation: (5 minutes)
(Remember to allow wait time)
S: Was it the different questions we had to answer before we start reading?
S: Oh, I think they were sentences where we had to say we agree or disagree.
S: The one we did for Night?
S: Yeah, I think that was the one.
T: Yes, thats correct. Does anyone remember what we use anticipation guides
for?
S: To uh anticipate?
T: Okay, whats an easier word for anticipate?
S: To expect?
S: Predict or guess?
T: Very good. So what are anticipation guides used for?
S: To help us guess whats going to happen?
T: Yes, in a way it is. Anticipation guides are used to help you prepare for what
you will encounter in your readings. The anticipation guides include statements
that touch on the big things in the novel.
So one of your handouts is an anticipation guide (show them the handout).
I want you to go through the guide by yourself first. Read the statements
carefully and circle agree or disagree next to each statement. (7 minutes)
It seems like everyone is done. Now I want you to break up into your assigned
groups and go through the statements with your group. I want you to see if the
majority of you agree or disagree with a statement and also find out why people
agree or disagree about the statements. (15-20 minutes)
Teacher will circle the classroom from group to group and make sure students
are on task as well as ask probing questions that help with the
discussions/debates about the anticipation guide questions.
Possible conversations:
S1: There are certain groups/people that are better than others. Okay, lets
take a vote who agrees with this statement? Okay, who disagrees?
S2: Why do you two agree with this statement?
S3: Because I think some people are like smarter than others. You know like
them Asians are good at math.
S4: Yeah and Black people are better at sports, theyre more athletic.
S1: But what if its not about different skills like math or sports? What if its like
in general, certain groups of people are better than other?
S2: Yeah, thats what I thought too thats why I disagreed. I dont think certain
groups of people are born better than others. Everyones born the same.
S1: I agree, I think its more like people who work hard are more successful than
others.
S3: Are you really sure that everyones born the same? Some people are born to
rich families.
T: What group of people are you referring to when you say rich families?

S3: Like white families? There are lots of rich white families.
S4: Yeah, there are more rich white people than rich black people.
S3: A lot of black people are poor.
S1: But now more black people are becoming successful and also rich. Like them
basketball and football players. They earn a lot. Theyre rich. So then it shouldnt
be true that some groups of people are better than others.
S3: Yeah maybe thats true.
S1: You can usually tell what kind of person someone is by how he/she looks.
Who agrees with this statement? Who disagrees?
S2: 3 to 1. Why do you agree with this statement?
S3: I think appearances tell a lot about people. Like people who dress well are
probably rich.
S4: Yeah, but you cant tell if someone who dresses nice is a good or bad person.
S3: Thats true but I think it still says something about them. Like if they put in
the effort to dress nice theyre probably very caring about their looks.
S1: I was thinking of the statement more along the lines of, you cant tell if a
person is good or bad from how they look. An ugly person can be a very kind
person and a good-looking person can be snobby and likes to look down on
others.
S3: I think youre right.
S4: Yeah, we cant really judge people from how they look.
T: Okay, now I want you to hold on to that train of thought and look at the next
statement: People with disabilities should be kept hidden from society. Who
disagrees with this statement? Who agrees?
S1: I agree with the statement because arent they like scary?
S2: But I thought we just talked about how we shouldnt judge people by how
they look.
S3: Yeah thats true, but its not only how they look though. Its how they walk
and talk too.
S4: I disagreed with that because I know someone with a disability who is very
smart and good person.
S1: Really?
S2: Yeah, me too. I think people with disabilities shouldnt be kept hidden. They
should still be allowed to learn with normal people. I think thats how they learn
to be normal.
Double Entry Journals (During reading activity) 25 minutes
Okay now lets move on to our next activity. I am going to teach you all a
very useful reading activity that will help you focus on your reading and think
more about what you read. What I am going to show you is called a double entry
journal (show handout). On the right column, I want you to write down the
quote/passage that you find interesting or important. You can copy down the
quote or just jot down the page number if you use post its to mark them in your
book. In the second column under response I want you to write your response
or reaction to the quote. It can be a brief comment or observation about the
quote, or a question that came up when you read the passage. Or maybe it
could also be a prediction, or what you think might happen next after you read
the passage. Lets do a model of this together with the first few paragraphs of To
Kill a Mockingbird. You can follow along with me on the smart board or your
copies/handouts of the book.
Teacher reads the first few paragraphs aloud and stops to fill in the double entry

journal while she reads.

