Seeking Justice: To Kill a Mockingbird (2020)

Lesson 15
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ELA

Unit 7

8th Grade

Lesson 15 of 35

Objective


Summarize the events described in Heck Tate’s and Bob Ewell’s testimony.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee  — chapters 16 and 17

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

Working in groups, create a timeline of events on the night of the crime, based on Heck Tate and Mr. Ewell’s testimony. Be sure to include as many details as you can. [Because students may make revisions to their timelines after the gallery walk, you might want to have students put their timelines on poster paper as part of their exit ticket work—and not before.]

Key Questions


  • How does the narrator develop the idea that the Ewells are of a low social class? Provide at least three pieces of evidence to support your answer.
  • What is notable about Mayella’s injuries? Provide one piece of evidence to support your answer.
  • Why does Atticus ask Mr. Ewell to write his name? Provide two pieces of evidence to support your answer.
  • Discussion: How is the reader supposed to feel about Bob Ewell? Do you think that someone being extremely poor or living on welfare is a reason to dislike a person or to negatively judge their character?
  • Discussion: Do you think that Scout’s perspective (and by extension, the reader’s opinion) of Bob Ewell would be more positive if he had money, a tidy home, and did not rely on welfare?

Lesson Guidance


Standard and Literary Concepts

  • Creating timelines is one way of organizing and summarizing information. Students’ timelines today should be as detailed as possible, as it is essential that they are able to see Atticus’s technique for arguing Tom Robinson’s case and the discrepancies he pulls out in Ewell’s timeline in future chapters.

Notes

  • Focus today on chapter 17. You may wish to have students read the trial section aloud like a play.
  • Chapter 17 refers to sexual assault and battery. Although the sexual assault is not described particularly explicitly, the description of Mayella’s injuries is quite detailed. This may be upsetting for students, and you should let student support services at your school know that this will be discussed.
  • Although you will not be focused on chapter 16 today, be aware that Scout and Jem discuss biracial people on pages 183–184 in a derogatory/ignorant way. Remind students that there are a number of parts of this text that are dated and that we understand now to be inaccurate and offensive. You may wish to discuss contemporary stereotypes about multiracial people and how prejudices are hurtful and oppressive.

Homework

  • Read To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 18.

Common Core Standards


  • RL.8.1 — Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • RL.8.2 — Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Next

Explain how Harper Lee uses specific words, phrases, and lines of text to reveal aspects of Mayella Ewell’s character.

Lesson 16
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Lesson Map

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