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GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Literacy StrategiesMaking Content-Rich Nonfiction Accessible

Daniel Rock and Mary Lynn Huie

7/19/2012

Georgia Department of EducationDr. John D. Barge, State School Superintendent

May 7, 2023 All Rights Reserved

Georgia Department of Education

Active Reading Strategies

Reciprocal TeachingWhat is it?

According to Alverman and Phelps (1998) in their book, Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classroom, reciprocal teaching has two major features: (1) instruction and practice of the four comprehension strategies—predicting, question generating, clarifying, and summarizing and (2) a special kind of cognitive apprenticeship where students gradually learn to assume the role of teacher in helping their peers construct meaning from text.

According to Rosenshine & Meister (1994), there are four important instructional practices embedded in reciprocal teaching:

Direct teaching of strategies, rather than reliance solely on teacher questioning Student practice of reading strategies with real reading, not with worksheets or

contrived exercises Scaffolding of instruction; students as cognitive apprentices Peer support for learning

Reciprocal teaching involves a high degree of social interaction and collaboration, as students gradually learn to assume the role of teacher in helping their peers construct meaning from text. In essence, reciprocal teaching is an authentic activity because learning, both inside and outside of school, advances through collaborative social interaction and the social construction of knowledge (Alverman and Phelps, 1998).

What does it look like?

Teachers begin by teaching and modeling the four comprehension strategies; students then practice them through dialogue among themselves. At first the teacher leads the dialogue, but as students become more proficient with the four strategies, the teacher gradually fades out of the dialogue and allows students to assume leadership.

The process of reciprocal teaching must be carefully scaffolded to ensure success for your students:

Teachers need to explicitly teach and model the four basic strategies above: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. It is important that students understand that skilled readers employ these strategies every time they read something, and that this is a great habit to develop as a way to improve their comprehension skills. This can be accomplished with short pieces of fiction or nonfiction; the entire class can brainstorm examples of the various types of comprehension strategies. Small groups can then choose 3-4 questions from each category to answer and share with the entire class.


May 7, 2023 • Page 1All Rights Reserved


Once students understand and are able to apply all four strategies, it is time for the students to work independently at first, by annotating examples of all four strategies on a short text for homework. Students can annotate in the margins, or the teacher may want to create a graphic organizer or note sheet where students can record their questions and commentary.

Then, the next day in class, small groups form to share their annotations and construct their own meaning of the text. One student in the group is chosen/appointed/elected to be "the teacher" of the group. His/her responsibilities are essentially to facilitate the group’s task, progress, and time management.

During the discussion, it is crucial that each student cite reference points in the texts that are the focal point of his/her questions and/or evidence to clarify or support their questions and/or commentary.

During the discussion, students add commentary to their sheets/annotations to construct a richer and deeper understanding of the text.

The teacher spends his/her time circulating the room to visit each group’s discussion. He/she might ask a follow-up question to enrich the conversation.

The teacher should structure some sort of closure activity, such as a whole class discussion that is built around questions that groups still have or interesting commentary that each group discovered as a result of their discussion.

Click here for a graphic organizer that presentsall four reciprocal teaching skills.

In the chart below are some sample questions that students might pose for each of the four comprehension strategies based on the text, Night, by Elie Weisel.



http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/files/filesystem/Reciprocal%20Teaching.rtf

http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/files/filesystem/Reciprocal%20Teaching.rtf


Reciprocal TeachingFour Roles

Predicting Questioning Clarifying Summarizing

Why do you suppose Weisel chose the single word title, Night? What is his intent?

After reading this first chapter, what specifics do you expect to learn from this perspective?

What is likely to happen next?

How will this character respond, based on what you know about him already?

Weisel describes, in great detail, the possessions left on the empty street after the first evacuation, why?

How does the writer’s diction reveal his tone?

How does this chapter relate or connect to our essential question?

What connections can we make to human rights abuses today?

Are there any words or phrases that confused you?

Are there any cultural or religious references that you don’t understand or you would like clarified?

