Film Study Guide for To Kill A Mockingbird:
                  Seeing the Film through the Lens of Media Literacy
                               Written by Frank Baker  ©2006

NEW: Lesson Plan Challenges Students to Create TKAM Courtroom Floor Plan

NOTE: this entire teacher guide is now available as an Adobe Acrobat file. 
Click on each page in the TABLE OF CONTENTS (left) for instructions.
 

TKAM at 50; new DVD released; New version reviewed

"Your website on To Kill a Mockingbird is truly one of the best resources I know online or in print for teaching the movie. It provides an appealing format for exploring the elements of filmmaking, adaptation, and critical analysis supported by provocative questions, clear explanations, attractive film stills, and authoritative citations. Anyone interested in learning more about the film or media literacy will find a valuable tool in this handy study guide."                                                                Bill Costanzo, author,  "Great Films and How to Teach Them"    "I have used your website to help me set up some 'film studies' lessons on To Kill A Mockingbird.  Thanks to you, my 8th grade students love the film as much as they love the book -your thoughtful questions and methods for analyzing media have even helped me be a more critical viewer."                                                                Teacher comment on  English Companion Ning

    For some time now, I have been enamored of the film To Kill A Mockingbird. 
I remember seeing it at the local movie theatre in Columbia South Carolina 
as a youngster. If memory serves correct, I was 8 years old when it was 
shown in 1963. And I remember being scared out of my wits during the 
"attack in the woods" scenes. 

    I have been working on a teacher guide to help literature teachers better 
use the film in their classrooms. Teacher guides to the novel are abundant, 
but I was never able to locate a guide devoted solely to the film, so this is 
the first attempt to more fully explore this classic via the 'language of film.' Because I am also promoting the use of the film on DVD, a large portion of 
the guide will be devoted to helping educators become more familiar and comfortable with this new technology.

    I invite educators to consider introducing students to both media literacy
and the language of film by using the resources produced here. Your 
feedback is important; let me hear from you. My email address is fbaker1346@aol.com 
  
Frank Baker, media educator