Welcome to the 9th Grade ELA To Kill A Mockingbird webquest! The purpose of this webquest is to help students understand more about the author and setting, both physical and historical, of this book before starting to read in order to achieve greater understanding. The information that students learn during this webquest will be essential to their understanding of the text and the social climate of the 1930s in a southern Alabama town.
While the 1930s was not all that long ago, many students today have no idea what life during this time period would be like for characters like Scout, Atticus, or Tom Robinson. After completing this task, they will have a much better understanding of this.
DIRECTIONS: Each group will be responsible for researching their topic, answering the questions provided, and creating a Google Slides presentation that will provide a brief overview of that component of the novel. All questions that go along with your topic should be addressed in your presentation, however your presentation should not simply be a list of questions and answers. You will have to creatively find a way to include this information on your presentation.Everyone in your group should be equally contributing on the document.
At the bottom of this page, there are a couple links for everybody to look at that will help you with using Google Slides if you are unfamiliar with it and also some great tips to follow for creating a slide show presentation that will keep your audience awake!
Group 1: Your job is to become experts on Harper Lee, the author of this novel. Below, I have provided some links for you to read through in order to gain a better understanding of her and her life. After you have read the links, please answer the questions that follow. Once you have read and answered the questions, create a Google Slides presentation for your classmates that shows off what you have learned about her.
Questions:
1. When and where was Harper Lee born? What was her family like?
2. Who was her childhood best friend?
3. What did she study in college? Did she participate in any extra-curricular activities? Why might this be important to consider while reading To Kill A Mockingbird?
4. How did her decision to move to New York make To Kill A Mockingbird a reality?
5. What year was To Kill A Mockingbird published? When was it adapted to screen?
6. Was Harper Lee honored in any way following the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird?
7. Harper Lee's real life influenced many of the characters and events in To Kill A Mockingbird. Given what have you learned about her life (including personality traits, friends, family, experiences) make a prediction about what kinds of issues might surface in the book. Do you think that your knowledge about Harper Lee will influence your reading of the book? Should it influence your reading of the book? Why or why not?
Group 2: Your job is to become experts on The Scottsboro Boys. Click on the links provided below and begin reading. After you read, answer the questions below. Read carefully because you will be responsible for teaching your classmates everything about these boys and their trial. You will do so using a Google Slides presentation.
Questions
1. Who were the Scottsboro Boys? How did they get into so much trouble?
2. Where and when did the Scottsboro Boys' original trial take place? How do you think this affected the outcome of their trial?
3. What does the NAACP acronym stand for? Why did the NAACP decide not to help the Scottsboro Boys?
4. The Communist Party came to the aid of the Scottsboro Boys. How did the South perceive the Communist Party, and how was it similar to the perception of blacks? What was the Communist Party's hidden agenda in providing aid to the Scottsboro Boys?
5. The Scottsboro Boy were not provided with adequate defense lawyers. Please list at least 3 ways in which the defense lawyers were inadequate.
6. Describe the trials. Were they fair or unfair? Please include at least 3 supporting facts to back up your description.
7. Were the Scottsboro Boys ever pardoned of their convictions?
8. The Scottosboro Boys' trial took place during the childhood of To Kill A Mockingbird's author, Harper Lee.. Make a prediction about how this trial might be an important impetus for the book.
Group 3: The 1930s contained laws called "The Jim Crow" laws. Your job is to become experts on these laws and their effects. To do so, click on the links below and answer the questions that follow. Afterwards, create a Google Slides presentation in order to teach your classmates about these laws as well. Read carefully. Your classmates are depending on you.
NEA - The Civil Rights Movement
Questions
1. Imagine that you were born black in 1860 and lived until 1920. Would you have any faith in the U.S. legal system? In the “American way of life”? Why or why not?
2. How did Jim Crow laws affect the American image abroad? How did our foreign policy impact racial equality at home?
3. Most laws are meant to promote the general welfare or protect society from an evil. Did Jim Crow laws serve these purposes? If so, how? If not, what was their purpose?
