To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The State of Michigan has identified this novel as an "Anchor Text" for 9th grade
(see ELA 9 Michigan Merit Curriculum Course, pg 27).

Week 1: Prejudice

Monday-Tues: (Days 1 & 2) People sometimes form opinions or have attitudes against others based on lack of knowledge or on social codes (You believe something because others, sometimes adults, tell you to believe that.). These attitudes based on lack of knowledge and lack of personal experience are sometimes referred to as prejudice. Prejudice means forming an opinion without looking at the facts carefully. Prejudice is often directed at different races (black and white), different social classes (rich and poor) and/or different religions (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, etc.). But often negative attitudes or prejudice can be combated through learning more about and experiencing unfamiliar people, situations and/or ideas. Think about an attitude you have had that you changed after you learned more about the person situation, or idea.

Wed-Thurs: (Days 3 & 4)
News Genres: Article, Editorial, Letter
Know these newspaper genres! 

"Jocks and Prejudice," Nicholas D. Kristof, N.Y. Times, 6-11-06
"At Duke, A Scandal in Search of Meaning". Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post, 4-26-06 Editorial A. 
"Tough Questions in Durham". Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 4-25-08. 
"Keeping the Duke Scandal in Context".  Letters to the editor 5-2-06
"Duke Men's Lacrosse Team is Reinstated and Warned". Viv Bernstein and Juliet Macur, New York Times, 6-6-06

Fri:
Print off the character-note chart.  You will need this while reading the novel and I will periodically check it. 

Read chapter one and answer the focus question. 
(starting on pg 3, about 12 & 1/2 pgs)

Focus for 2nd Quarter
From ELA 9 Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Requirements, Page 27

Big Ideas
XX integrityXX relationships
XX truthX        equality
XX courage

Themes
Finding the truth through knowledge and experience

"Most people are [nice], Scout, when you finally see them."  (Atticus) 281

Education is key to overcoming prejudice.

Week 2: Respect & Honor

Mon: (Day 34)
Prepare for the paper: After reading the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, each student will be writing a paper.  You will need to take notes while reading.  Now, before you begin reading, preview the paper requirements for this novel (This is a Microsoft Word document). 

Read ch 2&3 - Respect for Outsiders, Poverty and Honor. Answer focus question.   

Scout loved it when Calpurnia made Crackling bread. 

Tues: Read Ch 4 - Secrets Seen and Kept by Children; Tree Gifts and a Play (32)

Wed: Read Ch 5 - Secrets Behind Closed Doors: Miss Maudie and the Letter to Boo (41)

Miss Maudie let the children play in her yard and eat her scuppernongs.

Thurs: Read "The Hidden Songs of a Secret Soul" by Bob Greene

Read Ch 6 - Revealing Secrets: A Pair of Trousers (50)

The Radleys raised collards in their backyard.   

Fri: Read Ch 7  - Sharing Secrets: The Knot in the Oak  (57)

Essential Questions
Who am I and how do I find my place in the world? 
What influences gender roles in our society? 
What stereotypes exist in our world? 
What is equality?  How can we work to achieve it? 
Why is it so difficult for people to stand up and do what is right? 
Do I have the courage to do what is right? 
Is it possible for one person to make a difference?
What inequalities are encountered and what comes of them?
How do these characters show or learn about responsibility?
How do these characters demonstrate courage?
Why is integrity important to these characters?
What truths are discovered and what was the cost?

ELA 9 Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Requirements, Page 27

Week 3: Courage

Mon: Read 1^st section ch 9  - Courage, Fighting, and Maycomb's Usual Disease (74)
Read Ch 10 - Courage and Guns: The Mockingbird and the Mad Dog (89)

Tues: Read Ch 12 - Calpurnia's Two Groups: First Purchase (115)

In First Purchase hung a copy of Hunt's Light of the World. 
Calpurnia taught Zeebo to read using the Bible and Blackstone's Commentaries.     

Week 4: The Trial Begins

Quotations from To Kill a Mockingbird
"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Atticus) 90

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Atticus) 30

Real courage "is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." (Atticus) 112

Mon: Read Ch 15 - The Old Sarum Caste (144)

Henry W. Grady

Monkey Puzzle Bush

Tues: Read Ch 16 - The Mixed Caste; Before the Trial (155)

The Caste System of Maycomb County:
First Caste: Professional Whites or Whites from "respectable families" such as the Finches and those on their street 
Second Caste: Working-Class Whites, farmers like the Cunninghams. 
Third Caste: Non-Working Whites who have been reduced to animal-level lives like the Ewells. 
Fourth Caste: Blacks, both successful and not. 
Fifth Caste: Mixed Race People

Wed: Read Ch 17 - Sheriff Tate and Bob Ewell on the Stand (166)

Atticus said that naming people after Confederate generals like Braxton Bragg makes them steady, slow drinkers. 

Harper Lee describes Judge Taylor as a shark and the court-writers as his pilot fish.   

Miss Maudie exchanges verses with the "foot-washers" Ecclesiastes 6:4  Proverbs 15:13

Thurs: Read Ch 18 - Ella Ewell on the Stand (178)

Ella claimis Tom busted up a chiffarobe for her. 

Fri: Read Ch 19 - Tom Robinson on the Stand (190)

Judge Taylor makes ex cathedra remarks. 

Genre Study
Xxx Characteristics of the novel
Xxx Characteristics of the screenplay
Xxx Characteristics of poetry
Xxx Characteristics of lyrics

Literary Elements
Xxx  plot pgs 32-33 of our textbook. 
Xxx setting pg 164-165 of our textbook
Xxx conflict pg 130-131 of our textbook
Xxx internal and external theme
Xxx Xxx pg 264-265 of our textbook
Xxx character development pg 130-131
Xxx mood, tone, style PG 586-587
Xxx author's purpose

Literary Devices
Xxx narration/point of view
Xxx figurative language:
Xxx Xxx imagery
Xxx Xxx symbolism
Xxx allusions
Xxx foreshadowing
Xxx implied meanings

Historical/Cultural
Xxx roles of women
Xxx racial/gender equality
Xxx stereotyping
Xxx Deep South culture of the 1930s
Xxx urban legends (Boo Radley)
Xxx racism through dialogue

Critical Perspectives
Xxx time period
Xxx geographical (North vs. South)
Xxx Your own perspectives on:
Xxx Xxx issues of inequality
Xxx Xxx issues of racism
Xxx Xxx issues of prejudgment

Genre Study
characteristics of the following:
Xxx The editorial
Xxx The news article
Xxx Letters to the editor
Xxx The speech
Xxx A primary source document
Xxx The memoir
Xxx The timeline

Expository Elements
Xxx thesis
Xxx supporting ideas
Xxx statistical evidence
Xxx chronology

Organizational Patterns
Xxx fact/opinion
Xxx cause/effect
Xxx theory/evidence

Features
Xxx editorial format:
Xxx Xxx date, byline, attribution
Xxx letter-to-editor format:
Xxx Xxx salutation, body, signature
Xxx document format with signatures
Xxx media conventions and special effects
Xxx headings and subheadings
Xxx photographs and drawings
Xxx boldface, italics, parenthesis

Critical Perspectives
Xxx facts and opinions
Xxx editorial perspective
Xxx writer's tone, bias
Xxx logic
Xxx authenticity