Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

Website Evaluators

Chris Huber - On Leave, Missouri
Barbara Laurain - South Windsor High School, Connecticut
Wink Rush - Millington Central High School, Tennessee

Website Reviewer and Compiler

Charles R. Sanders - San Pedro High School, California

Site Ratings

1 = Poor    2 = Fair    3 = Good    4 = Excellent

To Kill a Mockingbird
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/

This site's rich and varied menu of carefully chosen links is an online visa to learning everything from A to Z about Harper Lee and her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.  An "attractive visual entices one into this website which is extremely user-friendly."  Those looking for information on Harper Lee will find "surprising details of the author's life and career,...biographies of Lee and relations, information on Lee's hometown -- the model for the setting in the novel," and even the opportunity to e-mail the author.  Students will find "references to the book and its characters (in alphabetical order), a quiz on the book, essays on the story, and facts about the movie."
Overall Rating:  4

To Kill a Mockingbird: Student Survival Guide
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/

Here is "a spectacular resource for students"of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. "Aesthetically pleasing" and easy to read, this site contains "over 400 chapter by chapter annotations," including "vocabulary, allusions and explanations, and idioms."  Related links provide "extensive opportunities to learn more about the author and the place and time in which the novel is set."  This site is "wonderful for supplementing a student's understanding of the novel."
Overall Rating:  4

To Kill A Mockingbird:  Then and Now
http://library.advanced.org/12111/

Teachers and students will find "a plethora of choices" for the study of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.   Preparation activities "focus on gender and other cultural expectations, and exploring heroism."  Instructional activities include "in-depth questions on...character, point of view, setting, plot and symbol."  The student section consists of "interactive discussion, quicktime movies, historical archives and interviews."  One unique feature discusses the "history of the civil rights movement (and) its relationship to the book."  This site "has it all!"
Overall Rating:  4

Educeth
http://educeth.ethz.ch/english/readinglist/lee,harper.html

The strength of this site lies in its "links to many sites related to Harper Lee and her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird."  Among the "multitude of resources for the novel and its author" are biographies, bibliographies, color photos of the author and the courthouse from the novel, "student activities, lesson plans, discussion and test questions, and special projects."  One link to a "student survival guide is fantastic."  This attractively designed website features fine graphics and is quite user-friendly.
Overall Rating:  4

Harper Lee Biography
http://reseau.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/bio.html

This "warmly presented and rich site" gives us "in-depth insight into the life and times of Harper Lee."  Not only do we discover how Lee rose "to become the writer from her humble beginnings," but descriptive biographies on her parents, sisters and a brother "help to complete a full picture of the author."  Links lead to Lee's "hometown journal (where she worked), local museums, and to further readings."
Overall Rating:  3

S.C.O.R.E. Teacher Cyberguide: To Kill a Mockingbird
http://memorial.sdcs.k12.ca.us/LESSONS/tokil/mocktg.htm

This teacher's guide for Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, includes "information on the background of the bird, quotes from the novel, and four writing activities for students." A lesson outline "focuses on themes of misunderstanding and prejudice."  This site is "very easy to manage for students and perfect for alternative assignments."
Overall Rating:  3

Searching For Scout
http://www.accessatlanta.com/global/local/yall/culture/quill/lee/

This "engaging" series of articles "places To Kill a Mockingbird, and its author, Harper Lee, culturally, geographically, and historically."  Lee discusses her novel and the characters, and there are short articles on "a rare public appearance by Lee, Gregory Peck's relationship to his role in the movie, and a cultural exchange project between students in New York and Alabama."  Also included is one "great link to other Southern writers."
Overall Rating:  3

To Kill a Mockingbird Reader Response Questions
http://www.glen-net.ca/english/mockingbird.html

Teachers who want to "set up some interactive lessons and...get students involved in a research project" for Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, might find this site helpful.  An index page provides "outlined lecture notes,...a chapter by chapter list of questions that encourages careful reading, and a teacher's guide with four student activities."  An essay which "explores the issue of miscegenation and Jim Crow laws, (and) an essay on maturity" add different views on the novel.
Overall Rating:  3

The Atlantic Monthly:  Book Review
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/classrev/mocking.htm

For those researching the history of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, this 1960 review of the novel from The Atlantic Monthly may prove interesting.  This "very brief" article calls the book "'respectable hammock reading...sugar-water served with humor,' is critical of Scout's precocious voice, and concludes that the novel is 'pleasant, undemanding reading.'"
Overall Rating:  2

Mockingbird Won't Sing:  Harper Lee Is Alive and Well
http://www.news-observer.com/daily/1997/11/12/day00.html

If you are researching the life of Harper Lee, this site may help fill in some of the gaps.  In an attempt "to crack the secrecy surrounding the life of the author," this reporter "skillfully weaves together the handful of interesting tidbits commonly known" about her with "a few pearls from the Monroeville, Alabama citizenry, acquaintances of Lee, and previous, very rare, interviews."
Overall Rating:  2