Integrating Government and Literature: Mock Civil and Criminal Trials Based on "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Autor/inn/en	Kumler, Lori; Palchick, Rina
Titel	Integrating Government and Literature: Mock Civil and Criminal Trials Based on "To Kill A Mockingbird"
Quelle	In: Social Education, 72 (2008) 4, S.194-197 (4 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7724
Schlagwörter	High School Students; Block Scheduling; Criminals; Novels; Literature; Court Litigation; Social Studies; Interdisciplinary Approach; Units of Study; Teaching Methods + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Block teaching; Blockunterricht; Stundentafel; Straftäter; Novel; Roman; Literatur; Rechtsstreit; Gemeinschaftskunde; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Lerneinheit; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode
Abstract	For many students, high school coursework consists of discrete subjects, each disconnected from the other, but together adding up to a high school diploma. Nonetheless, at the classroom level one can find many examples of integrated, interdisciplinary, or cross-subject teaching. Some pursue this approach because they consider that high school students are simply better able to understand connections between concepts and disciplines; others take into consideration research showing that integration can narrow the achievement gap and enhance student learning. In this article, the authors share one example of their integrated projects, which can be adapted and used at a variety of grade levels and circumstances. A novel served as the centerpiece of all of these projects; each novel contained strong connections to units in each class. While block scheduling and shared students in back-to-back periods increased their ability to coordinate, the authors feel that these projects can be done even without such infrastructure. In this collaborative project, the students prepared and enacted trials based on two events that did not go to trial in the novel: a civil offense involving slander of Tom Robinson and his family (by the Ewells) and a criminal offense involving the murder of Bob Ewell. Students were to enact the trials in the context of the present era, rather than the 1930s; this provided a basis for discussions on the historical perspective. A summation of the project including timeframe, materials, activity description, classroom dynamics, student work examples, assessment, and challenges is presented. (Contains 4 notes.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10