Lesson Plan - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Learning Ally Bookshelf # KM769
Title
To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM) – Point of View
Theme
Point of view while reading TKAM
Subject
English Language Arts
Time
2-3 class periods
Grade Range
8-12
Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader create such effects as suspense or
humor.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author’s choices affect the story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
• Identify the different types of point of view
• Describe how point of view affects the story line of TKAM
• Find the actions, beliefs and characteristics of Scout using textual evidence
• Write a scene using a different character’s point of view
Materials and
Preparation
Introduction /
Hook
LearningAlly.org
• “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Learning Ally audiobook
bookshelf# KM769
• Hard copies of “To Kill A Mockingbird”
• A comic strip, picture or reading selection, such as a story from
“The Stinky Cheese Man” or “The True Story of the Three Little
Pigs” by Jon Scieszka.
• Learning Ally – Point of View worksheet (available on website)
• Learning Ally – TKAM POV worksheet (available on website)
• Learning Ally – Character Map #2 (available on website)
Optional:
• Learning Ally – KWL Chart (available on
website)
• Learning Ally – Elements of Literature
worksheet (available on website)
• Learning Ally – Comic Strip Graphic Organizer
(available on website)
Day 1- Read aloud or listen to a story from “The Stinky Cheese Man” or “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon
Scieszka (both audio titles available in Learning Ally’s library). Alt: Find a comic strip with characters to use for older students.
Have the students review and then get into groups, answering the following questions:
1. What is happening?
2. Who is the main character talking, or narrating the story?
3. How does the main character’s voice or action affect the story? What if a different character were telling the story?
Allow student groups to present their answers. Teacher may write answers on the board. (5-10min.)
Lesson Plan - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
page 2
Learning Ally Bookshelf # KM769
Instructional
Activities
Have the class come back together and write “point of view” on the board. Ask the class what they think point of view means
and write/type their answers on the board. How would switching characters in the comic/picture/story affect point of view?
(10min.)
Pass out the Learning Ally Point of View worksheet and explain that there are three different types of point of view in literature.
Go through the worksheet together as a whole class and then have students write in their own examples for each using other
texts or their own ideas. (1st Person, 2nd Person, 3rd Person POV) (Approx. 15 min.)
Pass out the Learning Ally TKAM POV worksheet. (25 min.)
Discuss and answer as a class:
• Who is talking or telling us the story? (Scout)
• How do you know? (She starts off the story, it is her thoughts/actions/ descriptions of the other characters, her
language, etc.)
• Have students write down 3-5 examples from their reading of TKAM showing what type of point of view is being used.
Decide whether the example is dialogue, action or thoughts.
Day 2 - Write/type on the board “When I was a child …” and explain to students that today they are going to write about a
memory of an event they had as a child. Explain that this type of writing is a narrative. Tell them they are going to write from
first-person point of view. Give students 10-15 min. to finish. Allow students to share their stories, or collect. Ask students, “How do you think your perceptions affected the memory you just wrote or described?” Have students share out.
(5-10 min.)
Tell students that today we are going to discuss Scout as the narrator in TKAM. Define: A narrator is who tells us the story. As
we learned yesterday, TKAM is being told through first-person point of view by Scout. Let’s try to analyze as a class what we’ve
learned about Scout so far as a character.
Project the Learning Ally Character Map # 2 worksheet and fill out one part of each section together as a class, then have
students get in groups to finish. When finished, ask the class, “How do you think having Scout as the narrator affects the story
in “To Kill a Mockingbird”? This can be a class discussion or beginning of a writing prompt. (15-25 min.)
Possible answers: Scout is young, her perceptions of the world are limited, her beliefs are different due to when/where she
grew up, her memories may not be what actually happened.
LearningAlly.org
Lesson Plan - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
page 3
Learning Ally Bookshelf # KM769
Wrap Up
Handout the TKAM Scene worksheet as an assignment. Tell students that they will be writing a scene from their reading using
a different character’s point of view - use first-person point of view. Possible scenes:
1. Writing as Boo Radley in scenes where Jem, Dill and Scout pass his house and try to sneak into his yard.
2. Writing as Dill when he runs away to come see Jem and Scout.
3. Writing as Tom Robinson in the scene at the jailhouse where Scout speaks out against the mob.
4. Writing as Atticus during the courtroom scene.
Give students time to work on their assignment in class or as homework.
Differentiated Instruction
• Allow students to type their written assignments.
• Allow students to write their TKAM scene as a comic strip. You can use the Learning Ally Comic Strip organizer.
• Group students with a partner and have them work on their TKAM writing assignment together. (High-low, at random,
student choice, interest.)
• Group students during classroom discussions and share out (High-low, at random, student choice, interest.)
Extension: Research what it was like in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. How does this affect Scout’s perception and thus the
story?
Assessment
Accommodations /
Modifications
LearningAlly.org
Informal:
Formal:
• Class discussions and participation
• TKAM Writing Assignments – “When I was young …” and “TKAM
Scene” writing
• Character Map #2
• TKAM POV Worksheets
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Provide audiobook from Learning Ally
Read worksheet questions aloud
Provide picture definitions
Allow for student to use assistive technology
Allow student to type assignments
• Allow extended time on assignments
• Allow for a scribe
• Grade based on content, not misspelling or
handwriting
• Student read-aloud as optional
• Allow for extended time to complete assignments