After spending a couple of hours seated to watch the movie, "To Kill a Mockingbird," students will delight at the opportunity to get out of the classroom. Take your class to a museum on the Civil Rights Movement, a museum that addresses prejudice, or a local historical museum that has displays depicting American life in the 1930s. Following the field trip, ask students to reflect on both the movie and the field trip, tying the two together. Discuss local history and prejudices that existed or currently exist in the community, and how the characters Scout and Jem would feel about the situation.
Invite a guest speaker or two to visit the classroom and talk about life during the 1930s. Consider inviting the guests to also view the film beforehand with your class. Ask your guest speakers to address some of the main issues in the film (poverty, prejudice, racism, justice and the education system) and to elaborate on the context of the film, based on their own recollection of the social and political issues of the time period.
Ask students to write a story of their own, using the film "To Kill a Mockingbird" as inspiration. Students can rewrite their own version of the story, write a different ending to the story or use one or more characters from the film to create a new story. For example, have students write an alternate ending in which Tom Robinson is found innocent or in which Bob Ewell confesses immediately after Tom's death.
Have students create a play that is based on the film. Ask students to write a script, allowing them creativity in what scenes to include and how they want to retell the story. Assign students roles. If time is an issue, have students re-enact a single scene such as the trial of Tom Robinson. Make the play available to an audience of parents, the whole school or the whole community.
Ask students to each find another story that has a similar theme, such as prejudice. Possible stories include Dr. Seuss's "The Sneeches" or Thomas Keneally's "Schindler's List." Have students present the story they find to the class, explaining some of the similarities or differences they identified between the story they found and the film "To Kill a Mockingbird."