To+Kill+a+Mockingbird+and+Wonder

=Pairing Project, Part Two= __Names of Group Members__: Sam Ford, Kaitlyn Nix, Paige Schoenborn & Margaret Timmer

=Young Adult Title= __Basics__: //Wonder// by R.J. Palacio __MLA Citation__: Palacio, R.J. //Wonder//. New York City, New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012. 1-320. __Links__: While this book is available through the Kindle and Nook programs, it is not available for free under the public domain.


 * Points of Connection**: In approximately 500 words, describe the connections between your classic and your young adult work. Be as specific as possible.

There was an overwhelming amount of connections that could be made between the two texts, //To Kill a Mockingbird// by Harper Lee and //Wonder// by RJ Palacio. While these connections were numerous, as a group we choose the following four connections as the strongest and most applicable to the lives of our prospective students: the importance of family, inclusion, exclusion, and the similarities between parents' views of the world and their children's views of the world.

So, the first and most importance commonality we found between the two books was the importance of family. In the case of //To Kill a// Mockingbird, the plot was centered around the Finch family and there would not have been survival for any of the characters without family. The love between Jem and Scout is incredibly important and so is the love the two children have for their father and vice versa. While love is important to their survival it is also important to note that Atticus could have been beaten or killed outside Tom Robinson's cell had not Jem, Scout, and Dill come to his rescue. It is the same case with the Pullman family. Without Auggie's family support he would have had a much different life. He required so much time and love in order to be able to live as normal a life as possible. In the other way as well, Via needs her family too when things go wrong at school. She can come home and talk to her dad or mom when they're available to have a relief from her problems and try to work through them. The Pullman parents also need their children to survive and be happy because without them their lives would be empty. For example, when Auggie first goes to school his mom and dad both have a terrible time with the transition because they don't know what to do with their time without him and they also worry about his well-being. Overall, in both texts family is the main source of support for the characters. Especially when dealing with cases of exclusion, family is the most important way to feel loved and included and this is shown explicitly in the two texts.

//Wonder// opens with August Pullman’s expressed desire to be an “ordinary” kid. Cranio-facial deformities and the scars left by surgical procedures give August a face that sets him apart from other children. Auggie’s delicate health, in previous years, has made homeschooling his best educational option. It has also allowed his parents to provide a small degree of insulation from the shocked and shocking reactions Auggie’s face engenders. Auggie enters Beecher Prep as an outsider, but the world of middle school is rife with sets and subsets which include and exclude. Students can be challenged to identify a number of those subsets, to define the boundaries of those sets and to identify which students belong to which groups. What defines a particular social group? What happens when a member of the group disregards the “rules” of membership? The social groups at Beecher Prep change from the beginning the end of the school year. At the end of the year, who is no longer “in?” Students should examine their ideas about what causes those social shifts at Beecher Prep.

A number of social groups exist outside the middle school. Students may examine inclusion and exclusion among the adults in the story and among the satellite characters. How do Via and her friends move between inclusion and exclusion? //Wonder// depicts the year of school that moved Auggie Pullman from exclusion to inclusion. Students may consider and discuss why and how Auggie went from being and outsider to everyone’s “little buddy.” Did Auggie change? Students should examine and offer their observations about the actions in the story that seem to spark change.

Of course, //To Kill a Mockingbird// offers more complicated sets and subsets. Students should identify those groups and their defining boundaries, for example: groups could be defined by race, by level of prosperity, by social class, by age, by gender, or by reputation in the community. Which groups include the Finch family and why? Is Arthur Radley a member of any of those groups? Do any characters in Maycomb move from exclusion to inclusion? Students may name them, as they named the characters from //Wonder// and examine the events that precipitated change.

Some inclusions/exclusions in //Mockingbird// are based on external factors, as Auggie’s face influenced what others thought of him. Others are based on internal things. Which boundaries are hardest to cross and why? Are they the same for both stories? Auggie’s story has a classic, “happy” ending. Not so much with //Mockingbird//. Not everyone lives happily ever after. Arthur Radley goes back into the house and is never seen by Scout again, yet he is not completely excluded from Macomb. Students should be challenged to find ways that Arthur Radley is included in his community even though he is never seen outside his house. The downtrodden members of the community remain downtrodden, yet the novel offers hope for the future. After seeing her neighbor home, Scout imagines what the world must look like to Arthur Bradley. She imagines that he sees himself as part of their world. In the text, what might indicate that this is true or false? The class should consider: is Boo Radley included in Scout, Jem and Dill’s world or an outsider.

