1. Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird by Toni Cade Bambara
This short story was written in 1971 but has themes that are extremely timely and relevant. It’s typically read at 9th grade, but could be used for any grade from The story is a bit tough to read and a little slow going because of the dialect. I decided to focus on three things: 1) the connection of the Civil Rights abuses to the present day privacy issues which follows the larger theme about understanding power and privilege, 2) discussion of dialect in literature and African American English, and 3) understanding the complexities of characters in short stories.
Music: I decided to play some rhythm and blues as students walk into the class so they can get a sense of the music of the time period. Here’s my chance to play my favorite song, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” I know students may not like this music, but I think it will set the background for discussions about the s.

2. Please think about these questions and answer with “yes” or “no.”
Friends can take my picture with their cell phones any time they want to.
It’s OK for a stranger to take my picture with a cell phone when I’m not looking.
Government officials have the right to take pictures of anyone at any time.
I decided to draw in the students right away with Anticipation Guide questions that are relevant to their lives right now. I started with two questions that are more connected to today’s society, and then I asked the third question so students could make a connection to one of the themes in the story. I’m expecting some students to say “yes” to the first questions; most students to say “no” on the second questions, and a split on the third question. I expect students to be highly engaged in this discussion.

3. Here is the first paragraph of the story.
The puddle had frozen over, and me and Cathy went stompin in it. The twins from the next door, Tyrone and Terry, were swingin so high out of sight we forgot we were waitin our turn on the tire. Cathy jumped up and came down hard on her heels and started tap-dancin. And the frozen patch splinterin every which way underneath kinda spooky. “Looks like a plastic spider web, she said. “A sort of weird spider, I guess, with many mental problems.” But really it looked like the crystal paperweight Granny kept in the parlor. She was on the back porch, Granny was, making the cakes drunk. The old ladle dirpping rum into the Christmas tins, like it used to drip maple syrup into the pails when we lived in the Judson’s woods, like it poured cider into the vats when we were on the Cooper place, like it used to scoop buttermilk and soft cheese when we lived at the dairy.
I think it will be difficult to transition into the story because the students will want to talk about cell phone pictures. I’ll read the first paragraph, and then I’ll try role playing the first part without talking about dialect yet. The students will all have copies of the story, but I’ll also put it on the screen. I’ll read and have students act out the roles of the characters. I think I have students who will participate, but if they don’t, I’ll read aloud without making a big deal of it.

4. Role Playing Granny Cathy Tyrone Terry Narrator Man with camera
I will give five students parts to read. I’ll ask them to read their parts on the next couple of slides. I may read the slides first if I think they’ll have trouble.

5. “Go tell that man we ain’t a bunch of trees.”
“Ma’m?”
“I said to tell that man to get away from here with that camera.”
Me and Cathy look over toward the meadow where the men with the station wagon’d been roamin around all morning. The tall man with a huge camera lassoed to his shoulder was buzzin our way.

6. “They’re making movie pictures,” sang out Terry.
“They’re makin movie pictures,” yelled Tyrone, stiffenin his legs and twistin so the tire’d come down slow so they could see.
“They’re making movie pictures,” sang out Terry.
“That boy don’t never have anything original to say,” said Cathy grown-up.
By the time the man with the camera had cut across our neighbor’s yard, the twins were out of the trees swingin low and Granny was onto the steps, the screen door bammin soft and scratchy against her palms. “We thought we’d get a shot or two of the house and everything and then—”
At this point, I expect students to be involved and maybe giggling at each other. I’ll move ahead rapidly now to gain some momentum and quiet down the class. I want to make sure they’re with me about the theme of privacy, so I’ll interject a question next to bring them back.

7. Is the man with the camera invading this family’s privacy?
Think for a moment…
Is the man with the camera invading this family’s privacy?
If the class has been quiet and not participating, I’ll have them discuss this in small groups for 2-3 minutes. If the class is noisy, I’ll ask them to think quietly and not talk.

