Monday, January 28, 2013 Dear Parent/Guardian, We are very excited to start the new semester off with

the classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This novel is a wonderful story about a six-year-old girl growing up in the Depression Era south, and all that her and her family must endure over the course of a couple of years. The teaching goals for this unit are: Complete the reading of TKM with an understanding of the setting and cultural factors impacting the characters. Recognize how ethical principles, values, and morals can help a person live a meaningful and successful life. Learn to evaluate characters and situations in order to understand motivation and characterization. Write a research paper that discusses social issues that are brought up in TKM. Create a vocabulary wall to acquire complicated vocabulary.

This is a very ambitious unit that is intended to be completed in four weeks. That being said, we have attached the unit calendar to this letter, so that you will be better able to monitor your child's progress throughout this unit. Almost every night there are one or two chapters that must be read and a set of study guide questions that are due at the beginning of class the next day. We will also have two reading quizzes per week to make sure that your child is keeping up with the reading. We are diving right into the reading of this novel. In fact, we have already read chapter one together and chapters two and three are to be read by the beginning of class tomorrow. It is very important that your child keep up with the reading assignments. Getting behind can equal failure and that is the last thing that we want. I am certain that your child can be successful during this unit. To make sure of this, I am asking for your help in keeping your child on track. I suggest that you keep this calendar somewhere where you and your child can see it at home and asking your child about English homework always encourages them to make sure that they have completed it. Thank you so much for your cooperation and help. Symantha Reilly reillysy@msu.edu Carol Farrell carol.farrell@lansingschools.net (517) 755-4627

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