Dear 7th Grade Parents,
Hello! I would like you to know that we will begin reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton on Monday of next week. This book is about a boy who is of a lower socioeconomic class, who must learn to deal with trouble from kids of a higher socioeconomic status. In this book, the following objectives will be a dressed:
- Analyzing the theme, characters, plot, setting, tone and mood.
- Defining loyalty
- Bullying
- How loss effects people/families
- Importance of compassion
- Characterize the effect of first person point of view.
- Coping with maturity
- Interactions between teenagers and society
- Contrasting problem-solving strategies
- Identify acts of heroism
- Analyzing symbolism
As our class reads this novel, I would encourage you to read with your children to help instill in them the values that you would like to teach them. At Rolling Hills Charter School, we believe that it is important to be proactive in teaching our students how to interact in a society that is not perfect.
While reading this novel, we will focus on the importance of establishing good character in the face of reproach, a value of the Harbor Method. I will encourage students to talk to you at home about the topics we discuss in class. Please feel free to read this book with your child at home, and if you have any ideas that you would like to share, please email me.
Some ideas I feel would be helpful to study with your child at home are:
Prejudice – what are its roots (rear, anger, ignorance). How do they affect the people that are prejudiced and the people they are prejudiced towards? In The Outsiders, what caused the change in people’s opinions and prejudices? The goal: Discuss with students that each person must evaluate life for him or herself and not blindly follow the prejudices of the group, group leader, or the most outspoken group member. What are some choices that characters in the story might have made that would have changed the outcome of the story?
Family – The author chose to create a “family” from the Greasers. What are the strengths and weaknesses of a “family” of peers compared to the strengths and weaknesses of a traditional family?
Thank you very much for your support!
Mrs. Nelson