To continue the topic of inclusion it is important to note that both Auggie and Arthur Radley are set apart from their communities. Auggie’s separation is founded in his physical “different-ness.” The story of his birth demonstrates that every day of his life has been impacted by his appearance. Those who are not part of Auggie’s social set attribute many internal characteristics to him. Students should consider which of these attributes are true and which are false. On the inside, is August Pullman significantly different from other boys? Auggie will never look like other boys. Students should consider whether August undergoes internal change during the course of the story. What text shows change or lack thereof? Is he, or is he not, and “ordinary” kid?

Harper Lee’s text indicates that Arthur Radley is physically different from other in his town, but the external differences seem to be the result of a lifestyle lived indoors, without sun and exercise. Students should be challenged to consider what makes “Boo” different? Students should examine the text for evidence of Arthur Radley’s illness. In our paired novels, one protagonist is challenged by a physical deviation. The other suffers from a difference of the brain and it’s function. What do Boo and Auggie have in common? What do they not have in common? This parallel between novels provides a format for discussion of the stigma that comes with mental illness.

The themes of exclusion and isolation are prevalent in the novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Wonder. Both Arthur (Boo) and August (Auggie) are victims of exclusion within their community. Arthur doesn’t leave his house for over twenty-five years in fear of the judgments of others based on the rumors that have been spread about him. Similarly, August is isolated in his own home as well, while people in the community pass judgments on him, until he is ten years old when his parents decide it is time he quits being homeschooled and joins school with other children his age. Society causes both characters to become isolated through the words and actions surrounding them every day. They are talked about as though they are monsters hiding away in their houses. Arthur and August fear the ridicule and judgmental words and actions they would encounter on a daily basis so they keep to themselves until the day they are freed from this isolation in the discovery of new friendships. Arthur befriends Scout and Jem, slowly at first, leaving surprises for them in the tree. Then, when the children are in danger Arthur protects them and gives the children a new perspective on who Arthur Radley really is. August is teased when he begins school and wants to give up and stay home, but he is saved from isolation when he befriends Jack and Summer. Exclusion and isolation are due to negative perceptions brought on by people’s hurtful words and actions before they get to know these two characters. These negative perceptions are changed when events in the novel display the true characteristics of Boo and Auggie. They no longer feel they need to hide away when they create friendships with people they can trust and depend on.

The last important connection that we can see between //To Kill a Mockingbird// and //Wonder// is that beliefs are transferred from parents to their children. In //To Kill a Mockingbird//, Atticus has very strong beliefs on equality and doing the right thing for people without consideration of race or other characteristics. This is obvious through his representation of Tom Robinson. Although Atticus was required to represent him by the court, he did so to the best of his ability which is something many other white men of his time wouldn't do. This characteristic was brought down to his children in the fact that both Jem and Scout have very open and strong opinions about treating all people right regardless of their race. The children of Bob Ewell on the other hand had negative opinions of Black people because their father raised them that way. It can be assumed in this case that if the Ewell children were born to Atticus instead their views would have been different. It is the same case for the book //Wonder.// The main character, August's family is the exception because August is the exception and what people are being discriminatory against, but in the case of Jack Will and Julian the parents' beliefs and perspectives are passed down to their children. Jack Will's mom is discussed in the book and because of her encouraging Jack to help Auggie and her responses to the different situations at school, it is possible to see that this mom is open to Auggie and wants her children to treat him well without consideration of his physical deformity. Jack Will is good to Auggie and although he makes some mistakes he still knows deep down that people should not treat August differently because of his situation and he also realizes that August is an awesome person, better than "normal" people and wants to #|continue their friendship. Julian on the other hand is very rude to August. His mother makes an attempt to not have August in the school anymore because she feels the school "broke protocol" in letting him in without consideration of the other students. She also photoshopped August out of the class picture to make it more appealing to her and some of the other parents. Julian takes after his mother in the way that he is not accepting of August, is rude about his appearance, and doesn't see the harm in acting like this. In both books the children share the views of their parents regardless if these views are right or wrong. =Research: Online Instruction= In this section, list at least three scholarly sources MLA style that will help you design a mini-unit on your paired texts. Your main research question is "What strategies and methods are effective for online instruction?"
 * Most journals that focus on educational technology are available online (e.g. [|T.H.E. Journal]). Link directly to your source if possible.
 * Annotate each source with a 100-word summary

1. Journell, Wayne. //Online Learning: Strategies for K-12 Teachers//. Lanham, Maryland: R&L Education, 2013. 1-139. Web. 27 Sept. 2014. [|Online Learning: Strategies for K-12 Teachers].

