To Kill a Mockingbird Intro

I had the opportunity to introduce To Kill a Mockingbird to a group a freshmen today. Influenced by a Teaching with Primary Sources workshop I took in the Summer of 2014 at Waynesburg University, I decided to check into some  photographic primary sources that reflect the South in the 1930s. The Library of Congress has a whole unit posted on To Kill a Mockingbird, but I wanted to craft one, isolated historical lesson. I was able to use the photograph collections posted in the LoC unit, which saved me a lot of time. I started the lesson with a review of primary and secondary sources. After defining the terms and reviewing some examples, we had a discussion on how a source can be both a primary and a secondary source at the same time! After discussing primary and secondary sources, students participated in a "Zoom In" activity to practice photograph analysis. Using the prompts on the LoC's Primary Source Analysis Tool, students were able to observe, reflect and question each piece of the photograph that I unveiled. After analyzing the photograph together, students had the opportunity to analyze a photograph independently, writing down their observations, reflections and questions. Students were sitting at tables with a group, and after a short period of time, they could discuss amongst themselves what all of their photos might have in common, how they were different, and how they might reflect some of the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird. To conclude, students were asked to hypothesize what some of the themes may be in the novel based on today's primary source activities. I have attached a link to my lesson plan, which includes materials for the lesson. I was excited to use the resources that I had learned about at TPS, and I look forward to executing more lessons using the Library of Congress digital collection.