Mockingbird

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What ideas, images, events come to mind when you hear the phrase “school shooting”?

Teaching Suggestion: The novel introduces a sensitive and potentially polarizing topic. Students in the contemporary US grow up all too aware of the vulnerability of schools and the possibility of such an attack. The book does not actually detail the shooting, nor do we learn anything about the two shooters. The most graphic moment comes when Josh describes Devon’s chest injury. Author Kathryn Erskine lives just a few miles from the Virginia Tech campus, and its mass shooting in 2007 was central in her early commitment to the book. These shootings can be adult themes, but the topic is now part of school curricula. Before meeting Caitlin, students can be prepared for the reality of the novel and its commitment not to dwell on the killings but rather on the ways that families, schools, and communities handle such tragedies. This prompt connects to the themes of The Dynamics of Grief, The Need for Closure, and The End of Innocence.

• The American School Counselor Association includes several helpful resources on talking to students about school shootings, including this article from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing)
• Although geared towards parents, this article published in Yale Medicine (2022) discusses how to gently and sensitively introduce young adults to the reality of mass shootings while also dealing with one’s own emotional responses. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing)

2. The novel’s protagonist and narrator, Caitlin, has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome: a developmental disorder that comes under the umbrella term autism. What associations do you have with the term autism?

Teaching Suggestion: Developmental disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome require sensitive discussions because many classrooms (and families, for that matter) make adjustments to accommodate children diagnosed with the full range of autism spectrum disorders. Ultimately, the novel—which Caitlin narrates in the first person—is an exercise in empathy, so you can use this prompt to begin preparing students for how Caitlin thinks, feels, and communicates. Given the potential for misconceptions or biases, you may find this prompt works better as a homework assignment; consider reviewing students’ answers and using their overall tenor to structure in-class discussion and challenge preconceptions. This prompt connects to the theme of The Power of Empathy.

• Among other resources, the CDC includes a list of characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorders that both educators and students can review in preparation for reading the novel.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Write a journal-style entry in which you share a time when someone close to you passed away. Who was this person and why were they important in your life? How did you feel? Were you sad or angry? Did you feel helpless, or did you find strength in your family and friends? Did those feelings change over time?

Teaching Suggestion: Although the book focuses on the school shooting that kills Caitlin’s older brother, Caitlin also struggles to understand her mother’s death from cancer when she was only five. The Dynamics of grief are central a concern in the novel. Some discussion about this sensitive subject might help, though students can of course refrain from sharing anything too sensitive or difficult. Since many children’s first experience of loss involves the death of a pet, you can also consider broadening the prompt to include animals.

Differentiation Suggestion: Because in the novel Caitlin herself uses her drawings as a way to negotiate traumatic experiences. Students with limited English proficiency might respond to the prompt by doing what Caitlin does: draw a picture, perhaps of the person (Caitlin tries that at the fundraiser) or perhaps some memory of the person with a few descriptive sentences.