How might you have responded in that particular situation in which the main character found himself?

What is important and/or not important in this section of the text?

What do you suppose was the writer’s intent in this chapter?

How would you characterize the overall tone of this opening section?

Sixty years later, how has the world changed as a result of the Holocaust?

Reading strategies: Scaffolding students' interactions with text. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/academics.cfm?subpage=930&adminActivate=0.487337360925




Close ReadingAs Social Studies students begin reading primary texts, they will need reading skills they may not

be accustomed to using when reading their social studies textbooks. To read historical speeches, diaries, and letters requires reading like a literary critic. Close Reading exercises are a staple of the study of literature, teaching students to pay attention to the literary elements of text that convey a writer’s attitude toward a topic.

A close reading can be performed on individual texts, but to help students see the importance of paying attention to the literary elements of primary source documents, select two passages that offer distinct perspectives on the same topic. When students are first learning close reading, short passages are best. You might use this activity before students read longer texts, particularly if the texts present various perspectives on the same topic.

Step 1: Gathering data

Give each student a copy of the text, and instruct them to read with a pencil, pen, or marker moving: underlining, highlighting, and writing questions as they move through the text. They should note any words or phrases that seem important, that surprise them, or that they do not understand. They can use a simple set of symbols (question marks, exclamation marks, plus and minus marks) or write comments as they read.

Step 2: Making observations about the data

Instruct students to examine the words and phrases they have annotated in the passages. What unusual language do they see the authors using in each text? How do these words shape the reader’s response to the topic? Why did each writer make the writing choices he/she made?

Step 3: Interpreting the data

After thinking about the data and considering the choices made by each writer, students are ready to make a statement about each author’s perspective or about the devices each writer employs to influence the audience. To support these statements, students will have evidence in their annotated copies of the texts.

Close Reading is an activity that can take students from reading to writing. As they find the most important features of the text, they also theorize about the meaning of the text. Reading text closely, finding the most important element in texts, and interpreting the text are processes that prepare students to




formulate thesis statement and support their positions with evidence—the essential features of good interpretive writing.

The basic concepts of the close reading can be adapted in a number of ways. The following reading guide from Bruce Lesh takes the basic concept of close reading to help students analyze multiple perspectives in a set of articles about Nat Turner.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion: Evaluating Historical Opinions

Use the following worksheet to record information from the various primary and secondary sources. When deciding the term that best describes the document’s position regarding Nat Turner, consider hero, villain, fanatic, religious, insane, leader, manipulative, brave, etc.

Source 1: John W. Cornwell—“The Aftermath of Nat Turner’s Insurrection”

Adjectives

Quote

Term

Source 4: The Richmond Whig

Adjectives

Quote

Term

Source 2: Herbert Aptheker—American Negro Slave Revolts

Adjectives

Quote

Term

Source 5: The Richmond Inquirer

Adjectives

Quote

Term

Source 3: William S. Drewry—The Southampton Insurrection

Adjectives

Quote

Term

Source 6: Thomas R. Gray—The Confessions of Nat Turner

Adjectives

Quote

Term




Lesh, Bruce. “Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer?”: Teaching Historical Thinking in Grades 7-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2011. Print.

Anticipation GuidesAnticipation Guides prepare students for reading new material and/or listening to introductory

lectures over new material. This activity is particularly useful when you are preparing to teach content that students may already know about—and may have some misconceptions about! The beauty of the AG is that it begins by having students state what they already think about the topic and then gives them an opportunity to revise their thinking. The questions on the AG make students more focused readers of the text. AGs also require students to cite evidence to support their original or new position on the facts presented in the text. After completing an AG, students have excellent notes over the material. AGs help students learn to take better notes by having them not only write down main ideas but also evidence for those ideas.

