Introduction

The Task

The Process
...Timelines

Presentation

Evaluation

The Process

A. Individual
1. Set up a journal to document your progress on the task. [Some ideas for keeping a journal.]
2. Select a book from the "Fiction & Biography" section of your role reference list.
Read it carefully.
You will use this book to prepare a book report and also to gain some ideas about the way your role might develop.
Make notes of the ideas in your journal.
Can you find any similarities between this book and aspects of "To Kill a Mockingbird"?
3. Add to your understanding of your role by reading from some of the other references for your role [at least one from each section].
4. Write your own "role biography" for the class "Who's who?". [Your class teacher will tell you when this is to be done.] Include information about
- your background
- your achievements
- the significant influences on your life

B. Group [Some ideas for group success]
1. At your first meeting decide on the roles each group member will take. Discuss the kinds of ideas, experiences and opinions you think each role might bring to the task. Each individual should note the ideas for their own role in their journal.
NB: Your understanding of this will probably change as you undertake your research.
2. Discuss the type of group presentation you think will best achieve your group task.
3. Re-Read the first chapter of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and watch the film to familiarise yourself with the setting and characters in the novel. This preparation will help you as you begin to research life in the 1930s in the southern United States and in Australia. Discuss the aspects of the novel that might influence the development of your response to the task. List the understandings the group gains about your Significant Problem.
4. Note-taking - Decide on how you wish to keep notes for your part of the research. A data chart (link to Data Chart) is one approach you may wish to use. An alternative method may be to produce an individual Mindmap using Inspiration software which details your notetaking and sources of information. Later, these individual notes can be compiled into the group Mindmap which will be assessed as part of the task.
5. Begin your research by writing the following topics across the top of your Data Chart or other: Home and Neighbourhood; Family and Standard of Living; School and Friends; and Social and Political Events in the 1930s. Each topic will need to further subdivided into the United States and Australia.
6. Begin exploring the resources following resources. You will find that the resources are a range of fiction and non-fiction resources as well as a range of web sites and audio-visual material. Some of the material consists of accounts of people who grew up or lived in the 1930s in various parts of the United States and Australia. Some resources consist of information detailing social and political events in the 30s.
7. As you explore the sites record facts on your Data Chart or other. Some tips to make notetaking more effective include printing excerpts from sites that you find useful and using highlighters to mark pertinent information. This information can then be recorded, in your own words, in your Data Chart or other.
8. You may like to record your notes as a series of letters, diary entries or as a series of personal interviews from the perspective of your role.
9. When you have collected information about each of the four topics on both the United States and Australia, you are ready to compile your information into a Mindmap (Brainstorm) using Inspiration. This will need to be submitted as a group effort so you need to collaborate with the other group members to refine your notes and bring them together as a whole. Remember, you need to have an understanding of daily life during the depression in both countries from the perspective of the role you have adopted. Your Mindmap should include enough detail and description for your reader to gain a good sense of what life was like in both countries - similarities and differences for the role you have adopted.
10. In your group, when you have each drafted your Mindmap, you will need to share your ideas to develop your presentation. Remember the options are the following, unless you negotiate another group presentation with your teacher:

Short film
Write and perform a play for radio and stage
Oral presentation using multimedia eg. Powerpoint
Mini-newspaper or supplement
A series of interviews
Mockumentary (re-enactment)
For final submission you and your group will be required to:
each submit your biographical "Who's who" entry (hard copy and in electronic form) based on your reading and including an extensive bibliography cited using correct conventions (link to Referencing guidelines on Library website)
submit the Mindmap (brainstorm)
present as a group in your chosen style to your teacher
These materials should be presented in an organised, labeled folder.