Podcast Assignment Handout

Character Inventory & Evaluation Handout 

Podcast Rubrics

To Kill a Mockingbird Character Analysis Podcast

Summary

Students will create a podcast from the point of view of a character from To Kill a Mockingbird that demonstrates their understanding of: a character’s traits, emotions, and motivations; the relationship between historical events and the themes in the novel; and points of view in narrative texts.

Academic Area: Language Arts

Grade Level: 8^th grade

Strand: Reading and Literature

Sub-strand: D. Literature

Standard: The student will actively engage in the reading process and read, understand, respond to, analyze, interpret, evaluate and appreciate a wide variety of fiction, poetic and nonfiction texts.

Benchmarks: 3. Analyze a character’s traits, emotions or motivation and give supporting evidence from the text.

5. Contrast points of view (such as first and third person, limited and omniscient, subjective and objective) in narrative texts and explain how they affect the overall theme of the works.

6. Relate a given literary work to historical events (place, time and custom).

Materials required for assessment:

-To Kill a Mockingbird

-Student notes from class lectures and discussions

-Writing materials (pencil/pen, paper)

-Worksheet/Handouts (provided by teacher)

-Computer

• Microphone
• Headphones
• Garage Band software

A description of what students will do or make as part of their task:

Students will produce a 4-5 minute podcast that will be uploaded to the class wiki.  Students will also turn in a script of their podcast as well as the “Character Inventory & Evaluation” worksheet.

Elements of the task that align specifically to the rubric and the academic standards

Students will analyze a character's traits, emotions, or motivations by choosing a character's perspective to use to analyze a specific event in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Students must use at least four supporting examples from the text to explain why their character might feel or act a certain way.  This aligns specifically with benchmark 3: “Analyze a character’s traits, emotions or motivation and give supporting evidence from the text.”

Students will complete the worksheet about their character in an objective, third-person point of view (using examples from the text). On the worksheet, students will be asked to consider how Scout’s first-person account of the story might affect the way their character or certain events are presented. Students will then be asked to write the script for the podcast from the subjective, first-person perspective of a character other than Scout.  Thus, they will understand the differences between the first and third-person points of view in fiction as well as the contrast between objective and subjective story-telling. This addresses benchmark 5: “Contrast points of view (such as first and third person, limited and omniscient, subjective and objective) in narrative texts and explain how they affect the overall theme of the works.”

Students will use the historical setting of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, to explain how characters feelings and actions are affected by the prevalent racism and discrimination that occurred in the South in the 1930s, as well as larger historical events, namely the Great Depression.  This addresses the benchmark 6: “Relate a given literary work to historical events (place, time and custom).”

Time to Complete the Assessment

Students should be able to complete most of the work in the classroom. For the worksheet on day one, students will have ­­­­35 minutes of class time to work and may require an additional hour of work at home. Students will have 50 minutes of class time on day two to work on writing their podcast scripts. Depending on the student, this activity may require up to an additional 2 hours at home to complete and type or re-write legibly. Finally, students will have approximately 50 minutes on day three of the project plus 25 minutes on day four to finish the final product: the podcast. No additional time will be allowed to finish after this point. Total class time utilized for this project equals approximately two hours and 45 minutes and up to three hours of at-home work. The net amount of time for this project equals approximately five hours and 45 minutes.

Grading Criteria

a) Specific Expectations: Students must demonstrate adequate knowledge of a character’s motives, emotions and actions in To Kill a Mockingbirdand the difference between first-person and third-person points-of-view by successfully completing the “Character Inventory and Evaluation” worksheet.

Students will further their understanding of the effects of first-person narration of a story and demonstrate the ability to synthesize reading, lecture, and discussion material by creating a podcast presentation of one character’s re-telling of a particular event from his or her perspective. Students will also be graded on their ability to connect historical events/situations/settings in the novel with their character’s emotions, perceptions, and actions.

b) General Expectations: To do well on the assessment, students must also create a character script that is either typed or re-written legibly, double-spaced, and falls within the four to five minute time limit when read aloud.  Creativity in making the script is important in the overall score of the assessment as well. Students must also exhibit responsible behavior by staying “on-task” during in-class work time. The aesthetic appeal of the podcast will also be considered; points will be awarded to students who convey the personality and emotion of their character through their speaking voice in the podcast. 

Instructions for Students

(See handout links)

Day 1

1. You will be making a podcast using the skills we learned last month in the computer lab.

2. See the “To Kill a Mockingbird Character Analysis Podcast” assignment sheet. Please refer to this handout while working on this project as it             contains all of the important information regarding your project.

3. Choose a character for your podcast from the provided list on the handout. Scout is not an option because she is already narrating the story from  the first person.

4. See the “To Kill a Mockingbird Character Inventory & Evaluation Worksheet.” We will be using this to brainstorm and gather information in order to write our character scripts for the podcasts. We will begin writing the scripts tomorrow.

5. Complete all questions on the worksheet from the perspective of your chosen character.  You have 35 minutes to work on the worksheet in class. Please complete the worksheet at home if you do not finish in class. 

6. I will walk around to answer questions and to make sure you are working on-task.

     Day 2:

     7. Today we will begin writing our narrative scripts. Use the worksheet you completed to write a 4-5 minute script for a podcast from the first-person perspective.  The audience for the podcast is your peers.

     8. Let’s read the guidelines for writing your script on the assignment handout. Let me know if you have any questions as we go through the guidelines.

     9. Now work independently on the script at your desks.  I will walk around the room to answer any questions and make sure you are on task.

     10. If you do not finish your script in class today, you must finish at home tonight.  You must arrive in class tomorrow with a typed or legibly written, double-spaced script that you will use to record your podcast in the computer lab.

     Day 3 – Computer lab

     11. Choose a computer to sit in front of.  There should be only one student for each computer.

     12. Turn on the computers (if they are not already on).

     13. Open Garage Band and put on your headphones.  Plug in microphones to record podcasts.

     14. Begin recording your scripts for the podcasts; remember the steps for creating a podcast that you learned last month.

     15. You have the entire hour (50 minutes) to work on the podcasts

     16. I will walk around to answer questions and make sure you are on task. Remember – do not use the Internet.

     Day 4 – Computer lab

     17. If you have not already finished, you will have the first 25 minutes of class to complete your podcast.

     18. If you have already completed and uploaded you podcast, begin listening to other students’ podcasts who have also finished.