The 1930s
Research Oral and News Article
Introduction of Setting in
To Kill a Mockingbird
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Your task is to research a particular area of American cultural history in the 1930s in order to give some
background to the book To Kill a Mockingbird.
You have two library lessons to research your topic before completing two graded tasks:
o Prepare a 200-300 word news article on your chosen topic.
o Present a 3min informative oral presentation to the class on your topic.
You must use at least three sources of information and one of these must be a print resource (book,
encyclopaedia, newspaper article).
All information needs to be written in your own words. Do not cut and paste from the internet. You will be
assessed on the inclusion of a bibliography according to the requirements written in your diary.
Possible topics:
Most topics relate to the United States in the 1930s.
Women of the 1930s
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Description/details about
traditional "Southern Belles"
Fashion, careers, family roles,
taboos for women, the work
place, wages
Gertrude Stein, Mrs. Wallis
Simpson, Margaret Mitchell,
Jane Addams, Pearl S .Buck,
Amelia Earhart
Education in the 1930s
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Educational Reforms: John
Dewey - "Experience and
Education"
Level of education - State
Laws
Colleges and Agricultural
colleges, trade schools
Literacy
The Headlines of the 1930s:
What and Who Made the News
 Sports, disasters, "big" events,
21st amendment.
Science/Technology/
Innovation during 1930s
President Hoover
 Television, radio,
President Roosevelt’s "New Deal,"
World’s Fair (1933)
social security
 U.S. Nobel Prize
Wall Street
winners
Statistics: population, wages and
 Glenn Curtiss,
salaries, costs of home, food, cars,
Sigmund Freud,
rent
T.A. Edison,
Thomas Hunt
Morgan
 Golden Gate Bridge,
Boulder Dam
Economic Concerns of the 1930s
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Status of African -Americans
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Jim Crow laws, voting rights, civil
rights, education, occupations in
North and South
Discrimination, treatment by white
people.
Housing, neighbourhoods
W.B. Dubois, George Washington
Carver, Booker T. Washington.
Marian Anderson, Langston
Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston,
Richard Wright, Bessie Smith,
Lena Horn
Political Concerns of the 1930s International Relations
 Relationships with other world leaders
 League of Nations
 Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, MacArthur
1950s-1960s: Civil Rights
Movement
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Rosa Parkes
Martin Luther King
Sit-ins
March on
Washington
etc
The 1930s: News Article
Student Checklist and Evaluation
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Use the Checklist column during and after writing your newspaper article to ensure you have considered
each of the specific requirements and expectations for the task.
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Use the Evaluation columns for peer and/or self assessment, to evaluate areas where your article can be
revised and improved prior to submission for graded assessment. Your teacher will consider these
same items in determining the grade for your final finished piece.
Name: ____________________________
Checklist
Check
Evidence of research
Detailed notes
Bibliography: at least 3 sources listed (1 print
resource) and formatted correctly as per
information in diary.
Content
Headline: eye catching, interest-grabbing and
relevant.
Relevant information
Synthesis of research: ability to incorporate
information researched effectively into the
article.
Attention to a specific newspaper text type
Photographs: relevant, add something to text of
article or reinforce a key point.
Structure
Logical sequence of ideas/content.
Adherence to a text type (e.g. standard news
article, special feature, etc).
Effective Orientation:
Who/what/when/where
Effective Conclusion
Language and Presentation
Fluent and clear
Accurate Spelling
Accurate Punctuation
Sentence Structure
Effective Paragraphing
Presentation: well set out as a news article;
composition of text and picture/s.
Student Self or Peer Evaluation
High
Medium
Low
Not
Evident
The 1930s: Research Oral Graded Assessment
The oral component of this assignment will be graded according to the criteria below:
Content (40%)
 Evidence of research: e.g. bibliography, notes, speech draft as required by teacher.
 Quality of content: knowledge, relevance and coverage of the topic.
Structure (20%)
 Structure of presentation: clear introduction, organisation of ideas and conclusion.
Delivery (40%)
 Quality of verbal aspects of presentation: voice pitch, expression, language, pace, tone, fluency,
volume.
 Quality of non-verbal aspects of presentation: eye contact, stance, body language, use of visual aids,
etc.
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Level of preparedness: fluency, timing and use of cue cards.