8. Reading Dialect
This story was written by Toni Cade Bambara in It’s written in a form called “dialect,” which means that it’s written the way people talked at that time in that region. We’ll talk about African American English later, but it’s important to remember that languages change so the dialect in this story will be different from today’s AAE.
I want to have students read the entire story first before we spend time discussing dialect or AAE.

9. First read of the story
It’s easier to understand stories written in dialect if you hear them.
Divide into your groups of three or four and read the story out loud. Take turns reading.
You have 15 minutes.
Students have worked in mixed-ability groups before so they know how to do this. I expect that some students will be absent so I’ll have to rearrange the groups at the last minute. I’ll do this quickly so students can begin reading quietly. I may put on music very low if we need background noise.

10. What happened? Look back at the text as we put the events in sequence.1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7
I don’t expect everyone to have understood the story by reading it in groups. I’ll bring the class back together to discuss the plot. I’ll ask students to volunteer events and I’ll write them on the list in this slide.

11. Issues of Power and Privacy
Did the camera men have the right to take pictures?
Should Granddaddy get in trouble for ruining the camera and film?
What do you think should happen next?
How does this story present issues of power?
I’m not sure how much time we’ll have left to discuss these questions. If we have only a few minutes, I’ll have students think about them silently. If we have more than 5 minutes, we’ll discuss them.

12. Exit Slips
Write one or two sentences on your index card about this question:
Were Granny and Granddaddy’s response to the photographers justified?
I want students to leave thinking about this idea. I will be asking it again tomorrow using a discussion web. I may play more music as students leave the room.

13. Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird
Day 2
Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird
Today I want students to understand some of the context of the story and to look for ways this story is relevant to their lives. I also want to spend time looking at the dialect and figurative language in the story. I’ll play some 60s music as they come into class.

14. Civil Rights Movement Know it Heard/Seen No Clue Martin Luther King
Voting Rights Act 1965
Freedom Riders
Integration
Black pride
I’ll begin by discussing how the times influenced Bambara to write this story. Students may not know very much about the Civil Rights Movement so I’ll take about 5 minutes to set the stage. I will focus on the newness of African Americans feeling free to stand up to people in government.

15. 1960s moments
Play Civil Rights video
I will give students a feeling of the times through this short video. I don’t want to stray too far from the story, but I think it’s critical for students to understand the times.

16. Looking at Characters, Second reading
Actions
Feelings
Thoughts
Conversations
I need to transition back to the story. I’ll say something like, “Granny and Granddaddy experienced powerlessness for their entire lives. Let’s look at them more closely in this story. How does the author portray them?” I’ll then break up into groups and have students read through the story again, looking at Granny and Granddaddy.

17. Granny Actions Feelings Thoughts Conversations
I’ll take student ideas to develop this chart.

18. Granddaddy Actions Feelings Thoughts Conversations
I’ll take student ideas to develop this chart.

19. Dialect Nonstandard grammar
“The puddle had frozen over, and me and Cathy…
“Cathy and I” is standard because “I” is one of the subjects of the sentence.
Unusual vocabulary
The screen door bammin soft….
We can figure out this word by its context. What word would you use?
Idiomatic expressions
Making cakes drunk…
Idioms are phrases that make no sense just looking at the words.
I’ll begin discussing dialect by having students look at three types of dialect in the story. After I’ve explained these examples, students will read the story again to find dialect again.

20. Third reading Nonstandard grammar Unusual vocabulary
Idiomatic expressions
I’ll have students use the copied pages of the story to highlight the kinds of dialects the authors used in this story. I’ll have green, red, and yellow highlighters available. I may have students work independently if I think they are able. If not, they’ll work in groups. I will most likely assign each group to begin with a different kind of dialect feature. Some groups will begin with nonstandard grammar, others will begin with unusual vocabulary, and the rest will look for idiomatic expressions.

