Book Review - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Introduction

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a well written book published in the 1960s.  The front cover is black except for the writing and a small little bird standing alone.  It looks like it represents Tom Robinson, the main coloured man in the story.  He is truly alone in his struggle for justice except for Atticus Finch who fights to help him.  On the back of the book it tells us about Atticus teaching his two kids, Jem and Scout, about injustice and unfairness to different races while he fights Tom’s case. 

The book tells the story through the eyes of a young child, Scout Finch.  She witnesses this injustice going on around her and sees Tom Robinson’s trial.  The family must suffer the names they’re being called.  The local people don’t approve of Atticus defending a black man who has been charged with the rape of a white girl.   The court case is the central part of the novel but a lot of the book is dedicated to before the case and the racist opinions of neighbours in the ‘sleepy’ town of Maycomb. 

To Kill a Mocking Birk TOM ROBINSON - NOT GUILTY

Our class acted as jury and we found that Tom Robinson was not guilty of raping Mayella Ewell.  Here are the reasons why:

Celebrating Malala and the Strength of Girls Everywhere

Excellent article about Malala from the Huffington post.

As the parents of young girls and people who believe that girls can change the world, today we're celebrating International Day of the Girl and the power of girls everywhere. One girl in the news right now embodies this strength: Malala Yousafzai.

She's only 16, but Malala is many things: a champion for girls' right to education, a survivor, an inspiration, an older sister, and a role model.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Newspaper Article Killing of Tim Johnson by ecenglish13

Heaney - The Underground

The Underground by Seamus Heaney   -   Visual images of poem  -  Ordinary Level L/C

Romeo and Juliet Themes

Romeo & juliet themes lesson from katstrelow

Newspaper Templates

Extranewspapers

 

I often get  students to write newspaper articles in relation to various topics covered in class! It is great to see this work in a newspaper, I find this handy, and easy to use, Word newspaper template resource useful for this purpose.  It includes a number of different templates that can be edited to suit  purpose and taste!

This is an example of one of the templates:

 

 

 

This was the haunting picture of an Afgan girl which appeared on the cover of the National Geographic June 1985.  It is a great picture for use as an aid in creative writing.

This is as she is today and the story of the girl whose  eyes have captivated the world since she appeared on that cover is told here .   Good use can also be made of the above photo for discussion, creative writing, her story is good for reading/comprehension and finally comparisons between student writng and her true story can be made and discussed!!

STORYBOARD

Comic strips for the classroom!  

Examples above and here show how they are used to explain conflict in literature. 

Have a go on Storyboard That!!

PERSUASIVE WRITING

This is a good video for helping with Persuasive Writing.

Thanks to Gormanstown English for sharing it!

ROMEO & JULIET

Dire Straits Romeo & Juliet...a gem

 

...and for a more modern take, Taylor Swift Love Story

Romeo & Juliet - Prologue Rap

Here's a nice way of introducing the Prologue using a RAP 

Romeo & Juliet Audio Book

Romeo & Juliet - Study Resources

Some useful resources:

1. The entire play online.
2. The death scene (Act 5 Sc.3) as performed by the Globe Theatre Company.
3. Shakespeare Online Guide to Romeo and Juliet with summary and analysis.
4. opensourceSHAKESPEARE text with one click quote correlation.
5. Grammarmancomic.com: Comic strip of balcony scene with worksheet.
6. BBC GCSE Bitesize: Video, analysis and more.
7. A collection of art inspired by Romeo and Juliet.
8. Lit Charts.com guide to Romeo and Juliet.

Thanks to  Newbridge College English Blog for the above resources

GREAT RESOURCE FOR STUDYING MACBETH

Globe Education’s online exploration of Macbeth for Playing Shakespeare!
Discover more about Shakespeare’s dark tragedy with unique resources on language, character, themes and performance.
You can't forget that at the end of the day Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed and that's where the magic really happens. But even if you didn’t see this production at the Globe, you can still have a look at some of the pictures, videos and interviews taken throughout rehearsals. We hope they’ll give you a feel of how this production of Macbeth came together as a whole. The Character profile pages and Text in Performance folders will be frequently updated with new images and interviews, so be sure to check back regularly.
Enjoy, and let us know what you think!