Ms. Cooper / Language Arts

Short Cycle Assessments (SCAs)

Just FYI, after suspending them in October, the district is once again requiring that students take short-cycle assessments every three weeks. They dropped this on us a few days ago, with the expectation that we stop what we're teaching to administer the tests. I have asked for an extension so we may finish our novels and maintain continuity. But please know that from here on out, students will take these tests in all core subjects every three weeks.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Thanks.

Interesting civil rights sites

We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement

Separarte is Not Equal: Brown vs. Board of Education

Voices of Civil Rights

Week of January 30: Accelerated

Monday

Thematic study: courage

Tuesday/Wednesday

• The trial is over, but there is another storyline that still needs to be resolved!
• Chapters 24-27
• Finish poem for two voices this week!

Dinner table discussion: Aunt Alexandra accepts the theory that the Cunninghams are not "our kind of people." Do you think people should mix only with those of the same social class? Same neighborhood? Same group of friends (or the same cliques) at school? Are class divisions good or bad for society?

Thursday/Friday

• Book Fair visit
• Chapters 28-31
• Atticus' integrity
• Atticus cs. Heck Tate
• "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird"

Week of January 30: Pre-AP

Monday

• Finish "4 Little Girls" documentary
• NPR interview with  Christopher Paul Curtis, author of WGTB
  

Tuesday/Wednesday

• Work on projects: Download WGTB graphic organizer
• 2nd period: Book Fair visit is Wednesday

Thursday/Friday

• Book Fair visits for 3rd, 5th, and 6th periods
• Finish and turn in projects

Progress Reports FYI

Because all classes have been studying a novel for the last three weeks, I only have two grades in the gradebook. So progress reports will be based only on those two assignments and may be a bit misleading about your child's actual progress in my class. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. Thanks!

Week of January 23: Accelerated

Monday

Theme: Mob Mentality

• Download Mob Mentality
• Download TKAM_Atticus_vs_mob
• Download TKAM_Poem_for_Two_Voices
• Download TKAM poem for two voices example
  

Updated calendar: Download To Kill a Mockingbird Tentative Schedule 2012

Dinner table discussion:

1. In Chapter 12 Atticus says that name-calling doesn't hurt a person. Do you agree? Why or why not?
2. Calpurnia calls Jem and Scout "her children." What makes us belong to one another?

Tuesday/Wednesday

7th period: We will have a guest speaker. Travis County Court at Law Judge Elisabeth Earle will share her courtroom experiences so students can better visualize the events surrounding Tom Robinson's trial in the upcoming section of the novel.

8th period: Discuss Tom's trial, chapters 16-19

Thursday/Friday

• Chapters 20-23
• Dolphus Raymond
• The aftermath of Tom's trial, Jem's "color-blindness"

Dinner table discussion: What are some ways Tom is not getting a fair trial?

Week of January 23: Pre-AP

Monday

• WGTB Chapter 13 + handouts
• return papers

Tuesday/Wednesday

WGTB Chapter 14-15 and epilogue + handouts

Download Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

Thursday/Friday

Film study:  "4 Little Girls," a documentary by Spike Lee

Week of January 16: Accelerated

Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. holiday

Tuesday/Wednesday

• Alabama as an important location in the Civil Rights movement
• Discuss Chapters 10-11
• Significance of the phrase "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird"
• Characters/character traits we find valuable: Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, Atticus

Mr. Bourdon will also be discussing choice sheets today in class.

This is why I called it a "tentative" calendar--I've updated it again, 1/18: Download To Kill a Mockingbird Tentative Schedule 2012

Thursday/Friday

• Scottsboro Boys, KKK
• Discuss Chapters 12-15
• The visit to Calpurnia's church
• The charge against Tom, the group who appeared at the jail, Tom's trial
• FYI: some of you are not keeping up with the reading, and therefore you can't answer the warmup questions or participate in class discussions. PLEASE spend the weekend catching up to chapter 18-19 for next time.

Friday: We will have a guest speaker in 8th period Friday (7th period is tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday). Travis County Court at Law Judge Elisabeth Earle will share her courtroom experiences so students can better visualize the events surrounding Tom Robinson's trial in the upcoming section of the novel.

A note about 1930s currency: A gallon of gas cost about ten cents and a new car cost $700. A loaf of bread was also about ten cents. So when the minister at Cal's church asked for ten DOLLARS in the collection, this was a significant amount of money. Giving ten cents might make the difference between feeding their family and not feeding them, so giving to the collection was a sacrifice for many in attendance. It was a major sacrifice that many church members made in this scene.

In Chapter 12, Jem and Scout visit Calpurnia's church. Scout observes a stained glass window called The Light of the World. This is what it would have looked like:

 

Week of January 16: Pre-AP

Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. holiday

Tuesday/Wednesday

• WGTB Chapters 8-9 and handouts
• Mr. Bourdon will be discussing choice sheets in class, so we will only be reading two chapters today.

In Chapter 8, the Dad installs a record player in their car. Here's what that might have looked like:

Kenny played "Yakety Yak" over and over. Click Play to hear that song:

 

Yakety Yak

 

Here's a map of the trip the Watsons will take from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama:

 UPDATED CALENDAR: Download WGTB schedule 2012

Thursday/Friday

WGTB Chapters 10-12 and handouts.

Handouts from Chapters 8-12 are due today!

Please remember these handouts are not group work or partner work; you should not be comparing answers with your neighbors. This is individual work. The answers are in the book--if you missed one, go back and find it rather than copying it from a classmate. If you can't get it done during classtime, please come during advisory to get help.

Week of January 9: Accelerated

Monday

Students will begin their study of To Kill a Mockingbird today.

• Introduction, procedures, issues of language and sensitivity
• Calendar: Download To Kill a Mockingbird Tentative Schedule 2012. Parents, I encourage you to read along and discuss the novel at home. I'll try to post "dinner table discussion" questions to give you a jumping-off point.
• Vocabulary: This is a huge document of vocabulary relevant to the novel, so it's not feasible for me to copy it for every student. I recommend you open this file at home and refer to it as you read. Download To Kill a Mockingbird Vocabulary.
• Characters, basic summary
• Setting:
  • 1930s Alabama during the Great Depression
  • Deep South 30 years before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s
  • Racism and segregation were common throughout the South
  • For reference: 2012 is 49 years after MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, while 1935 was 60 years after the end of the Civil War and slavery. We think of the Civil War as a loooong time ago, but comparatively, it wasn't that long for our characters in the novel--not much longer than the Civil Rights Era is to us. 
• Begin reading chapter one
• Homework: read chapters 2-5

Tuesday/Wednesday

• Discuss chapters 2-5
• I know some of you weren't able to read through Chapter 5 for today. That's okay, but please make an effort to catch up this week. I can adjust the schedule if we need it because discussions are running long or we need more time on some of the issues that come up, but I won't extend due dates just because you aren't keeping up with the reading.
• Download Essential Questions
• Character
• FDR/New Deal
• Segregation
• Homework: read chapters 6-9

Dinner table discussion: What is Jem's and Scout's "ethical culture? How is it the same or different from yours?

Thursday/Friday

• Discuss chapters 6-9
• Setting
• Character names: nicknames, pet names, perjorative names
• Missouri Compromise
• Jim Crow laws
• Segregation
• Homework: I know some of you are behind--it's going a little more slowly than you thought. Please try to read chapters 10-13 for Tuesday

Dinner table discussion: What do you think about Atticus's statement that people are entitled to respect for their opinions, even when those opinions are racist and biased and nasty?