How the Tablets and BYOD will look in Action -
a Reading Unit on To Kill a Mockingbird.
Pre-Reading
Before reading a novel like To Kill a Mockingbird, it is important to learn some background information about Alabama during The Great Depression. My students do a web-quest to research life back then and compare it to life today. We used Edmodo to complete this activity.
Students used a timeline from PBS to find out about important events, and each group picked one event for each year from 1929-1939. It was interesting to see how different groups chose different events as important.
Next, students used a Google search to find information about the cost of living now vs. the cost of living in 1933 (when the novel takes place).
Once they finished the web-quest students went on to the New York Times website to view a slideshow of photos from The Great Depression. They chose one photo and wrote a paragraph explaining why they chose it and how it would feel to be the person in the photo.
Overall, this lesson served as a great introduction to The Great Depression where students were able to gather their own information and compare their lives today with those of the people who lived then. There is a great deal of talk today about how bad our economy is, but many students were able to see how lucky we are after researching this time period.
Students used a timeline from PBS to find out about important events, and each group picked one event for each year from 1929-1939. It was interesting to see how different groups chose different events as important.
Next, students used a Google search to find information about the cost of living now vs. the cost of living in 1933 (when the novel takes place).
Once they finished the web-quest students went on to the New York Times website to view a slideshow of photos from The Great Depression. They chose one photo and wrote a paragraph explaining why they chose it and how it would feel to be the person in the photo.
Overall, this lesson served as a great introduction to The Great Depression where students were able to gather their own information and compare their lives today with those of the people who lived then. There is a great deal of talk today about how bad our economy is, but many students were able to see how lucky we are after researching this time period.
Student Examples:
Reading Together
This activity would require a tablet of some sort and a reading app like Subtext on both the teacher and student tablets. Students can read along with the teacher, answering discussion and polling questions from right within the text. The following example uses the short story "The Most Dangerous Game".
Questioning and Analyzing Literature with "Socratic"
With the Socratic App for iPads and iPhones, teachers can create a class that students join using a room number (see below). Teachers can send a question using their device that will pop up on student devices. Students send their name and answers to the question to the teacher. The students' answers pop up on the teacher's device as they send them. This app can be great for monitoring class discussions and is a good, more in depth alternative to the CPS clickers. This app gives students the opportunity to interact with the teacher in a similar way to CPS, but allows them to do short answers. The best part about this app is that students can use their own devices.
Evaluating the Court Room Scene
To Kill a Mockingbird - The MovieHave students watch the video to the left while analyzing for the elements of persuasion. Students will then use the Voicethread app to discuss with a partner what makes Atticus's speech expecially effective. The Voicethread tool will allow students to put their own voice over the video, commentating on it.
Once they have finished, students will upload their video to Edmodo. Students will watch videos from other groups and leave comments on eachother's work. |
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Class Discussions on Major Quotes
Students can do a close reading of important quotes from the novel by using Edmodo. Quotes can be uploaded as a post on Edmodo, where students can leave a comment discussing the meaning of the quote. By posting as a comment, students can view other students' comments and continue the discussion outside of class.
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