Their Eyes Were Watching God
Teacher's Guide - Capstone Project Ideas

Introduction

Schedule/Lesson Plans

Capstone Project Ideas

Essay Topics

Additional Resources

NCTE Standards

Credits

Back to Reader's Guide

1. Public Presentations: Your students have now given a number of presentations about the novel’s themes. Have students give their favorite presentation to a Big Read partner: a bookstore, literary organization, or library.

2. Parent’s Night: Host parents for a Hurston celebration. Include music from Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, or King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. Have students re-enact their four favorite scenes from the novel. Have student visual artists create illustrations to assist parents in understanding the scenes and the historical moment. Have a number of students present their ideas about the novel, concluding with what they learned from this experience.

3. Create a historical time line to display in your classroom. Use this as a way to explore the time in which Hurston lived. For a more specific focus, create a time line of Harlem Renaissance events, including Hurston’s contributions.

4. Create a work of art to serve as a new cover for the novel. Have a show of student work at a local bookstore or Big Read sponsor. As an alternative, have students create a new title for the novel and create a corresponding image.

5. Invite an anthropologist to guide students in collecting social and cultural data. Ask students to collect songs from their own cultural backgrounds. Work together to create a class songbook. Extend the project by having students determine how these songs reflect specific values.