Possible model:
Reads and stops at his left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he
stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body
I think this is an important quote so I stop and write it down in the left
column under book on my double entry journal chart. Then I write down my
response to it. I will write under response: I wonder if Jem considered disabled?
It seems like he never healed right, but he can still play football (writes that
down in the chart). See here, I wrote a question and also something I noticed.
Just write down anything that comes to mind to make sure that you are thinking
about the text.
Continue reading and stop at Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley
come out write the quote down in the chart.
I wonder who is Boo Radley is. I feel like he might be important because
hes in the introduction. I think I should write that down. Write down in response
column: Who is Boo Radley? Will they be able to make him come out?
See? This is something very easy to do and will help you keep track of what
you are reading. It is also very helpful because in class discussions you can just
pull out your double entry journals and see the page number of where you found
the passage and support your point, like I think Jem cant really carry heavy
things because in page 2 it says that he injured his arm badly.
I want you to spend the rest of the period reading through the first two
chapters of the novel and filling out your double entry journals. I want you to
finish the first chapter and the double entry journal by Wednesday. I will be
circling around to see if you have any questions about how to do the double
entry journals. Remember to write down the specific page number you found the
quote if you dont copy it down word for word.
Summative assessment will be done in the next class when students have all
read the first two chapters and completed their double entry journals.
IV. Closing
Attention to Individual Student Needs: Detail specific actions/materials
you will use to differentiate your instruction to meet various
individuals learning needs in this lesson.
For the ELL students and students with lower level reading disabilities, I can go
around and read the different statements of the anticipation guide to them or
have them pair up with a classmate who can read the statements to them.
Also, I will try to read aloud the whole first chapter for the modeling so the
students who need extra help wont have to read all of it by themselves. I can
also have all of them together in a group in the corner of the room during SSR
and read aloud to them or have my co-teacher help them out with that.
Technology Use: Detail specific technology being used in the lesson with
explanation for why it is being used.
A smart board is needed for showing the video to the students as well as used to
model the double entry journal. A doc cam will also be used to project the
teacher filling out an actual double entry journal for the students to see.

How this lesson incorporates specific insights from course readings

and/or class discussion:
This lesson incorporates the insights from course readings on how pre-readings
and during reading activities are a must for reading lessons. This is because prereading activities help prepare the students for whats to come and during
reading activities make sure that students are focused on what they are reading
instead of thinking about Halloween costumes instead. During reading activities
are very useful because they help students develop the habits of an independent
reader/active reader.
Materials Appendix:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwf96OEaYBg

To Kill a Mockingbird
Anticipation Guide

Directions: Please read the following statements carefully and choose

agree or disagree. Be ready to explain your choices to the class.

1. There are certain groups/people that are

Agree/Disagree

better than others.

2. There are many differences between small

Agree/Disagree

values and big city values.

3. Girls should act like girls, and boys should

Agree/Disagree

act like boys.

4. You can usually tell what kind of person

Agree/Disagree

someone is by how he/she looks.

5. Since the Civil War abolished slavery, blacks
have easily integrated into all areas of society.

Agree/Disagree

6. All people, regardless of race, gender,

Agree/Disagree

economic status, or religion, have equal rights

in our courts.

7. People with disabilities should be kept

Agree/Disagree

hidden from society.

Double Entry Journal

BOOK
(Include page number)

RESPONSE
(Comments, observations, questions,
predictions, etc.)

Prediction assignment

1. I predict that (Something that you think will happen later

on in the novel)

2. This is because (support with evidence from the book,

video, or anticipation guide)

3. I think the object I drew last class might be important in the

story because (support with evidence from the book,
video, or anticipation guide)