Begin by converting the most important information from the text into short statements. These statements should challenge preconceived ideas and pique student interest in the material. Next, present the statements to students—either on a screen or board (for them to copy) or on a prepared handout. Give students a response option (Agree or Disagree). After students complete their responses, you might have a class discussion of their responses or have students discuss their responses in small groups. You could even poll the class for answers and give percentages of agreement/disagreement for each statement. (These percentages can later be compared with correct answers.) Now the students are ready to read the material, watch the video, or hear the lecture. As students interact with the material, they should be trying to determine whether their pre-reading responses were correct, adjusting their initial responses as needed. They should also gather evidence to support both their correct and incorrect responses. Students may read in small groups (perhaps the same group with whom they first discussed pre-reading responses) or individually.

After students complete the AG, begin discussion by asking what surprised students. Ask students to share before and after responses as well as their explanations. As students discuss their final responses, the instructor can address any confusion or misunderstanding students still have.

Fisher, Douglas, William G. Brozo, Nancy Frey, and Gay Ivey. 50 Content Area Strategies for Adolescent Literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. Print.




Anticipation Guide for the United States Bill of RightsDirections before reading: Show me what you already know about your rights as an American citizen. Read the statements below and indicate whether you think the statement is true or false in the Before Reading column. Compare your responses with someone sitting next to you after you complete your responses.

Directions after reading: After reading information related to each statement, decide whether you still think it is true or false. Cite the sources and information that support your final answer.

Statement and Support Before ReadingTrue False

After ReadingTrue False

1. Police must read the Miranda Rights to anyone placed under arrest.

Support and Source:

2. The right to own firearms can be restricted for some citizens.

Support and Source:

3. There are no restrictions on a citizen’s freedom of speech.

Support and Source:

4. All defendants have the right to be released on bail.

Support and Source:

5. There are circumstances when a person can be tried more than once for the same crime.Support and Source:

6.

Support and Source:

Conclusion:




RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic

Use this Strategy:

Before ReadingDuring ReadingAfter Reading

Targeted Reading Skills:Understand the relationship between literature and its

historical, social, and cultural contextsAnalyze and interpret elements of character development

What is it?This is a great strategy that integrates reading and writing in a non-traditional way. It asks that students take what they have read and create a new product that illustrates their depth of understanding; it may be used with fiction or nonfiction texts. The format is incredibly flexible and offers limitless opportunities for creativity for both you and your students. When you are first using a “RAFT” with your students, you will develop the specifics for each element in the acronym; they are as follows:Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the novel)? Artist? Politician? Scientist? Audience: Who should the students consider as the audience for the product? Other students? Parents? Local community? School board? Other characters in the text?Format: What is the best product that will demonstrate the students’ in-depth understanding of their interactions with the text? A writing task? Art work? Action plan? Project?Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?What does it look like?




A teacher assigns (or students select) a role, audience, format, and topic from a range of possibilities. Below is a chart with a few examples in each of the categories; it is meant only as a sampling to spark new ideas and possibilities for building RAFTS:

Role Audience Format Topic writer artist character scientist adventurer inventor juror judge historian reporter rebel

therapist

self peer group government parents fictional character committee jury judge activists immortality animals or objects

journal editorial brochure/booklet interview video song lyric cartoon game primary document critique biographical sketch

news article

issue relevant to the text or time period

topic of personal interest or concern for the role or audience

topic related to an essential question

How could I use, adapt or differentiate it?

This strategy is great for differentiation; teachers (and students) can develop any number of possible RAFT’s based on the same text that can be adjusted for skill level and rigor.

Paula Rutherford’s book, Instruction for All Students, offers a comprehensive list of “Products and Perspectives from which to chose.

The RAFT strategy can be used as a prewriting strategy and/or as a strategy for helping students prepare for a small or large group discussion.





SQP2RS (“Squeepers”)

Survey: Preview text.Question: List 1-3 questions you think we’ll find answers to.Predict: State 1-3 things we’ll learn.Read: Read text.Respond: Try to answer questions. Modify, drop, add.Summarize: At end of text.

S is for Survey Look at the pictures and captions. Read the highlighted and bold words. Read the headings and subheadings. Think about what you are about to read.

Q is for Question What questions will we answer? Generate questions that we will be able to answer after we read.

