Why you should read TKAM (as if you needed a reason, really)

TKAM: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Defined simply: The best book ever written. Period.


If you are a fan of the great literary cannon, then you will disagree with me, but I don't really care. Let's just be honest, you don't read TKAM because it's one of the "classics". Do most of the average Joes read the classics? No. Should they? Maybe. I'm a fan, but I've also been forced to read them and I fell in love with them that way. On the other hand, TKAM should be in the category of greatest books ever written. (Hold this thought for a few minutes, because we're coming back to it.)Here's why I think so, and also what prompted me to write this.

I had a "working lunch" with four of my fellow colleagues that teach 7th Language Arts at Drake to discuss the upcoming year and how we will tackle our AL course of study and the other objectives/materials that we will teach. We have two days of curriculum design coming up next week, so this was the precursory meeting. We decided that middle schoolers are very awkward and it is this year in a young person's life that can be a major turning point for them personally. In 8th grade, all students in our system move to Auburn Junior High for two years, then on to Auburn High for grades 10-12. Case in point, the little people I encounter are in for BIG changes in the next few years.
In case you haven't been around 12-13 year olds in a while, they change DRASTICALLY in 7th grade. As a department, we wanted to design our curriculum and lessons around helping our students to embrace these changes and help them figure out what type of person they will become as they get older. Our over-arching theme this year will be "Self Discovery", and we will teach smaller thematic units during each of the four quarters. We will be teaching ELA concepts through the following lenses: Identity, Tolerance, Community, and Culture.

I'm personally most excited about tolerance. Here's why...

Tolerance is something that our world, country, state, communities, and citizens have a hard time with. I'm not just talking about racism, either. We don't like what's different than us, as if "us" is somehow the norm, whatever that means. Ask yourself, what is actually normal? Can you define normal? 7th graders have an especially hard time being accepting of others who are not like themselves. There is quite a bit of bullying and picking on that takes place in middle, junior high, and high schools all over our country and frankly, it's very sad and disturbing.

(Refer back to the TKAM discussion from earlier) If you haven't read TKAM, it's narrated by this 6 year old girl , Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, who's from Maycomb, Alabama. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer who defends an African American man accused of raping a white girl. Keep in mind this book is set in 1932. Mmmmk. Throughout the book, Scout, who is really not prejudice, learns why it is such a big deal that an African American is being charged with this crime. Atticus gives Scout and her brother Jim pellet guns for their birthdays. He tells Scout that she can shoot any animal in their backyard except for mockingbirds. When she asks why, he tells her that mockingbirds don't do anything but sing their songs- their innocence is something you shouldn't mess with. After Atticus proves his client's innocence, the reader realizes the symbolism of the title. Never, ever kill the innocent mockingbird because they don't cause any harm to anyone or anything. The book portrays the racist south and the intolerant attitudes of the people of Maycomb. Through the eyes of a 6 year old, readers are confronted with their own views of tolerance as they see grown adults acting so foolishly.

Atticus says to Scout at one point in the book, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb in his skin and walk around for a while." WOW. This, my friends, is why I am in love with this book, and this is why I cannot wait to teach my students about tolerance of all kinds. Unfortunately, and much to my dismay, I can't teach TKAM, as neither the language nor some of the situations are appropriate for "young minds", and 9th grade teaches it. Boo-hiss.

If you haven't read this book, or don't remember it, please go check it out of your library. It's amazing and a great read. I can't wait to teach my kids these concepts and hopefully be able to shape or reshape their thinking. If we don't teach it in school, and obviously some of them aren't getting it at home, where will they learn it?

This meeting fired me up for the coming year. How do I know? I've been in the library for three hours working on the pacing guide and literature that will accompany our thematic units. It's amazing the differences between first and second year of teaching. I'm so much more confident in my abilities this year and am excited about the changes that I'm going to make to my lessons. Yay for 7th grade! I'm going to read TKAM now.... :)