To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

To Kill a MockingbirdKWL Introduct ion Act ivi ty

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To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

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Teacher’s Guidelines & Standards

This is a guided K-W-L activity (K - W - L = What you KNOW, What you WANT to know, & what you have LEARNED) to introduce the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. However, this method can be used for ANY novel or story.

The objectives are for students to listen to a passage, process the information heard, and generate questions for what they would like to know. Further into the novel, they will record what they have learned and discuss their findings with classmates.

PROCEDURE:1. Pass out 4 Post-it Notes to each student. (Index cards or paper squares will work, as well.

Students can tape their cards/paper to a board or larger sheet of paper.)2. Read the passage on page 4 (or write and read your own). This passage is giving the students

hints to the novel. It serves as a teaser to the book, but will also give them knowledge to build on as they read.

3. Tell the students to write four facts about the selection as it is read. (One on each post-it note or card.) This represents what they already know.

4. I often read the passage a second time. This is optional.5. When finished, have students compare facts with a partner.6. Post one or two facts from each pair of students. Each fact should be different, so the class has a

display of facts about the novel. (Post the facts in a designated spot or on poster board/large paper. Examples on pages 5-6.)

7. Either distribute additional post-it notes or index cards to each student, or have students use paper, then ask students to write what they want to know—what questions do they have? They may work with a partner.

8. Have students post their questions (either in a designated spot or on poster board/large paper--something you can display throughout the novel; examples on pages 5-6).

9. Keep these posted as you read the novel. Have the students look at it every few chapters and add the information they have learned. It’s a great review & also means more to them

because they came up with the questions.

Common Core State Standards practiced:Speaking & Listening• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and

collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats,

including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Writing• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and

style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Reading• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the

course of a text. (After activity, students should continue to try to answer initial questions and create more.)• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently

and proficiently.

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction {Teaser}

Reading Passage (Feel free to read it more than once—usually they need to hear it a couple of times. It’s also interesting to read it at the end of the novel for fun.)

In the South, there was a little girl who had a very strange neighbor. She had never seen him but heard stories about him from her brother and neighbors. He

stayed inside all day—no one ever saw him come out. Only his parents could be seen exiting & returning from the big old house. But many people thought he waited until it was dark to venture outside.

The little girl loved summertime because her friend came to visit every summer.

They played all sorts of games with her older brother. Their favorite games, however, get them into big trouble.

This girl hated school. She wished her father, who was a lawyer, could home school her so she wouldn’t ever have to go back. But her father must work and

she does not have a mother.

Her dad takes on a tough case—one he knows he will lose. He says people will

be mean to their family for a while during the trial. He thinks she should just ignore people when they say mean things. But this little girl is hot-tempered.

Which, of course, also gets her into a lot of trouble.

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

SAMPLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERSHere are some of the questions the students should generate from the passage (and the answers-but let the kids find these out for themselves as you read):

-Who is “she”? (Scout--Jean Louise Finch, the narrator)

-Where in the South? (Maycomb, Alabama)

-Who is the strange neighbor? (Boo Radley)

-What makes him strange? (He never comes out of his house. They think he’s locked up—but truth is he doesn’t really want to come out because he’s shy and anti-social from years of being in the house.)

-What are some of the stories she’s heard? (Varies—most from Miss Stephanie; he mutilates animals at night, peeps in Miss Stephanie’s window. He’s locked up and looks like a monster. Eating the pecans from the Radley tree would cause death.)

-Who is her brother? (Jem--Jeremy Finch)

-What did he do when he ventured out at night? (Nothing—until untangling Jem’s pants and patching them up, leaving the children gifts in the tree’s knot hole, and saving the children from Bob Ewell.)

-Who is her friend who visits in the summer? (Dill--Charles Baker Harris)

-What games do they play? Why do they get in trouble? (Act out the Radleys, dare Jem to touch the Radley house, try to send a note to Boo via fishing pole, try to peep in the Radley window and cover it up by claiming they were playing strip poker; they get in trouble from Atticus because they are being insensitive and not respecting Boo’s privacy.)

-Why did she hate school? (Doesn’t like teacher, gets in trouble for knowing how to read and write, has to wear a dress, tries to defend Walter Cunningham and gets swatted with a ruler, fights with the boys, gets made fun of because of Atticus, etc.)

Continued...

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

Example of FIRST and ONGOING Activity: “What We KNOW” and “What We’ve LEARNED”Students (or designate one student) write additional details as they learn them in the story.

Continued from page 5

-What happened to her mother? (Dies when Scout was a toddler.)

-What is the case her dad takes on? (Tom Robinson–a black man–is on trial for raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman.)

-Why would he take the case if he knows he’s going to lose? (Because he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t try to help Tom because he knows Tom is innocent. How could he teach his kids not to be racist if he didn’t try to help Tom? He would be a poor role model.)

-Why will people be mean to them/say mean things? (Because it’s a matter of racism and people who are racist never think about matters of logic, common sense, or doing the right thing—they speak and act out of pure hatred.)

-How does she get in trouble for being hot-tempered? (She beats up Cecil Jacobs & her cousin Francis for calling Atticus bad names.)

Thanks for downloading & supporting your fellow teachers!

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

Example of SECOND Activity: “What We WANT to Know” (Students can write the answers to their questions directly onto the paper/board or respond in a reader’s notebook.)Students (or designate one student) share the questions they came up with after listening to the reading passage.

*As you read the story, have students continue to question things and add them to the list.

TEACHER TIP:* Instead of writing or posting on the board, record student responses on butcher block/mailing/shipping paper, or use the backs of the free desk calendars or book covers that are donated to the school from the Armed Forced recruiters. This way you can keep the responses posted throughout the novel unit.

To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction © 2006, Tracee Orman

This activity is included in my To Kill a Mockingbird unit. The unit includes the following:• Introduction activities, including To Kill a Mockingbird KWL Introduction Activity• List of vocabulary words & definitions• Character list (PDF/Word) with descriptions• To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter Discussion Questions & Answers• To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter Check Quizzes (Chapters 1-31)• To Kill a Mockingbird Review Games (Like Jeopardy®)• To Kill a Mockingbird Part One Test & Studyguide• To Kill a Mockingbird TESTS (Final exam, Vocabulary, Movie Test)• To Kill a Mockingbird Journal Prompts• To Kill a Mockingbird Postcard Activity (For ANY Chapter)• To Kill a Mockingbird Creative Activities for Every Chapter• To Kill a Mockingbird Trial Organizer (Chapters 17-19)• To Kill a Mockingbird Nonfiction Primary Source Allusion Activity• To Kill a Mockingbird Narrative Writing Prompt• To Kill a Mockingbird Facebook Activity• The Scottsboro Boys Anticipatory and Reading Response Activity• To Kill a Mockingbird Teacher’s Guide

Those listed above can be purchased separately if you do not wish to buy the entire unit. However, the unit also contains several files not found anywhere else, like a two alternative exams (with answer keys), a comprehensive Common Core introduction activity on stereotyping, project ideas, research projects & prompts, acting activity, and so much more!

Includes nonfiction activities!

Comprehensive teacher’s guide with suggested pacing of unit.

Chapter questions, activities, quizzes, tests, journals, & more!

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