P is for Predict What will we learn? Predict 1 to 3 things we will learn while reading.

R is for ReadRead the text along...

With teacher With partner With group

R is for RespondWhich questions were answered?

Discuss which questions were answered in the text. Review which questions were not answered. Eliminate questions that are not likely to be answered. Develop new questions. Continue surveying process.

S is for Summarize What did we learn? Summarize what we have learned. Orally/Written




Example of SQP2RS note-taking process

Title of Article or Chapter: _________________________________________

Survey: (Before you read. What will this reading assignment be about? Look at titles and pictures)

Question: (Before you read. Write 1-3 questions you may be able to answer from reading)

1.

2.

3.

Predict: (Before you read. Can you predict 1-3 things we will learn?)

1.

2.

3.

Read! (you don’t have to write anything in this box)Respond (After you Read. Try to answer questions: modify, drop, and add)

Summarize: (After you Read)

Four Sentence Summary:

Sentence 1: Main Idea (identify what was read, verb [explains, lists, argues, describes, etc], finish thought).

Ex. The novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, chronicles the tragic life of a runaway slave.

Sentences 2-4: D’REF: Details, Reasons, Examples, Facts

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________





Key Concept Synthesis

Use this Strategy:

Before ReadingDuring Reading After Reading

Targeted Reading Skills:Condense or summarize ideas from one or more textsDistinguish between relevant and irrelevant

informationCompare/contrast information from one or more textsMake text-to-text, text-to-self, and/or text-to-world

connections

What is it?When students are given “dense” reading material, they often become frustrated and remark, “I read it, but I don’t get it!” or “I didn’t know what was important and what wasn’t.” For many young readers, this frustration builds and they approach difficult texts feeling defeated before they even begin. One strategy we can use is to provide a framework for the reading by creating a focus on the key concepts. The process involves identifying the key concepts as they read, putting those concepts in their own words and explaining why the concept is important and/or making connections to other concepts. What does it look like?Using this strategy requires helping students to use a number of textual clues that will help them determine the key concepts in a reading. Some elements that will aid students in the identification of key concepts are:

Examining the text structure for any elements that the writer/publisher may have used to indicate major divisions in the subject matter (e.g. titles, subtitles, bold headings, and supportive graphics or visuals)

Determining which sentence in a paragraph is the topic sentence; as texts get more sophisticated, students need to recognize that frequently it may not be the first sentence in the paragraph.

Learning to identify statements that “forecast” main ideas or key concepts that will come at some point later on in the reading.

Recognizing that transitions may sometimes help to identify a main idea or a possible shift in the writer’s thinking. (e.g. when compared to, or another possibility is, or in contrast, etc.)

Examining the summary statements in the paragraphs and/or the conclusions that summarize each section of the reading may help to verify and condense the main ideas or key concepts.

Providing models and guided practice where students have opportunities to identify and explain the above elements is crucial. Once students can understand and recognize these elements, provide them with sections of the current text they are reading and have them practice independently as preparation for the next class. As students become more proficient in




recognizing these elements as they read, a powerful addition is to have them identify these elements in their own writing. The graphic organizer below is a condensed version of the template that you can print off the web from Tools for Reading, Writing and Thinking.

Key Concept Synthesis

Directions: Use the following graphic organizer to identify the five most important concepts (in the form of single words or phrases) from the reading. Think about identifying the five most import concepts this way: If you had to explain the reading to someone who had not read the text, what are the five most important concepts you would want them to understand? Use a highlighter and marginal notes to identify import concepts as you read, and then complete the graphic organizer once you have completed the reading.

Five Key Concepts(with page #s)

Put the Concept in Your Own Words

Explain Why the Concept is Important & Make

Connections to Other Concepts

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Click here for a printable version of this graphic organizer.


If this is a new strategy for your students, it is helpful to make copies of a section of the text so that they can highlight and annotate; this process alone will encourage a close reading of the text even before they complete the graphic organizer.