The premise of this book is that technology is only growing in the future and online education is increasing in enrollment every year, and educators need to better themselves in their online instruction for the betterment of their students. One of the main points of this book is that many online teachers are not well-trained, and experience with learning in an online setting is essential to their abilities as online teachers. One of the main problems is that some online programs try to mimic the face-to-face classroom experience but this is unhelpful because there are many differences, some positive, like time not being a factor, and some negative, like teachers can’t help students with social situations like they can face-to-face. The text ends with the conclusion that online teaching is very important for the future of education but as educators it is important to keep in mind that online learning is not for all types of students, it is specifically for independent, motivated learners, and that good teaching in the classroom has many connections to good teaching online and teachers need to be motivated, passionate, and hard-working. (PS)

2. Teaching Books.net.Teaching Books.net LLC. 2001-2014. Web. 10 October 2014 [|Teaching Books] By a stroke of great luck, a high dive into the Grand Valley database yielded a simple, easily navigated resource for teaching. Teaching Books contains a large collection of educational support material in a variety of genres. The first good sign, on initial fly-over, was a listing for “graphic novels, this is great because there is a focus on young adult literature. The website is a source for parallel support materials for both //Wonder// and //Mockingbird//. The ready-made lesson plans for either novel are certainly serviceable. Most significantly, they provide ideas and focuses for original lesson planning. Teaching Books may be remembered as the source of, in the writer’s opinion, the most amusing bit of Mockingbird trivia, date of publication. As this novel is widely accepted as standard high school reading, I was puzzled when each of my four children, in turn, brought the book home from their classes. If this were such a great novel, why had I never read it? Why wasn’t included in the Jenison High School curriculum? Thank you. I have my answer. Published in 1960, the ink on the first edition had not dried sufficiently to be part of my high school curriculum. With great delight, I discovered on Teaching Books, an excerpt from a dramatic reading of Harper Lee’s work by Sissy Spacek. Although the resource was not included in the aforementioned website, the complete reading can be accessed on [|www.youtube.com]. Youtube may not be a scholarly resource, but it was an engaging, enjoyable interpretation which was proven a lifesaving tool for an overscheduled granny who must multi-task or die. Such tools can be invaluable for students who require reading accommodations. Not only was the jumping-off point for a “read to me” version of the book provided by Teaching Books, mock movie trailers for both works were available and would be a fine method for introducing each novel to a class in appealing way. I found these to be an exciting and ready to roll on-line resource. Being of the same approximate vintage as the novel that we are, for the purposes of teaching, describing as classic and canonical, it seems odd to refer to the young adult selection, //Wonder//, as the new work, but, as they say in my grown son’s tool and die shop, “It is what it is.” //Wonder,// being so recently presented//,// does not appear to have any free resource links for a full on-line reading through this or any other resource, but, Teaching Books offers a link to the author, R.J. Palacio’s website and blot. Highlights here include very informal author’s annotations, lesson plans, a video trailer and links to resources promoting personal involvement. In addition to the cool personal connections to the author, Teaching Books has a complete set of resources, parallel to what is offered for Mockingbird. All in all, both in terms of simple navigation and a rich, varied collection of resources, I’d give this website two wrinkled granny thumbs up.

3. Clark-Ibáñez, Maribel, and Linda Scott. "Lessons Learned at the 2007 ASA Annual Meetings: Insights from the Teaching-Related Workshops." //Teaching Sociology// 36.1 (2008): 34-41. Web. 20 Oct. 2014 [|Learning to Teach Online]

 Online instruction is rapidly growing. Marisol Clark-Ibanez and Linda Scott offer suggestions on how to teach online while promoting student engagement and learning. Clark-Ibanez and Scott believe “learning comes first and the technology follows” (34). They encourage and facilitate progressive learning “through interaction and active participation” (34). Highlighted in the article are the benefits to teaching online. These include, but are not limited to: “intense participation, increased opportunities for learning, flexibility for instructor and student, and increased access” (35) to online resources. When questioned in surveys, students agreed that one of the most beneficial components of online classes was the convenience of flexibility. Students participating in online courses still had access even when they worked multiple shifts, or were unable to leave their homes. Clark-Ibanez and Scott refer to this as the “anytime, anywhere concept” (35). According to the article, the most effective teaching strategy for online learning is communication. Creating multiple sources of communication is important. Students should have access to email, discussion board threads (dedicated to questions and/or concerns), and be able to communicate with classmates directly through their responses and comments on their classmates’ threads. This creates a community in the online “classroom” and studies reveal that “engaging in discussion prompts promotes active learning” (38). Likewise, instructors should communicate with students in a variety of ways such as emails, announcement posts, and constructive responses in discussion board threads. In conclusion, Clark-Ibanez and Scott emphasize the notion that “discussion should be at the heart of the class” (40). (SF)

=Process= A group meeting is scheduled for Wednesday evening on campus to discuss the mixed media project. Final details to be arranged at the next class meeting.