Both the AP classes and the sophomore classes have students who need more specific pre-reading interventions. I target these groups of students with specific strategies:
Scramble
This strategy is appropriate for those students who are not motivated and are struggling readers. I would not suggest modeling it because "not knowing how to do it" triggers more thinking.
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1.
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Select ten to fifteen phrases from the excerpt the students will read as homework and reread in class for close analysis (if the activity takes place in class, divide the students in groups and assign different phases from the same excerpt to each group).
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Give them ten minutes to discuss what they think the phrases refer to and narrative/story the phrases relate to. For AP students, ask them to identify character(s) traits, conflict, and setting, or symbol.
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After ten minutes ask them to write their reflections.
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Sharing Time
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Read the text aloud.
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After reading the text, compare and contrast their predictions and the text.
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Annotations
This activity addresses the AP students. The sophomore classes annotate but I usually assign one specific literary device at a time. I model how to annotate (the tenth graders usually need more modeling than the AP students) and then I expect each student to annotate all the various literary elements the passage contains.
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Group 1: Highlight the passage for diction (connotation vs. denotation) and write "meaning statements" in the margins.
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Group 2: highlight the passage for images (sound, sight, touch, taste, and scent descriptions) and write "meaning statements" in the margins.
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Group 3: do the same for figurative language
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Group 4: point of view
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5.
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Group 5: syntax patterns
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6.
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Group 6: structure of the chapter or passage
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7.
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Group 7: tone
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8.
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Group 8: focus on characterization (setting/structure/imagery/symbolism/tone), and other literary elements or techniques.
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The Most Important Word
This strategy is particularly helpful with the students who are in the sophomore classes; I often use it to differentiate and address students who do not present serious reading problems and are motivated.
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Students work independently and select the most important word from the assigned reading. It can be assigned as homework or it can be the first activity in class before rereading the excerpt.
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Once they have this word they have to connect it to the main character, the conflict, setting, theme, and symbol.
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They also have to write one paragraph explaining how the chosen word reveal something really important about the character, conflict, theme, setting, and symbol
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Sharing time
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Narrator/character's Analysis
This strategy allows students to decode the hidden thoughts and feelings of the character. The various body-parts represent the external clues which open his/her mind to the reader. It can be used with all students to draw the final conclusions about the character before writing the closing essay.
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Head: intellectual side of the character. What are his/her dreams? Visions? Philosophies he/she keeps inside?
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Eyes: seeing through the character's eyes. What memorable sights affect him/her? How?
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Ears: hearing through the character's ears. What does he/she notice and remember others saying about him/her? How is he/she affected?
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Nose: smelling through the character's nose. What smells affect him/her? How?
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Mouth: the character's communication. What philosophy does the character share? What arguments/debates? What images would symbolize his/her philosophy?
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Arms: working. What is the character's relationship to work in general? To specific work?
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Hands: the practical side of the character. What conflicts does he or she deal with? How?
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Heart: the emotional side. What does he/she love? Who? Whom? How?
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Torso: the instinctive side of the character. What does he/she like about himself/herself? What does he hide? What brings the character pain? What does he/she fear?
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Legs: the playful side of the character. What does he/she do for fun?
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Feet: the character's mobility. Where has he or she been (literally/figuratively)? How has he been affected by setting and/or travel?
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Wings: the character's future. Where is he/she going?
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Modification
The AP students have to identify four to five meaningful quotations for each body part and also to write an evaluation/analysis of each quote. The college students have to identify two important quotations for each part followed by commentaries. The weakest students have to identify one quotation for each body part followed by commentary.
Close Reading/Analysis of Narrative and /or Poetic Techniques
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.
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Read the assigned excerpt or passage, and/or article
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Annotate it (I determine the purpose of annotation, i.e. diction)
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Write a brief summary of the excerpt (I usually tell them to synthesize the summary in no more than two sentences)
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4.
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Sharing Time/class discussion
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Read the excerpt a second time
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6.
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Determine the Situation:
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a.