When first using this strategy with your students, you may want to have them identify the various elements that helped them to zero in on the main ideas or key concepts. This could be noted in the Key Concept column under the concept or in the margins of the annotated text.



http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ELA/6-12/Tools/keyconceptsynthesis.PDF


For students that are more visual and/or artistic, they may want to use a mind map to capture the key concepts and their connections.

Once students have completed the graphic organizer, they can share their ideas with other students to discuss how/why they identified the key concepts they selected.





History Events ChartOne of the staples of most social studies textbooks is the timeline. Historians look at timelines

and see connections between and among the events displayed on the chart. However, students are more likely to see the events discretely, without thinking about how each might be connected to others. The history events chart helps students make connections between and among significant historical events.

A History Events Chart can be a great tool for reviewing a historical period at the end of a unit. It could also be used for students brainstorming before writing essays on how a series of events affected one another. Teachers might use this chart with significant events already specified; they could also have students select what they see as the most significant or interconnected events from a timeline. The selected events should be arranged chronologically.

The following example from Elizabeth Birr Moje has numbered rows that provide space for students to record traditional information about each event: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. However, the most important information will appear in the rows labeled “Relation” where students must explain how the events are connected. The Conclusion at the end (an optional feature) engages students in reflective thinking about the implications of the evidence they have presented on the chart and the connections they have made.




History Events ChartEVENT WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?

1.

Relation:

2.

Relation:

3.

Relation:

4.

Conclusion:

Moje, Elizabeth Birr. Disciplinary Literacy: Why It Matters and What We Should do about It. National Writing Project Conference, March 6, 2012.




Opinionnaires

Opinionnaires give teachers an opportunity to discover student attitudes about a topic preceding instruction on the topic. The opinionnaire differs from the Anticipation Guide since it has no correct answers. The Anticipation Guide is best when students have misconceptions about a topic; the Opinionnaire is appropriate for topics that are open to debate. In fact, opinionnaires can stimulate a good deal of debate the first day you introduce the topic. Encourage your students to revisit their opinionnaire as they explore the topic in class, revising their opinions or adding to their reasons. Indeed, the opinionnaire could be expanded to include space for note-taking as students read articles and find more support for their positions.

To create an opinionnaire, begin by listing no more than 10 statements. You want your students to have time to think about each statement and their opinions. You do not have to ask them to include reasons for their positions, but those reasons do require them to think about their positions. You may want to have students identify themselves only by class period to encourage authentic responses.

You may follow the opinionnaire with a debate in class, selecting one or two of the statements for discussion of students’ positions.

Follow the opinionnaire with a selected article or primary source document for the students to read. The reading should relate to the statements in the opinionnaire, but it should also provide new information that may challenge student thinking. After the reading, students will be ready for more discussion—and ready to appreciate some of the complexity of the topic.

The following opinionnaire is adapted from Fisher, Brozo, Frey, and Ivey.

Fisher, Douglas, William G. Brozo, Nancy Frey, and Gay Ivey. 50 Content Area Strategies for Adolescent Literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. Print.




Opinionnaire for the United States Bill of Rights

Name _______________________ Period ________________

Directions: Read each statement below and indicate whether you agree (A) or disagree (D). Write your reason for your opinion below each statement. There are no “right answers.”

__________ A society is safest when its laws are strictly enforced.

Your reason:

__________ All citizens have a right to bear arms so they can protect themselves.

Your reason:

__________ In times of war, the military should be able to use private property.

Your reason:

__________ Free speech should be protected, even when what is said is against the government.

Your reason:

__________ There are crimes for which a criminal should be put to death.

Your reason:

__________ Police should not be required to obtain a search warrant in order to seize evidence against a criminal.

Your reason:




Exit Slips

Having students complete an Exit Slip at the end of class gives them some time to reflect on the day’s lesson before rushing out into the chaos of school hallways; however, thoughtful Exit Slips also give you a tool for determining how well students understand what you and they think they have learned in class. The information on an Exit Slip gives you an instant snapshot of understanding, enabling you to effectively begin class the next day by addressing misconceptions and confusions. The key to gathering useful information is asking useful questions. You also want to mix it up—if you use the same questions every day (What did you learn today?), students will respond thoughtlessly. Ask interesting questions, and hold students accountable for writing thoughtfully. You can grade these with a very quick check. Points should not come for “correct” answers; points should come for answers that reveal students who are thinking about the material.

