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 because others, sometimes adults, tell them to believe that way.  These attitudes based on lack of knowledge and lack of personal experience are called prejudice.  Prejudice means forming an opinion without looking at the facts carefully. 
XXX Prejudice is often directed at different races (black, white), different social classes (rich, poor) or different religions (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim).  Often negative attitudes or prejudice can be combated through learning more about and experiencing unfamiliar people, situations, or ideas. 
Write about an attitude you have had that you changed after you XXX learned more about the person, situation, or idea OR
Write about a time that someone you respect had to change an XXX idea when he or she learned more OR
Persuade the reader to be open-minded to new ideas.

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

Read chapter one
(read 1st 2 paragraphs, then from break on pg 5, about 12 & 1/2 pgs)

Thur:
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. 

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.

Fri:
(Day 34) Read Ch 4 - Secrets Seen and Kept by Children; Tree Gifts and a Play (32)

Week 2: Respect & Honor

Mon: Read Ch 5 - Secrets Behind Closed Doors: Miss Maudie and the Letter to Boo (41).  Note that Miss Maudie lets the children play in her yard and eat her scuppernongs.

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

Read Ch 6 - Revealing Secrets: A Pair of Trousers (50).  Note that the Radleys raised collards in their backyard.   

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


Thurs: Read 1^st section of ch 9  - Courage, Fighting, and Maycomb's Usual Disease (74-77)

Read Ch 10 - Courage and Guns: The Mockingbird and the Mad Dog (89)

Fri: Read Ch 12 - Calpurnia's Two Groups: First Purchase (115).  What was First Purchase?  Note that in First Purchase hung a copy of Hunt's Light of the World.  Another note is that Calpurnia taught Zeebo to read using the Bible and Blackstone's Commentaries.     

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 Ch 15 - The Old Sarum Caste (144).  Atticus gives Jem an article by Henry W. Grady. 

At the corner was a Monkey Puzzle Bush.   

Tues:  Write reviews of novels. 

Week 4: The Trial Begins

Mon: 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ella claims Tom busted up a chiffarobe for her. 

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

Judge Taylor makes ex cathedra remarks. 

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

Week 5: The Conclusion of the Trial        Remember that you are supposed to be taking notes for your paper!

Mon: Read Ch 20 - Dolphus Raymond (199)

Tues: Read Ch 21 - The Verdict

Wed: Read Ch 22 - The Next Morning
Read Ch 23 - The Cunningham's Kind of Folk

Thurs:
Read Ch 25 - A Death
Read Ch 27 - Three Little Things that Happened in Town

Fri: Read Ch 25 - A Death
Rolly Poly
Read Ch 27 - Three Little Things that Happened in Town
Atticus was about as radical as Cotton Tom Heflin. 

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