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Speaker
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b.
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To whom (audience)
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c.
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Setting
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d.
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Occasion
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7.
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Determine the Structure of the text:
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a.
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Transition word/phrases
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b.
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contrasts/Juxtapositions/Tensions
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c.
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Repetitions
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d.
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Key Lines
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e.
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Outline: write a title or phrase to label the main meaning of each paragraph/stanza
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8.
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Look at the Language (diction):
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a.
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Type of diction (formal, informal, colloquial)
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b.
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Type of syntax
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c.
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Connotative words
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d.
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Imagery/figurative language
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e.
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Paradox
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f.
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Allusions
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g.
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Symbolism
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Tone
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a.
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Changing or consistent
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b.
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Words or phrases which create the tone
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10.
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Purpose
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11.
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Take notes on how that specific literary technique adds meaning to the theme/main idea
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Discuss the various interpretations as a class and take notes
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13.
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Write two pages analysis of how the author uses the specific literary technique to convey the theme of the passage.
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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:
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Read the passage/excerpt/article
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Choose five words (I always give them a specific purpose: setting, or imagery, or figurative language)
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3.
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For each word, the students have to write first its denotative meaning, and then all the possible associations
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Write one paragraph including the word/quotation and all the associative meanings previously identified.
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Repeat this for each word the students have analyzed
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6.
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Write one or two pages analysis including all the previous paragraphs.
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Poems and Video
As I said in the Unit Overview, Part One, I will assign some poems for homework to help my students strengthen their skills to annotate and analyze for literary devices and theme, and to have other perspectives on what makes a community: individuals with different values, opinions, culture, and rules.
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the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls by Edward Estlin Cummings
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(satirical denouncement of urban and political life)
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2.
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Heritage by Countee Cullen (exploration of the poet's African heritage in a Judeo-Christian community)
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3.
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Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas (a vision of an agricultural community and its impact on the coming of age)
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Ogun by Kamu Brathwaite (values of a simple community)
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The Powwow at the End of the World by Sherman Alexie (Native Indian community)
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First Muse by Julia Alvarez (cultural clash in the community)
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I Sit and Look Out by Walt Whitman (American community towards the end of the XIX century)
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8.
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I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman (American community towards the end of the XIX century)
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Labor Day by Rodney Koeneke (working community)
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Bleecker Street, Summer by Derek Walcott (glimpse of a neighborhood on a summer day)
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11.
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A Rural Community: Holtville, Alabama (video of a community in Alabama).
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The students read the poems and follow the steps I listed for Close Reading/Analysis of narrative and/or Poetic Techniques.
Non-Fictional Excerpts
These excerpts can be assigned as homework immediately before the research project and/or during the research project. The selected passages focus on the concepts of community.
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"If Could Happen to us, it Could Happen to Anyone" by Vincanne Adams from page 55 to page 73.
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2.
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"Deindustrialization" and "What Difference Does education Make?" by Kathrine Marie Dudley from page 36 to page 40.
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3.
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"Explosions" and "The Shooters" by Katherine S. Newman from page 3 to page 46.
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Prompt – AP Students Final Assessment
After reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and after completing your research project, write a 2000/2500 words creative piece. First you need to fill out the following worksheet which has to be approved by the teacher:
Genre
Theme (choose one of the themes discussed in this unit)
Setting
Characters
Point of View
Conflict
Literary techniques
Title
Write the first draft, revise it (hand in copies of two peer revisions), write a second draft followed by two other peer revisions, and then write your final draft that will be officially published in our classroom.
Prompt – Sophomore Students Final Assessment
After reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding and after completing your research project, write a 1000 words creative piece. First you need to fill out the following worksheet which has to be approved by the teacher:
Genre
Theme (choose one of the themes discussed in this unit)
Setting
Characters
Point of View
Conflict
Literary techniques
Title
Write the first draft, revise it (hand in copies of two peer revisions), write a second draft followed by two other peer revisions, and then write your final draft that will be officially published in our classroom.