Fisher, Brozo, Frey, & Ivey (2007) identify three categories of Exit Slip questions:

1. Prompts that document learninga. The three most important things I learned today are . . . b. Today I changed my mind about . . .c. What I would tell someone else about what I learned today is . . .

2. Prompts that emphasize the process of learninga. Two questions I have about what we did in class today are . . .b. I am confused about . . .c. What I would like to learn next is . . .d. I feel pretty confident with my understanding of . . .

3. Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructiona. The thing that helped me pay attention most today was . . .b. The thing that helped me understand most today was . . .c. Something that did not help me learn today was . . .

I think you can also use them to have students give a progress report on their work, particularly if they are working in groups.

The key to Exit Slips is a quick turnaround. You need to read them the day you take them up and address any problems the next day.

Fisher, Douglas, William G. Brozo, Nancy Frey, and Gay Ivey. 50 Content Area Strategies for Adolescent Literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. Print




Annolilghting Text

Use this Strategy:

Before ReadingDuring ReadingAfter Reading

Targeted Reading Skills: Formulate questions in response to textAnalyze and interpret elements of poetry or prose Draw conclusions and make inferences based on explicit

(literal) and implicit (figurative) meaning

What is it?We have all had the experience of suggesting that students highlight the text that they are reading, only to watch them indiscriminately highlight nearly every word on the page. It is clear that learning how to highlight a text as a part of a reading strategy requires some instruction, including some modeling and guided practice. If done well, highlighting can become a very effective reading tool; if done poorly, it is most likely a waste of a student’s time, energy and ink. "Annolighting" a text combines effective highlighting with marginal annotations that help to explain the highlighted words and phrases.The following lists provide a simple set of goals and guidelines that students could use to increase the effectiveness of their annolighting and, as a result, improve their comprehension and understanding of a text.Purposes/Goals of Annolighting

Capture main ideas / key concepts / details of a reading Target, reduce and distill the needed information from a text Cut down on study and review time when you return to the material increasing your

effective and efficient use of time and effort Strengthen your reading comprehension

What does it look like?1. Choose a focus or framework for your highlighting. Ask yourself: What is the purpose or

intended goal of this particular reading? (e.g. Main ideas only? Supportive details for an interpretive claim you are making? Definitions and examples of key vocabulary? Culling examples of the writer’s craft? etc.) After you determine the focus, highlight only the targeted information.

2. If possible, do not highlight on a first reading of a text. Rather, divide a page into manageable chunks and read a section once. Then skim the section again and highlight on




the second reading. If you try to highlight on the first reading, you may not have a clear sense of the key ideas/concepts or important/relevant details.

3. Eliminate every single unnecessary word in a sentence by using a "telegraphic" approach to highlighting. "Telegraphic highlighting" should still allow you to make sense of a sentence or section when you reread it. It may sound picky to take 6—20 words out of each sentence, but the longer the reading, the more it will cut down on unnecessary information as well as re-read time when you return to your highlighted text for review. Rarely should you highlight entire sentences unless it is absolutely necessary based on your targeted focus.

4. You may want to use multiple colors in your highlighting process. For instance, choose one color for main ideas and another color for supportive detail that may help in sorting the information when you study the material or collect information for a paper, exhibition or project. You may want to use a color to indicate facts or concepts on which you would like clarification or pose as questions.

Below is an excerpt of a reading titled, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Nature of Tragedy. Students were asked to identify the basic elements of tragedy in regard to the hero or protagonist. Note the "telegraphic approach" to the highlighting; when the highlights are read, they should make sense to the reader. Notes on the right side represent possible summary annotations.

