Total Duration: |
91 to 120 Minutes |
Materials and Resources: |
• If student computers are unavailable, use library resources related to the “Scottsboro Boys” trials. • Newsprint, pens, pencil • Print and reproduce the document packet: o “Death Penalty for Crime” Birmingham Reporter, April 25, 1931 o “Negroes Riot in Gadsden to Protest Doom” The Huntsville Daily Times, April 10, 1931 o “Revolting in Last Degree in Story of Girls” The Huntsville Daily Times, March 26, 1931 o “How the Nine Arrests in Scottsboro Were Effected” The Huntsville Daily Times, March 26, 1931 • Rubric for completed project • PowerPoint: The Threads of the 1920s Weave a 1930s Tragedy: “Scottsboro Boys” Trials • Questions for Study and Reflection |
Technology Resources Needed: |
• Computer with digital projector • PowerPoint (v. ’97-2003) – If you have a newer version, a viewer (free) can be downloaded from the internet. • Printer • Student access to computers with internet access |
Background/Preparation: |
Background information for teacher: • Several documents are available on the Alabama Department of Archives and History Web site that teachers and students may be interested in reading in preparation for this lesson or for their assignment. “Death Penalty for Crime” Birmingham Reporter, April 25, 1931 “Negroes Riot in Gadsden to Protest Doom” The Huntsville Daily Times, April 10, 1931 “Revolting in Last Degree in Story of Girls” The Huntsville Daily Times, March 26, 1931 “How the Nine Arrests in Scottsboro Were Effected” The Huntsville Daily Times, March 26, 1931 • The Encyclopedia of Alabama has an article on the Scottsboro Trials. • Extensive information about the Scottsboro Trials can be found at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) School of Law. • PBS produced a film, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, which has activities, an interactive timeline, and additional primary sources.
Students should have studied the decade of the Twenties and be familiar with: • Racism o Ku Klux Klan o Jim Crow laws • Anti-Semitism o Leo Frank lynching o Henry Ford (Dearborn Independent) • Communism o Red Scare o Palmer Raids • Sectionalism o States’ rights • Classism o Uneven distribution of wealth. • Students should be able to explain the effects of the Great Depression. • Students should be familiar with online research strategies. |
Engagement/Motivation Activity: Ask, “How would you feel if you were falsely charged with a crime for which you could be executed? What resources would you have with which to defend yourself?” Allow students to discuss. Show the PowerPoint. Allow time for discussion during the presentation. Have students write the “Questions for Study and Reflection” in their notebooks. Tell students that the products of this assignment will be group-constructed newspapers which report on the “Scottsboro Boys” trial(s). Each newspaper will include each of the following five underlying elements of the trials: • Racism • Anti-Semitism • Communism • Sectionalism • Classism Assign each student one of the five underlying elements of the trials. The students will research his/her element independently using the internet, attached document packet, and/or library resources. Assign students to groups so that each element is represented by a student in the group. Each group will create a newspaper reporting the events of the arrest and trials. Groups may report objectively or from a particular viewpoint. The newspaper must include: • name for the newspaper • a motto • at least four articles with titles and bylines • at least one editorial • at least two letters to the editor • at least one political cartoon. Display these instructions for the duration of the newspaper assignment. At the conclusion of the time allotted for the project, the groups will share their newspapers. Conclude the lesson by conducting a class discussion based on the “Questions for Study and Reflection.” |
Attachments: **Some files will display in a new window. Others will prompt you to download. |
Assessment Strategies |
• Evaluate student-created newspaper using attached rubric. • Suggested essay topic: o Explain four ways in which the Scottsboro Boys trial reflected the time period. |
Acceleration: |
• Have students read To Kill a Mockingbird and compare the fictional trial of Tom Robinson to that of the nine teenagers charged with the rape of Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. • Have students analyze the media coverage, mostly newspaper, of the trial. |
Intervention: |
The student could be given a copy of PowerPoint. |
View the Special Education resources for
instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations
for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.
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