Attention: Could you please send me an email at tchristian@berwicksd.org and let me know if you have internet access.
The district asked teachers if they knew who has access to the internet.
Thanks!!!
Hello Integrated English!
I just wanted to check in with you! I hope this message finds you happy, healthy and well-rested. I miss your class!!!
I have received several emails, and I know many of you would like an update.
First, I want to thank you for being such dedicated students! I am such a lucky teacher....Who else has students sending emails and wondering about work? Your kindness and effort truly reveal the content of your character.
So, let's talk about class.....You were supposed to complete the TAKM work for chapters 1-3. This included packet work, journals (turnitin.com link is up now), and the readings.
I am going to pick up with this assignment upon our return.
Below is an overview of those chapters. If you have any questions/ comments, I am going to create a discussion in your OneNote Notebooks in the near future. I will keep you posted as to when it will be up.
I hope the key point summaries below help to guide your reading and answer your questions. I tried to address all of your questions.
I put up summaries for chapters 4 and 5. Please feel free to read these chapters. This is a wonderful novel. If you decide to read them, please refer to my notes below to guide you on key points.
(I just wanted to offer you the opportunity to read something entertaining this week)
Please take care and stay safe!
Mrs. C
Links to the novel: (If you forgot your book, I am including two links below. Please use the format you like best!!)
To Kill a Mockingbird Novel Link 1
To Kill a Mockingbird Novel Link 2
Chapter 1:
-The chapter opens with the introduction of the narrator, Scout (Jean Louise) Finch, her older brother Jem (Jeremy), and their friend and neighbor, Dill (Charles Baker Harris).
-Finch family history. Their ancestor, a Methodist named Simon Finch, fled British persecution and eventually settled in Alabama, where he trapped animals for fur and practiced medicine. Having bought several slaves, he established a largely self-sufficient homestead and farm, Finch's Landing, near Saint Stephens. The family lost its wealth in the Civil War.
-Scout's family: mother, father, uncle, aunt, housekeeper....The relationship with all...esp. Jem and his mother.
-Conditions of Maycomb County
-The Depression-era Macyomb description
Evidence: Scout then describes Depression-era Maycomb, "an old tired town when I first knew it", summer heat and slow pace of life. She notes, "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County". Scout describes as her father as entirely "satisfactory," and her family's black cook, Calpurnia, as strict and "tyrannical." Scout and Jem's mother died of a heart attack when Scout was two and she has no memories of her. However, Jem can remember his mother and Scout notices that he is occasionally nostalgic about her. The novel begins during the summer. Scout is almost six, and Jem is almost ten.
-Once this background picture is complete, the real narrative begins with the first meeting of Scout, Jem, and "Dill"
-Late summer: The kids are tired of their regular activities, and focus on the RADLEYS
-The children's description of Boo
-The Radley's need for privacy
-Why Boo was kept inside
-(The father...Mr. Radley's death) Uncle Nathan takes over
-How Dill became obsessed with the rumors of the RADLEYS..Thus the adventure begins.
Chapter2:
-End of summer, Dill leaves
-Scout's first day of school
-Let's talk about Miss Caroline Fisher!!
-Paint a picture of the students in the class
-Why Scout shouldn't read....lol.....Yes, she should!
-Walter Cunningham....a little boy with a bigger story
Chapter 3:
-The lunch disaster
-manners, manners, manners....Scout
-Miss Caroline and the "cootie"
-This type of situation shines light on the living conditions of the era
-Burris Ewell...His comments aren't Mrs. Christian rated...How about that for a first grader?
-The Ewells vs the rest of Maycomb
- Atticus teaches Scout about compromise: if she goes to school, Atticus will let her keep reading with him at home. Scout agrees and Atticus reads to her and Jem from the papers.
Chapter 4
-School continues; Scout doubts that the new educational system is really doing her any good - (Ever feel that way? Especially on a Friday?) she finds school boring and wishes the teacher would allow her to read and write, rather than ask the children to do silly activities geared toward "Group Dynamics" and "Good Citizenship."
-Scout and Jem find treasures in the Radley Tree. Gum, spit it out Scout, it could be poison...lol. What does she do, she chews it anyway!!
The children don't know if the knothole is someone's hiding place or if the pennies are a gift, but decide to take them and keep them safely at the bottom of Jem's trunk.
Dill returns to Maycomb for the summer again, full of stories !
The three try to start a few games, tire rolling and The Radleys.
They shouldn't have used the Cal's scissors, to play The Radleys. Of course, they get caught....Atticus has his hands full with them!
Chapter 5
Jem and Dill have become closer friends, and Scout, being a girl, finds herself often excluded from their play.
Dill, in childish fashion, has decided to get engaged to Scout, but now he and Jem play together often and Scout finds herself unwelcome.
Instead of playing with the boys, Scout often sits with their neighbor, the avid gardener Miss Maudie Atkinson, watches the sun set on her front steps, or partakes of Miss Maudie's fine homemade cake.
Miss Maudie is honest in her speech and her ways, with a witty tongue, and Scout considers her a trusted friend.
Scout asks her one day about Boo Radley, and Miss Maudie confirms: He's alive, the rumors aren't true, they're religous, they like to stay inside, and he was a nice boy.
The next day, Jem and Dill hatch a plan to leave a note for Boo in the Radley's window, using a fishing line...This is a great plan, right?
Jem tries to deliver the note with the fishing pole, but finds that it's harder to maneuver than he expected. Obciously, Atticus arrives and catches them all. He tells them to stop tormenting Boo, and lectures them about how Boo has a right to his privacy.
Poor Atticus, it's like talking to a wall.
I hope this helps you focus on key points, and addresses many of your questions.
Be safe, and please take care!!!!!!
