TKAMB Reading Journal

TKAMB Reading Journal

English 9

S. Dashiell

2nd Quarter

Instructions: Each student is required to keep a reading journal for Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This reading journal will play a MAJOR role in each student’s 2nd quarter grade. Please be serious about getting your work done every time, on time. The reading journal has 5 sections: Chapter Notes, Character Traits, Literary Terms, Words to Know, and Things I Don’t Understand. Each of these sections should be updated for every chapter you read. Here is a little more information about what is required for each section:

Chapter Notes:

· This section requires you to use bullet points to write down the important events of that chapter.

· Do not use websites to get a chapter summary because I will look for specific details in your journal that cannot be found online.

· My advice is to imagine that you had to read this book in college again. What important details would you want to remind yourself about in each chapter so you didn’t have to read the book again? Well, that is what goes under chapter notes. It is essentially a chapter summary in bullet point format.

· I would suggest that you have at least 10 bullet points for every chapter in this section.

· Label each chapter (ex. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.)

Character Traits:

· This section requires you to write down everything you learn about EACH character through characterization.

· Give each character his/her own page because you will add to it as you read.

· Put the character’s name at the top of the page and use bullet points every time you add details.

· You will add every single character you are introduced to in this section, no matter how big or small their role is.

Literary Terms:

· This section requires you to write down all of the literary terms you identified in each chapter.

· The purpose of this section is to help you practice identifying literary terms in a text. If you do not do this section correctly, you will probably get low scores on your literary term quizzes and tests.

· You do not need to write the entire example. Just write the name of the literary term and the page number you found it on. (ex. Simile p, 3, 4, 22, 90; Allusion p. 1, 3, 29, 53, etc.)

Words to Know:

· This section requires you to write down and define each of the “words to know” that are given for each chapter.

· You can use a dictionary or dictionary.com to define many of the words.

· You may need to “guess” the word meaning based upon how it is used in the book for some of the “Alabama slang” words.

· Nonetheless, put a definition for each word provided below.

· EXTRA CREDIT ALERT!!! I will give you a point of extra credit for each “word to know” that you use in a text, twitter, facebook, your conversations, classwork, class discussions, etc. You have to provide proof of your use of the word in order to get the point. There are over 100 words to know, so you can rack up a lot of extra credit points!!! Remember, you get a point of extra credit EACH time you use any of the words to know. (…within reason of courseJ)

Things I Don’t Understand:

· This section is for any questions or inferences you make.

· Please add at least 5 bullets to this section each chapter.

· examples: “Why does Scout call her dad by his first name?” “I think the dog is sick.”

Grading: Although many of these assignments will go under the 25% homework category, it will ultimately count as a grade under your 50% assessment category in your grade. This entire project is worth a total of 500 points!

A bit of advice: I understand that this project is huge. Please understand that I am preparing you guys for a wonderful future, whether you choose college or an immediate career. If you trust me and follow my advice, you will mature into a responsible, dependable, productive, and intelligent student. Life is hard, and I want to make life as easy as possible without setting you up to fail. So, please, if you feel overwhelmed, just talk to me. I sit in my classroom every A day waiting for you to come visit me during your lunch for a tutoring session. I will come before school or stay after for you. You and your grade are that important to me! I will tweet you, or get on Skype/Oovoo. All you have to do is make that first step and askJ I will take it from there. Good luck on your project. Follow instructions, and make me proud! I know you can do it!!!

Reading Schedule

Week 1 (November 14-18)
HW #1: Make a collage representing your childhood. Usemagazine pictures, newspapers, etc. to cut and paste information onto a sheet of paper.
HW #2: Read Chapters 1-2