21. Dialect discussion Give me one example of each of these:
Nonstandard grammar
Unusual vocabulary
Idiomatic expressions
I want to bring the dialect discussion to a close fairly quickly so we can get back to other aspects of this text. I’ll write them on the PP as we discuss.

22. Dialect and Author’s Craft
Why do you think the author wrote the story in dialect?
How does using dialect evidence power?
Do you think the use of dialect was effective?
I want to move back to the theme and yet show students how the author used dialect for a reason. I expect students to be able to discuss these questions in the entire class fairly easily.

23. Exit Slip
Write one or two sentences on your index card to answer this question:
In what ways did the author use dialect to develop the characters of Granny and Granddaddy?
I want students to see how the author used dialect and also to help them think more deeply about the characters. I expect students to be able to answer this question. If it’s too hard, I will change it to something more concrete such as “Tell me what you remember about Granny or Granddaddy.”

24. Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird
Day 3
Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird
I think the students will be ready to finish this story today. They should be very familiar with the story, and now we can think more deeply about the theme.

25. Refreshing our Memory What happened in the story?
Why is the time period that the story was written important to our understanding?
How was power portrayed in the story?
What do you think about the privacy issue illustrated in the story?
I want to move faster today. I may conduct a whole class discussion, recapping the important issues. If students are quiet, I’ll have them address these questions in small groups.

26. Making Connections
Develop a scenario taking place today that concerns issues of privacy. In groups of 3 or 4, come up with a scenario that could happen to YOU or to someone else who is living today.
Before moving to the final activity of this lesson, I want students to think once more about the relevance of the story to their lives. I will give students 5 minutes or so to think of a scenario. Then I’ll have them report on them in class.

27. Back to the story
Were Granny and Granddaddy’s response to the photographers justified?
Think of three reasons why it was and three reasons why it wasn’t. Write them down.
I will have students do this work independently.

28. Justified Not justified
I’ll ask students to give me ideas to develop this chart. I’ll help if necessary.

29. Writing: Taking a stance
Write a paper taking a stance about the issue of privacy using ideas from the story and those from your life. I will number you off by 1s and 2s. People who are 1s will be pro-privacy, people who are 2s will be anti-privacy. You will have 15 minutes to write.
I want to stretch students’ thinking and have them write about the issue from a stance even if it’s not their own. I expect students to groan and complain. If I think they can’t do it, I may back down and let them pick and choose their own side.

30. For or Against?
Do you think the government has the right to invade the privacy of citizens who receive benefits? Develop a paper using examples from the story and from your own life.
Students should be able to complete this paper in 15 minutes. If they can’t, they have not been engaged in the task. If students are really involved, I may give them more class time tomorrow to work on the papers. I’m just looking for a quick assessment of their ability to connect the story to their lives. This type of writing is also part of our state assessment so it is good practice for them. I’m not going to spend time going over the structure of this type of writing today. I’ll do that another time.

31. I’ll use this rubric to score the papers.

32. Final words…
Literature has the capacity to help us understand human behavior in the past, and it also helps us think about current issues.
When we identify themes in literature, we are able to understand ourselves and our world in new ways.
After students have finished writing, I’ll use the final 5 minutes in class for some final words and to encourage outside literacy. I want students to understand how this type of story, even though written quite a long time ago, is applicable today. I want students to look for these connections in everything they read in this class.

33. Take it home…
Ask your parents/guardians what they think about the issue of privacy.
Continue this discussion on our classroom blog.
Look at the website links I’ve posted on our class website to learn more about the author, the Civil Rights Movement, and hawks.
Some, but not all students, will be captivated by this subject. I hope they continue the discussion and learn more on their own. I expect a few students to take advantage of this continued learning, especially since we’ll be discussing other stories that emphasize issues of power and privlege.
Of course, I’ll play more music as the students leave the class. Aretha Franklin once more!