Pre-reading strategies
I use the following pre-reading strategies with struggling readers both in AP classes and regular College classes. I usually address specific groups of students and the activity can be done in class or as differentiated homework to prepare the reading passage or pages which will then be analyzed and discussed in class.
- Choose phrases (fifteen or twenty) from the passage/pages the students will be reading
- Write them in scattered order
- Pass them to the students
- Ask the students to read these phrases
- Ask the students to write one page about what they think the excerpt is about.
Another possible pre-reading strategy can be:
- Select a quotation (I usually choose a quotation which focuses on the main idea of the passage) from the excerpt
- Ask students to write one page reflections
I sometimes use this other pre-reading strategy:
- Select relevant words (ten or fifteen) from the passage we will read
- Write these words in a scattered order
- Ask the students to distribute those words in one of the following categories: character(s), setting, causes, outcome(s), and unknown words
- When they finish categorizing the words, ask them to write a Gist Statement (concise statement) and one paragraph reflections on what they think the passage may be about
- In class, ask the students to say/share how they categorized those words. Write them on the board together with their gist statements.
- Ask them to read the entire passage
- Discuss the meaning/main ideas/theme(s) of the passage or excerpt.
Annotations
Every time we read a text, I expect my students to work on annotations. Students work in pairs and each pair has a specific focus.
- Group 1: Highlight the passage for diction (connotation vs. denotation) and write "meaning statements" in the margins.
- Group 2: highlight the passage for images (sound, sight, touch, taste, and scent descriptions) and write "meaning statements" in the margins.
- Group 3: do the same for figurative language
- Group 4: point of view
- Group 5: syntax patterns
- Group 6: structure of the chapter or passage
- Group 7: tone
- Group 8: focus on characterization (setting/structure/imagery/symbolism/tone), and other literary elements or techniques.
Close Reading/Analysis of Narrative Technique
This strategy can be used to analyze various literary techniques like Point of View, Syntax, Diction, Figurative Language, Setting, or others. I usually determine what to analyze according to literary technique that is relevant in the excerpt. The following steps can be used for the analysis of non-fictional texts too.
- Read the assigned excerpt or passage, and/or article
- Annotate it (I determine the purpose of annotation, i.e. diction)
- Write a brief summary of the excerpt (I usually tell them to synthesize the summary in no more than two sentences)
- Sharing Time/class discussion
- Read the excerpt a second time
- Determine the Situation:
1. Speaker
2. To whom (audience)
3. Setting
4. Occasion
- Determine the Structure of the text:
1. Transition word/phrases
2. contrasts/Juxtapositions/Tensions
3. Repetitions
4. Key Lines
5. Outline: write a title or phrase to label the main meaning of each paragraph/stanza
- Look at the Language (diction):
1. Type of diction (formal, informal, colloquial)
2. Type of syntax
3. Connotative words
4. Imagery/figurative language
5. Paradox
6. Allusions
7. Symbolism
- Tone
1. Changing or consistent
2. Words or phrases which create the tone
- Purpose
- Take notes on how that specific literary technique adds meaning to the theme/main idea
- Discuss the various interpretations as a class and take notes
- Write two pages analysis of how the author uses the specific literary technique to convey the theme of the passage.
Modification
For the struggling students who do not know how a literary or rhetorical technique conveys meaning or adds meaning to the text, I usually follow this strategy:
- Read the passage/excerpt/article
- Choose five words (I always give them a specific purpose: setting, or imagery, or figurative language)
- For each word, the students have to write first its denotative meaning, and then all the possible associations
- Write one paragraph including the word/quotation and all the associative meanings previously identified.
- Repeat this for each word the students have analyzed
- Write one or two pages analysis including all the previous paragraphs.
Excerpts from the Novel
- "Had they been heading …" to "…We're her? Asked Estrella." (p.3-6)
- "Perfecto inspected …would not mention the bird." (p.8)
- What Estrella remembered …" to "… his not returning." (p. 12-14
- "Go help your mother …" to "… fanning himself with his hat." (15-16).
For chapters 2-5, each group (both AP students and college students) will be required to select passages which stand out to them or contain evidence of setting, imagery, figurative language, and/or syntax to close read/analyze and present to the class.
Articles from the Newspaper Los Angeles Times
- "Why a Border Surge?" by Robert C. Bonner,
Los Angeles Times
, June 26, 2012
- "In Arizona, Border Crossing Down, But Migrant death on Rise" by Cindy Carcanno,
Los Angeles Times
, June 5, 2013
- "Border Crossing Faces High Risk in South Texas" by Richard Marosi,
Los Angeles Times
, June 22, 2013
- "Caught in the Current of Reverse Migration" by Richard Marosi,
Los Angeles Times
, October 21, 2012
- "Back Story: Susan Straight's Familial Bonds Stand Test of Time" by Susan Straight,
Los Angeles Times
, October 17, 2010
Articles from The New York Times
- "Invisible to Most, Immigrant Women Line Up for Day Labor" by Bernstein, N.,
The New York Times
, Aug. 15, 2005
- "Hiring Local for Farm Work is No Cure-All" by Kirk Johnson,
The New York Times
, Oct. 5, 2004
- "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Immokalee, Florida" by Mascia, J.,
The New York Times
, June 15, 2011
- "For Migrant Workers, Legality Lowers Wages" by Sharp, K.,
The New York Times
, Dec. 3, 1989.
Final Assessment Prompt: AP students
"In the course of this unit you have read, analyzed, and discussed different texts. You have studied a particular group of people, the migrants, from different perspectives, and you have seen the struggle Estrella, the protagonist of Viramontes's novel, faces. After considering the unit content and the essential question, 'How do I fit in?', write a brief short story or a poem, or lyric, or one act play which illustrate the struggles of fitting in. The struggles may be connected to cultural biases, prejudices, or any other issue(s) you want to focus on. As an author, remember to show the appropriate use of the literary devices and techniques you have learned and analyzed in the course of the unit."
Final Assessment: College Students
"Wherever one lives, he/she is confronted by different issues which affect him/her and make fitting-in quite difficult. Choose one or more specific issues that you know have a serious influence on any individual and write a speech or a poem/lyric, or prepare a five-minutes video responding to the unit essential question, "How do I fit in?", considering the problems or issues the environment presents."