8th Grade Language arts
To Kill A Mockingbird
End of Unit Project
To conclude our study of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, you will be creating a
multi-faceted project. This project involves freedom of choice and the study of literature
in combination with other disciplines. The list of projects is classified by point value.
Read over the list of choices carefully, and decide which projects are the most interesting
and challenging to you. You may do any projects that you wish, but you must submit
100 points worth of work. The due date for this project is ___Monday November 4th_.
You will be presenting your project to the class on this date.
Important Reminders:
* This is a two-week project that requires a lot of time and effort in order to score a grade
above a 70. The deadline for this project is ___Monday November 4th____. This
timeframe gives you over two weeks and three weekends. It is important to get started
immediately.

All project work should be neatly done and requires both visual components as
well as written ones. You will be required to give a presentation in front of the
class. The highest scoring presentations will have information and explanations
that connect to the themes of the novel, character development, and research that
you have discovered.

During your oral presentation you should project your voice, have eye contact
with your audience, make connections to the novel, characters, and discuss any
relevant themes and or symbols from the story.
Options Worth 25 Points:
1. Create a comic strip on a section of the novel. The comic must be creative and
done with care. It also must have color, a minimum of six panels, and have
dialogue/narration.
2. Write your own original poem or rap about the novel (minimum of 20 lines or
more).
3. Do a collage of a major theme of your novel or one that illustrates important and
key parts of your novel.
4. Find three songs that relate to your novel. Print out the lyrics and type up an
explanation as to how they relate to the novel. The analysis must demonstrate an
understanding of the themes and connections between the lyrics and the novel.
(Minimum of two typed pages.)
5. Write another part of the story where you describe what happened to the
characters after the story ended. (Minimum of two typed page.)
6. Make a poster illustrating all of the technology that was present and was not
present during the time period of the novel.
7. Create a piece of artwork based on the novel.
8. Look into the cost of a variety of items (a minimum of 10 items) in the 1930s.
Compare it with what these same items cost today. Figure out how much the item
has increased using percentages. Create a graph showing your findings.
Options Worth 50 Points:
9. Write an autobio poem (see Mr. Ronis for the format) for any character in the
novel. There is an artistic/visual portion to this as well. You must make your
poem visually appealing. Be creative!
10. Read some classic poetry. Select four characters from the novel and find a poem
that relates to each one of them; you also need to write up an explanation as to
how they relate to the novel. This information should all be mounted on a visual
display of some type.
11. Write a literary analysis paper on the novel. This should be an in-depth look at
the character development of one or more individuals from the novel and also
connect to one or more themes from the book. (Minimum of two or more typed
pages)
12. Research the economic reasons behind the Wall Street stock exchange collapse.
Make a poster illustrating your findings. Be sure to explain how this event
affected the people living in that time period. (I.e., political, cultural, economic,
etc.)
13. Construct a model of one of the key places in the novel.
Include 2 quotes from
the novel and your own original analysis of them to support your model.
14. Compose an original piece of music based on the novel. You need to hand in a
tape/video of the piece or perform it in class. You also must write up a defense of
your piece connecting it to the novel.
15. Present a character monologue. Come in dressed as the character of your choice
(costumes/props must be elaborate).
You will need to present a 3-minute
monologue in the voice of that character on some event from the novel. The
character you choose must connect to the novel in some way.
16. Create a Formalist Theory mobile. Find examples of literary devices in the novel.
The mobile must include the term and a quote illustrating it (with MLA citations).
You must have a minimum of 8 different literary devices. (Metaphors, alliteration,
figurative language, similes, imagery, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, irony, allegory,
symbols, personification, etc.) Your presentation should have a written and oral
part that discusses how these literary devices connect to the novel’s themes,
characters and symbols. Discuss how and why the author makes the writing come
alive through these devices.
17. Create a 5-minute skit to do for the class. You may choose to create a news
broadcast, game show, or talk show. You must write a script for submission and
have props and costumes. Remember that you must have a lot of details from the
book! The skit must connect to the novel!
