To Kill a Mockingbird

Student Activity #8

Creating Representative Timelines

Timelines are graphic organizers that help show a chronology of important events during a historical time period. For this activity, you will work with a partner to make 3 different Timelines to:

1. depict important events which occurred during the Great Depression

2. depict important events from your own lifetime

3. depict important events in To Kill a Mockingbird that correspond to events during the Great Depression

Here is a sample Timeline showing a portion of the history of the development of the computer:

To create your Timelines, you have several options:

* Use a computer application such as Tom Snyder's "Timeliner 4.0"

* Use your own artistic ability to draw and illustrate your Timelines by hand

* Use clip art, downloaded images, or other illustrations to design your Timeline

Historical Timeline Activity

Instructions:

1. Choose one of the Web sites listed below to gain information about the Great Depression and the 1930's

2. Select at least 10 important events from the decade that you've learned from the site to use in your Timeline

3. Create a Timeline depicting these 10 events in chronological order with a brief caption explaining their importance

4. Present your Timeline to the class

Building America: FDR's New Deal

Great Depression & the New Deal

Timelines of the Great Depression

Timeline of the 1930s

Harlem Renaissance

Personal Timeline Activity

Instructions:

1. With your partner, list at least 10 important events from your own lifetimes that you consider important for future generations to know about

2. Create a Timeline depicting these 10 events in chronological order with a brief caption explaining their importance

3. Present your Timeline to the class

Literary Timeline Activity

Instructions:

1. Review the plot chronology of To Kill a Mockingbird and make a list of 10 significant events in the novel

2. Select at least 5 events which actually occurred during the Great Depression and which correspond to the same time period depicted in the novel

3. Create a Timeline that includes the following elements:

* important events in the novel and the years they occurred within the plot chronology

* actual events for the same time period that you've learned about from researching Web sites on the Depression and the 1930's

Helpful Hint: Look for historical references in the novel that can help you determine what year events in the plot occur. For Example: In the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout recalls that "Maycomb County had recently been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself," a famous phrase from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first Inaugural address in 1933. This historical reference tells readers that the novel begins soon after FDR's 1933 Inauguration. Use this reference as a starting place to figure out the plot chronology and to determine in which years the events in the novel take place.

4. Present your Timeline to the class