Baker,+Dixon,+Fiddler+and+Schafer

** Unit Title ** This unit project, “Knothole Artifacts”, is intended to be used with the reading of //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee. This assignment is a research paper with topics related to learning more about their community in relation to the book, //To Kill a Mockingbird//. Students will need outside research sources including interviews, artifacts, texts, internet resources, or whatever else they find. After bringing in a personal artifact that relates to the community, students are assigned to research the culture behind their artifact and its importance to the community. After researching, students will compose a multimodal project based on their research to define the artifact’s importance to the community, how it defines the community, etc.

Alyssa Schafer, Ben Fiddler, Janell Baker, Lauren Dixon
 * Prepared By **

This unit plan is intended for 9th and 10th graders in introductory English classes.
 * Proposed Grad Levels **

This unit could be covered in a four week time span//,// but teachers can choose to shorten the unit by omitting the final paper. We have allotted 7 days of 50 minute class days as in-class work time, including time spent in the library and computer labs. There are 2 peer editing days as well as teacher conferencing days. The guest speaker, the local public librarian, on the 2nd week will be a starting point for students' research.
 * Estimated Timeline for Teaching **

“Knothole Artifacts” is a unit that uses //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee as a springboard into an investigation of the local community. Just as the character, Boo Radley, places artifacts in the knothole of the tree, students will bring in an artifact of their town. The students will take their artifacts to the next level by researching the history and significance, both personal and local, of their artifacts and write a research paper based around their selection. Whether through writing, film, or other multi-modal forms of expression, students will have the opportunity to creatively present their findings to the rest of the class. Ample class time will be provided for students to research their artifacts and create their presentations. First-hand knowledge will also be available as the local librarian will make a personal visit to the classroom to provide the history of the town and introduce resource materials. Overall, students will be able to discover a greater connection between themselves and their local community through their research and through the exploration of Maycomb County and find the similarities and differences between Maycomb and the students’ own county.
 * Unit Overview **

We are using //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee and //Writing Our Communities// by Dave Winter and Sarah Robbins as the base texts for this unit. This assignment supports critical thinking by encouraging each student to pursue a unique topic that has a personal significance for the student. Winter and Robbins write, “Students are provided the opportunity to explore, research, and connect to a topic or issue that is close to home” (51). This unit is inspired by Winter and Robbins’ chapter that focuses on using community artifacts as building blocks for research papers. This assignment benefits students because it allows them to learn more about the history of their communities. It also allows students to draw direct parallels between //To Kill a Mockingbird// and their own lives. They will be placing artifacts on the class’s bulletin board “knothole” just as Boo Radley placed artifacts in the knothole of his tree. They will be creating maps of their own communities and comparing them with maps of Jem and Scout’s community in //To Kill a Mockingbird//. In this way, this assignment makes the book, //To Kill a Mockingbird//, come alive for the students while also providing a meaningful setting (their own communities) for students to become familiar with the process of writing a research paper.
 * Theory to Practice **

· Students will use artifacts that are symbolic of their communities to inspire community-centered research papers. · Students will learn about their community through participating in a discussion with the local historian/librarian. · Students will work together to provide feedback to one another as they work towards finalizing research papers. · Students will be allowed to exercise choice in selecting topics to develop into research papers. · Students will gain experience in methods of research as they make use of multiple sources while working through the researching process. · Students will reference //To Kill a Mockingbird// as they discover ways that artifacts can represent communities.
 * Student Objectives **

1.1.1 , 1.1.2, 1.1.3 , **1.1.4 ** , 1.1.5 ,  1.1.6 ,  1.1.7, 1.1.8 1.3.1, 1.3.2 , 1.3.3 , 1.3.4 ,  1.3.5 , 1.3.6 , **1.3.7 ** , 1.3.8 , **1.3.9 ** <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.1, **1.4.2**, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.3 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.4 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.5 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.6 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.4.7 1.5.1, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> **1.5.2**, 1.5.3 , **<span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.5.4 **<span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">, 1.5.5 2.1.6, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.1.7 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.1.11 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.1.12 2.2.2, **<span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.2.3 ** <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.3.1, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.3.2 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 2.3.5 , <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">2.3.6, 2.3.8 4.1.1, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">4.1.4 , **<span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">4.1.5 **
 * Michigan Content Expectations **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.2.2 **, <span style="font-family: 'Times-Roman','serif'; font-size: 10pt;">1.2.3

Bolded CE’s are major components

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">
 * Resources**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Previously created class blog
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">To Kill a Mockingbird Movie
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Paper, Pens, Pencils
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Bulletin Board materials
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Construction Paper
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Markers/ Crayons/ Colored Pencils
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Local Librarian or other Historian
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Student Artifacts
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Technology (access to computer lab, DVD player, TV, overhead projector)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Lee, Harper. //To Kill a Mockingbird//. 1st. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1962. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Winter, Dave, and Sarah Robbins. //Writing our Communities//. Natl Council of Teachers, 2005. Print. (Teacher resource)
 * Teacher Preparation**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Completion of the novel, //To Kill a Mockingbird// (reading and discussion unit)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Prepare a blank canvas for Bulletin Board
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Reservations for computer lab/ media center for research days
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Reservation of local librarian or historian
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Create and familiarize students with class blog prior to unit
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Prepare worksheets for lessons

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Lesson Plans**

Week 1, Day 4 Week 2, Day 1 Week 3, Day 2 Week 3, Day 4 Week 3, Day 5


 * Rubrics**