Oh my DEAR, we're almost done with TKAM!

Today we began today's class with DEAR time. I was glad to give you more time to read today since we were just finishing Chapter 19. When reading, think about these questions:

            How often did you find yourself distracted while you read? What causes it?

            What do you do to help yourself stay focused while reading?

            If a part of your book is confusing to you, what do you do? Is this helpful?

            Do you find yourself picturing what you read? Is it like photographs or a movie?

            Are you actively trying to figure out what will happen next while you read?

            Have you started reading this book other places or just in this class?

Hopefully the answers to these questions will spark something inside you to read more or ask more questions. Again, the whole point of DEAR time is for you to be continuing your reading of these books outside of class. Check out the facts:

* Out-of-school reading habits of students has shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose students to more than a million words of text in a year.  *60 percent of America's prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.

*More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level - far below the level needed to earn a living wage.

To check out more facts, click here: Literacy Facts

As for the trial, here's what we learned:

--Gilmer makes Tom Robinson look like a fool. Tom admits to feeling "sorry" for Mayella, which is a big no no because that means that a black person is above and has pity for a white person. He also has to continually say Mayella is "mistaken" rather than "lying" because to say that a white person is lying, is to say that person is wrong.

--Gilmer ends up calling Tom Robinson "boy" 7 times. No one else in the court is referred to this way. This shows that black men of Maycomb are not respected. They are viewed as children and not as men. 

Tomorrow, we'll start preparing for the midterm on Friday. But you need to be doing your part by gathering all of your materials (quizzes, tests, etc.), reviewing your MEAL format for your paragraphs, and reviewing your literary terms.

Remember, here's how the midterm breaks down:

20 multiple choice questions (60 points total, 3 points each)

1 open response (1 paragraph) (10 points total)

1 essay (3-5 paragraphs) (30 points total)

Because this exam is very long and difficult, I strongly advise you to read the multiple choice questions before you read the passages so you know what you're looking for. Also, I would suggest skipping the open response and doing the essay first because it is worth more points. If you don't get to the open response, you lose 10 points. However, if you don't get to the essay, you lose 30. Use these test-taking strategies to the best of your ability so you can do the best you can on this exam. 

DEETS:

In-class:

--Morphology

--DEAR

--Finish Chapter 19 Role Play

--Go over Midterm Breakdown

HW:

--Study for your midterm!