Options Worth 75 Points:
18. Create a character container for the character of your choice. Select and create a
container that is symbolic of the character. Then fill it with 6-8 items that reflect
who the character is. Each item must have a quotation attached to it and an oral
explanation given that explains the quotation’s significance or connection to the
novel. The oral presentation must reflect a 75-point project: in other words it has
to be an in-depth analysis. Do not just make a box!
19. Research the nature of evil in humans. Look at psychological, biological, and
sociological theories that attempt to explain what makes humans evil. Write a
paper comparing your findings and connecting your findings to the novel. Be
sure to use proper MLA format.
20. Research an artist of the time period. Find a piece of artwork that he/she is
famous for, or a piece you particularly admire, and recreate the piece yourself.
You need to turn in a copy of the actual work, your representation of it, an essay
on the artist, and any connections you can make between the work and the novel.
21. Present a famous person monologue. Come in dressed as a famous person of the
time period (costumes/props must be elaborate). You will need to present a 3minute monologue in the voice of that character on some event in that person’s
life. You will need to research this person and submit your findings.
22. Create a video on one of the sections of the book with some classmates (3 people
maximum). You will need to write out a detailed script for submission, have
props, costumes, etc. Your final video should be a minimum of 8-10 minutes
long. This should be much more developed than option 17 and must be done
outside of class. Please be advised that most groups who choose this option end
up with a low grade because they do not put sufficient time and effort into this
project.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that filming something
automatically makes it good.
Options Worth 100 Points:
All of the 100-point options involve reading a related novel and writing a literary analysis
paper. Watching a movie version of the novel will not be acceptable because you will
need to incorporate quotations for analysis in your paper. You may not choose a book
that you have already read.
Your choices are as follows:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson
Othello by William Shakespeare
The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles
Any biography of a prominent person of the era. (-see me for approval-)
Self-Directed Learning (SDL) Independent Option-100 points
If you want to create your own project that is perfectly acceptable. You will need to
outline the concept and work that you are planning on creating. In addition, you will
need to assign point values for the components of your project, figure out a timetable,
create rubrics, and design a way to assess (grade) your work as well as a structure of
presentation. Schedule several meetings with me to go over your ideas, and as soon as
we agree on what you will be doing, you may begin your project. I will provide you with
check sheets, reflection sheets, and other forms that you may wish to use.
_____________________________________________________
Rubric
Your project must demonstrate that a significant amount of time was spent on research,
writing, and visual components. Additionally, since this project requires a presentation to
the class, a structured and rehearsed plan must be in place in order to do a good job. You
may use any type of notes, visual aids, technology, etc.
Every project must have a visual component. It can be in any type of format including
digital.
I have found that most presentations that earn a high score are a minimum of 3-5 minutes
in length.
_________________________________________________________
To Kill A Mockingbird-Final Project-Grading rubric
Student- ________________________ Section ________ Date ___________
Project list:
25 point project ________________
25 point project ________________
25 point project ________________
25 point project ________________
50 point project _______________
50 point project ________________
75 point project ________________
100 point project _______________
Overall evaluation of project components:
1) Creativity:
A) Originality/ How interesting is your project(s)?
Did you come up with your own original ideas or simply do obvious things that
have been done before? (10 points)__________
B) Are visual components present for all parts of your project and
well-constructed?
(10 points) ____________
2) Time and Effort:
A) Amount of time and effort that went into your work-
Overall how difficult was the project to complete? (30 points) __________
B) The physical aspects of how your work connects to the novelsymbols/motifs/themes/characters/etc. (10 points) ______________
3) Oral Presentation:
A) Eye contact (5 points) ________
B) Projection of voice (5 points) ____________
C) Explanation/ Flow of presentation /How well did you explain the
connections between your work and the themes, symbols, characters, etc., of
the novel?
Did you prepare or rehearse your presentation?
Did you use notes, index cards, powerpoint, etc. (30 points) ______________
Total = __________