AP and Pre-AP Student Contract
The purpose of the College Board Advanced Placement courses is to prepare students for college
work and/or AP exams. Typically, successful AP and Pre-AP students are task-oriented,
proficient readers and writers who are able to prioritize their time and who usually have parent/
guardian support in their educational endeavors. AP and Pre-AP courses are different from the
regular high school courses in that they are taught with college level materials at a faster pace.
Student and Parent/Guardian Responsibilities:
Student: I agree to organize my time and efforts to complete this AP/Pre-AP course
successfully. I will notify my teacher immediately if I fall behind in readings or assignments.
Parent/Guardian: I agree to help my child organize study time in support of class assignments.
I will notify the teacher immediately of any concerns relating to the class or to my child’s
progress.
Student _______________________________ (Print name)
_______________________________ (Signature)
Parent/Guardian _______________________________ (Print name)
_______________________________ (Signature)
Return contracts to Mrs. Blythe, Mrs. Guevara, AHS counselors, or the AHS office before the
end of the current school year.
UNIT OBJECTIVES To Kill A Mockingbird
1. Through reading Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, students will gain a better understanding of
typically American views and conflicts regarding education, prejudice, bravery, and respect of
the individual.
2. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the text on four levels: factual, interpretive,
critical, and personal.
3. Students will define their own viewpoints on the aforementioned themes.
4. Students will be exposed to a different era of American life, showing many of today's conflicts
are not new; they are rooted in our American past.
5. Students will see that each of our daily life experiences changes us and shapes our thoughts
and feelings.
6. Students will be given the opportunity to practice reading to improve their skills.
7. Students will answer questions to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the main
events and characters in To Kill a Mockingbird as they relate to the author's theme
development.
8. Students will make assertions about the character of Atticus based on his responses to conflicts
in the selected excerpts.
9. Students will examine a writing prompt and analyze passages from the novel in order to
provide a focus as they read and to improve their understanding of the novel.
a. The writing assignments are geared to several purposes:
To have students demonstrate their abilities to inform and express their own ideas.
Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to write effectively to inform by
developing and organizing facts to convey information.
b. To check the students' reading comprehension
c. To make students think about the ideas presented by the novel
d. To encourage logical thinking
Summer Reading Assignment
Your summer reading assignment is due August 28th in class. You will submit the written part
of your assignment and will turn in your typed essay to turnitin.com on this day. Directions will
be given in class for turnitin.com, and I will stay after school until 5:00 P.M. for students who
require assistance. Your typed essay must be submitted to turnitin by 11:59 that night. No late
submissions will be accepted since all students were given the entire summer to work on this
assignment. If you do not plan on being at school on the third day, your typed essay must be
emailed to me at [email protected] in advance. Failure to do so will result in a zero.
All Pre-AP English I students will take a test over To Kill a Mockingbird in class on August
August 28th.
If you have any problems, concerns, or questions, you are to notify me by email at
[email protected] as soon as possible. When advanced notice is given, it will be possible to
set up a conference time for help with your summer reading assignment. I do not live in Atlanta
and cannot come on short notice.
Assignment Due: August 28th in class and turnitin.com
Test: August 28th in class
Passage Annotation and Character Study
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
About this Lesson
Authors often reveal meaning in a work of fiction through the characters they create. The
motivations and conflicts of these characters, as well as how they resolve those conflicts, all
combine to reveal the author’s purpose and to establish universal meaning. One of the most
well-known and beloved characters in fiction is Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a
Mockingbird. In this assignment, you are asked to define the character of Atticus Finch by
analyzing selected excerpts from the novel. You are asked to read, annotate, summarize,
consider conflicts, and make assertions about Atticus based on these close reading and writing
activities.
Note: The word “flag” in the directions for this assignment refers to students who have school or
library copies of the text and cannot mark or highlight in them. These students need to mark the
pages and the text with post-it notes.
Materials and Resources
• copy of assignment
• copy of novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• post-it notes (optional)
Expository Essay
The purpose of an expository essay is to explain something to your reader. As tested on STAAR,
this paper is not a method of explaining your opinion; it is to explain facts. An expository essay
uses the following structure:
I. Introduction: briefly introduces the topic, ultimately guiding it to a specific thesis
that states the main points of the paper.
II. Body Paragraph 1: begins with a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph and contains an explanation and an example relevant to the essay prompt.
III. Body Paragraph 2: begins with a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph and contains an explanation and an example relevant to the essay prompt.
IV. Conclusion: restates the thesis and summarizes the essay’s main points.
You are expected to follow these guidelines in addition to the guidelines on the following page
since your essay will be graded on all of these elements. Your essay will:
•
•
•
•
consist of these four paragraphs
be typed in Times New Roman 12 point font
be double-spaced
be no longer than one page
Because of the page limit, it is imperative that you ensure everything in your essay is focused on
the topic specified in your prompt and that your thesis demonstrates this. Your essay will be
graded on STAAR’s 0-4 scale with 4 being the highest grade you may receive. A 4 rubric is on
the following page.
Prompt:
Authors use direct and indirect characterization to create characters in works of
literature. Through words and actions, a character can “come to life” for the
reader. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the author draws a vivid picture of
the character of Atticus Finch as he responds to conflict. In a well-developed,
multi-paragraphed essay, explain how the character of Atticus reveals meaning in
the novel. Support your points with specific evidence from the text.