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As you know, in To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is a young girl growing up in the South at a time when racism is prevalent. Scout experiences several events that will change her forever.
Your job will be to produce a newspaper article covering some of the issues and/or events contained within the novel.
The Task
You will form five groups of six. You will be assigned in pairs to each of the following roles:
Reporter
Editor
Publisher
Your task as a group will be to produce a newspaper article on one of the following topics:
Growing up in the South
in the thirties. Possible people to interview: Scout, Jem, Dill
Racism in the South in
the thirties. Possible people to interview: Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, Reverend
Sykes
Being a woman in the
thirties. Possible people to interview: Miss Maudie, Aunt Alexandra, Mayella,
Calpurnia
Standing up for personal
beliefs. Possible people to interview: Atticus, Scout, Miss Maudie
The effects of the Great
Depression. Possible people to interview: Any of the characters in the
novel
Resources
Journalism
http://studentpress.journ.umn.edu/
This is a
site devoted to student journalism. It contains information on the latest trends
and gives examples of actual newspaper articles.
http://www.fsu.edu/~CandI/ENGLISH/webquests/:/1/frame.html
Contains
editorials written by high school students for a school newspaper.
http://www.theslot.com/copyeditors.html
Describes job
of an editor.
http://stats.bls.gov/k12/text/red_001t.htm#What
Describes job
of a newspaper reporter.
Growing up in the South during 1930's
http://www.nhmccd.cc.tx.us/contracts/lrc/kc/decade30.html
See the
education topic.
http://library.advanced.org/12111/girl.html
Interview of
three women who grew up in the South during the 1930's.
Racism in the South during the 1930's
http://osprey.unf.edu/dept/equalop/oeop11.htm
Gives
historical background on the Ku Klux Klan.
http://www.gov.nb.ca/hrc-cdp/e/sayno.htm
Contains
definitions of racism and related words.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/presidents/nf/featured/truman/civilrights.html
An historian
speaks on the subject of black voters in the South during the 1930's.
Being a woman during the 1930's
http://www.nhmccd.cc.tx.us/contracts/lrc/kc/decade30.html
Contains
information on influential women of the 1930's under the topic of People and
Personalities.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/mayme.html
Contains an
account of an African American woman who lived during the 1930's on the subject
of hobbies.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/wom.ts/homepage.htm
Provides
history of women's rights movement. See the topics History of Women's Right to
Vote and Prominent American Women in the Women's Rights Movement. Also read the
19th Amendment.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/WomensHistory/articles/19964_text.htm
Provides
information on working women throughout history.
Standing up for personal beliefs
http://www.geocites.com/EnchantedForest/4478/issues/pressure.html
A site that
discusses peer pressure.
http://www.vix.com/objectivism/Writing/RaymieStata/WhatIsIndividualism.html
This site
defines individualism and collectivism. Which term best characterizes
Atticus?
The effects of the Great Depression
http://ac.acusd.edu/History/classes/civ18/causes-depression.html
This site
lists causes of the Great Depression.
http://sac.uky.edu/~msunde00/hon202/p4/nyt.html
This site
discusses Black Tuesday, the day the stock market crashed.
http://www.hc.sd.k12.ca.us/crocker/97/SHARE/greatdep.html
This site
provides information on the social conditions brought about by the Great
Depression.
The Process
You will form groups by counting off by six. Ones will form a group, etc. Then, one person from each group will draw a topic from a hat. You may decide among yourselves which roles you will take, but there must be two people for each role.
The reporters' job will be to:
Interview at least two
characters from the novel
Write an article based on
the interviews
The editors' job will be to:
Review the article for
grammatical mistakes
Rewrite a final draft
that will be published
The publishers' job will be to:
Design the layout of the
article
Produce the finished
article
Rules to follow:
The publishers and
editors must each think of at least two questions to ask the persons being
interviewed.
The editors must get
approval from the rest of the group before cutting anything out of the
article.
The publishers must seek
approval on the design of the article before producing the finished
piece.
Learning Advice
Make sure that you cooperate together as a group. A large part of your grade will depend upon this. Brainstorm with your group for ideas before you start this project. Discuss all changes with the group before you make any final decisions.
Conclusion
After completing this activity you should have learned the following:
How to better cooperate
with others
Elements of
journalism
Historical background of
certain social issues
Evaluation
You will be graded on
your finished article and group participation.
