Day 19: Giving it all away
Student will be able to summarize the viewpoints of the parties in the trial (Tom, Mayella, Bob Ewell, Atticus) and write critical thinking questions in preparation for Monday's discussion.
One of the things I'm bad at as a teacher is keeping my mouth shut. Part of this means I lecture to too much; the other part of it is that I give stuff away when I'm excited. My husband knows this well; anytime we watch a movie we've already seen, I have a tendency to blurt out what he should look for ("Wait till his final battle with Voldemort! Such a surprise ending."). The poor guy loses the joy of discovering it himself.
I do this a lot with my students too. Today we watched the trial scene from To Kill a Mockingbird and they were all "court reporters." I introduced them to the trial of Alabama V. Tom Robinson in the Maycomb County Courthouse in this year of grace 1935 with the honorable Judge John Taylor presiding. They were to take notes on a transcript/graphic organizer I had made for them. However, the movie goes so fast and some of them write so slow I wanted them to preview what the trial would look like so they'd know what to look for.
One of the crazy things about the trial is how much Bob Ewell's, Mayella's, and Tom's testimonies contradict each other. Rather than wait for that gasp of recognition when they realize Bob Ewell is left-handed, I tell them, "Look for what's special about they way he writes his name." That is partly so some of my kids who struggle to focus know what to look for, but the other part is that I so desperately want them to see the light that I practically tell them where the light switch is. I really need to start thinking about what I will say a little more thoroughly. Like the article I posted on Wednesday, I cannot always be holding their hand through every educational hurdle. I need to let them be surprised sometimes. Monday we will hear Atticus' final speech to the jury before deliberations, and hopefully still be able to do our Socratic Circle analysis of the speech and the trial. Tuesday they'll get the verdict. I vow not to say one opinionated word about the trial between now and then. Maybe they'll be surprised. Maybe. Pumped for next week, but in the meantime...it's Friday. I'm going home!
One of the things I'm bad at as a teacher is keeping my mouth shut. Part of this means I lecture to too much; the other part of it is that I give stuff away when I'm excited. My husband knows this well; anytime we watch a movie we've already seen, I have a tendency to blurt out what he should look for ("Wait till his final battle with Voldemort! Such a surprise ending."). The poor guy loses the joy of discovering it himself.
I do this a lot with my students too. Today we watched the trial scene from To Kill a Mockingbird and they were all "court reporters." I introduced them to the trial of Alabama V. Tom Robinson in the Maycomb County Courthouse in this year of grace 1935 with the honorable Judge John Taylor presiding. They were to take notes on a transcript/graphic organizer I had made for them. However, the movie goes so fast and some of them write so slow I wanted them to preview what the trial would look like so they'd know what to look for.
One of the crazy things about the trial is how much Bob Ewell's, Mayella's, and Tom's testimonies contradict each other. Rather than wait for that gasp of recognition when they realize Bob Ewell is left-handed, I tell them, "Look for what's special about they way he writes his name." That is partly so some of my kids who struggle to focus know what to look for, but the other part is that I so desperately want them to see the light that I practically tell them where the light switch is. I really need to start thinking about what I will say a little more thoroughly. Like the article I posted on Wednesday, I cannot always be holding their hand through every educational hurdle. I need to let them be surprised sometimes. Monday we will hear Atticus' final speech to the jury before deliberations, and hopefully still be able to do our Socratic Circle analysis of the speech and the trial. Tuesday they'll get the verdict. I vow not to say one opinionated word about the trial between now and then. Maybe they'll be surprised. Maybe. Pumped for next week, but in the meantime...it's Friday. I'm going home!
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