Highlighted Text Reader Annotations"Towards the end of the sixteenth century, a new tragic pattern

began to emerge, very much richer and deeper than the old one, sounding intimately the depths of the human mind and spirit, the moral possibilities of human behavior, and displaying the extent to which men’s destinies are interrelated one with another.

According to this scheme, an ideal tragedy would concern the career of a hero, a man great and admirable in both his powers and opportunities. He should be a person high enough placed in society that his actions affectthe well being of many people. The plot should show him engaged in important or urgent affairs and should involve his immediate community in a threat to its security that will be removed only at the end of the action through his death. The hero’s action will involve him in choices of some importance which, however virtuous or vicious in themselves, begin the spinning of a web of circumstances unforeseen by the hero which cannot thenbe halted and which brings about his downfall. This hostile destiny may be the result of mere circumstance or ill luck, of the activities of the hero’s enemies, of some flaw or failing in his own character, of the operation of somesupernatural agency that works against him. When it is too late to escape from the web, the hero-victim comes torealize everything that has happened to him, and in the despair or agony of that realization, is finally destroyed."

The hero/protagonist: Admirable

High society

Actions affect many

Makes choices that involve him/her in a web of circumstances

Caused by: Mere circumstance

Ill luck

Enemies

Character flaw

Supernatural agency

Results: Realizes too late

Creates despair

Destruction or death





Sometimes, I would ask students to take home a copied reading and highlight only the first few pages. The next day in class, in partners or small groups, they would briefly show what they highlighted. More often than not, they would highlight far too much without any frame of reference. I would then go over theGuidelines for Effective Annolighting and give them some time for guided practice in class. For homework, they would complete the annolighting on the rest of the reading.

As suggested earlier, you may want them to practice differentiating between main ideas/key concepts and specific details by having them use two different colors in the annolighting process.

Consider using this strategy with the annotating acronyms associated with the "Annotating a Text" reading strategy.



http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ELA/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/annotating%20a%20text.htm


Four Corners1. On the board for all students to see, write a controversial statement related to a

unit the class has recently studied.

2. Then have students write on a piece of paper whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement and why. No consulting with neighbors on this one—just a personal statement and justification.

3. Once students have completed the Quick-Write, have them move to a designated corner based on their responses. In other words, all who said they “strongly agree” should go to one corner, all who “agree” should go to another corner, and so on.

4. Give students some time to discuss their position with members of the same group, sharing reasons and justifications for their position. Each group should compile the most compelling reasons and select a spokesperson who will speak to the class with the goal of winning other class members over to this corner of the room. Students may re-read text and look up supporting information while making the list.

5. Once ready, each spokesperson should present each group’s position. Other students should listen quietly, taking notes on the most convincing arguments.

6. After all presentations, give students time to ask questions or challenge other groups.

7. Finally, close by asking students to consider what they have heard and then move to a new corner if they were swayed by another group’s arguments.




They Say/I Say

To help students make claims about a topic they have studied, you can use templates from “They Say/I Say” (Graff, Birkenstein, & Durst, 2011) or make up your own. Here are a few examples:

I agree that _________ because my experience ________ confirms it.

I agree that _________, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe ___________.

I think those who agree with the statement _________________ are mistaken because they overlook ______________.

I disagree with the statement that _________ because __________.

Although I agree with the statement ____________ up to a point, I cannot accept the overall conclusion that ___________.

I am of two minds about the statement that __________. On the one hand, I agree that __________. On the other hand, I am not sure if _____________.




Evaluating Evidence

Article Title and Author ___________________________________________________

Claim in the article _______________________________________________________

Quotations and page numbers Put it in your own words (Paraphrase)

How it supports the author’s claim (Interpretation)

Modified from Carol Jago’s Writing About Literature




Warrant Workout

My claim: __________________________________________________________________

List the quotations or examples you plan to use to support your claim above. After each, in a sentence or two, explain how it supports your claim.

1. Supporting quotation or evidence: _________________________________

a. How it supports my claim ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


a. How it supports my claim: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


a. How it supports my claim: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Working in groups, evaluate the warrants that will support each group member’s claim. Be tough on one another!



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