4. Under Jim Crow, black facilities were often of far poorer quality than those reserved for whites. Separate rarely meant equal. If blacks and whites had received equal treatment, would Jim Crow laws have been fair?
5. “I don’t believe you can change the hearts of men with laws or decisions,” said one person who opposed court ordered desegregation. Do you agree with the statement? Is it a valid reason to continue segregation?
6. Read the 14th Amendment and explain how the Supreme Court used it to disallow segregation in the Brown decision. Why didn’t the Court use it for the same purpose in Plessy v. Ferguson?
7. How did the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896) uphold Jim Crow laws? What effect did this case have on the lives (transportation, education, social implications, etc) of southern blacks?
Group 4: Your focus will be on what it was like growing up black in the 1930s based on the interview provided below. Ensure you read carefully because you will be teaching your classmates everything you know about this topic by creating a Google Slides presentation that you will present to the class.
Questions
1. What does Mrs. Barge know about her ancestry? How does she talk about her family? How do you think Mrs. Barge would describe a "good family"?
Hypothesize how you think a white person would describe a "good family."
2. What were her and her family's living conditions like?
3. When was the first time she noticed a difference between the lives of black people and the lives of white people? From Mrs. Barge's account, what do you think is the most astounding difference?
4. What was school like for Mrs. Barge?
5. What kind of jobs were available to black people in the South? How did these occupations influence Mrs. Barge's perception of white people?
6. Were black people allowed to vote?
7. Mrs. Barge clearly has a different opinion of white people than her father does. What does she say that proves this? How does her perception of white people differ from her father's? Why do you think that is?
8. How would you generalize the overall life of a black child growing up in the 1930's?
Group 5: Your job is similar to group four's, except you will be responsible for learning what life was like for white people in the 1930s. Be sure to answer the questions that follow the link and read carefully because you will be creating a Google Slides presentation to help them learn everything you learned.
Questions
1. What do these three ladies have in common about their ancestry? How do they talk about their families?
2. How do the three ladies describe a "good family"? Hypothesize how you think a black person would describe a "good family".
3. What were the three ladies living conditions like?
4. How do the ladies describe their interactions with poor whites? Were there many poor white people in the thirties? How do you know - What things did the women say that help you come to this conclusion?"
5. What were these ladies' first experiences with black people?
6. How did the occupations of black people influence the perception of black people according to the three ladies?
7. Did these white ladies ever play with their black peers?
8. If you were to look closely at their experiences, what attitudes do they display which were shaped by their parents? Their nurses? Their status in white society?
9. How would you generalize the overall life of a white child growing up in the 1930's?
Group 6: You will need to become experts on the Great Depression. Read through the provided links in order to learn as much as you can about this devastating time period in American History. After you read, answer the questions below. Make sure you do this all with great effort because you are tasked with creating a Google Slides presentation that will teach your classmates everything that you learned about the Great Depression.
Brief History of the Great Depression
The Dust Bowl - This will help you answer the last question
Questions
1. What is "Black Tuesday" and why does it mark the beginning of the Great Depression?
2. Many people believe that WWII marked the end of the Great Depression. How did the war affect the economy?
3. What president was inaugurated in 1933? What were some of the changes made by this administration?
4. What was the New Deal? How did the New Deal affect American citizens?
5. What was the Dust Bowl?
6. How did the Dust Bowl affect the Southern Plains?
7. What affect did the Dust Bowl have on agriculture? How would this affect farmers and their employers?
8. Given what you learned about the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, make a prediction about what you think the setting of To Kill A Mockingbird will look like. What will the houses look like? What will the characters be wearing? How will the characters act towards each other? How will Scout's classmates act toward Scout knowing that her father is a lawyer?
Using Google Slides Effectively
Below are a couple links to help you learn how to navigate Google Slides and also some general tips for creating an interesting slide show presentation.