Landry News The Jacket

Fifth-grader Cara Landry is an aspiring journalist who has created her own newspaper, The Landry News. In her first edition, she writes a harsh editorial that accuses Mr. Larson, her burned-out language arts teacher, of not doing his job. However, her criticism has positive results: It inspires Mr. Larson to become a real teacher again -- one who encourages his class to turn The Landry News into a classroom newspaper. But when the school principal uses something that's been printed in the paper to try to get Mr. Larson fired, the whole town gets involved, and Cara and her classmates learn about the First Amendment -- and the importance of tempering truth with mercy.

In a short, disturbing story, white sixth-grader Phil suddenly faces complex issues of race and class in his comfortable home and school. It begins with an ugly confrontation: Phil is furious when he sees a black kid, Daniel, in the school hallway wearing Phil’s brother’s jacket. Phil immediately assumes the jacket is stolen. Daniel is angered by the accusation and tears off the garment. It turns out that Daniel’s grandmother, Lucy, who works as cleaning lady in Phil’s home, was given the jacket by Phil’s mother. Because he is truly sorry, Phil seeks out Daniel in the boy’s black middle-class neighborhood and makes some surprising discoveries about what he and Daniel have in common.

Family Interactions

4^th Grade

The Landry News

The Jacket

By Paula Simpson

Section 1 Section 3 Section 5 Section 7

Section 2 Section 4 Section 6 Section 8

Back to Unit