ABSTRACT
In Mr. Th omas’s English classroom at River West High School, his 11th-grade students walk through the door and see a reminder in big letters on the white board: “Seminar Day!” Several students know that today they will work on group projects with Mr. Gerald’s American history students and participate in seminar later in the week; aft er checking in with Mr. Th omas, they leave for the class next door. Th e students who remain quickly form a circle, placing their nameplates on their desks. Mr. Th omas’s pupils are getting ready to discuss an interpretive question from a book they have all fi nished reading, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. For this class, the students will focus on the question that Mr. Th omas will pose to them: Why did Atticus Finch choose to defend Tom Robinson?
