Teacher Guide - Prairie Public Broadcasting

Transcription

STORYLORDS
Video Series Teacher Guide
Twelve 15-minute programs in reading comprehension for students in grades 1 through 4
Dr. Sandra Dahl
Guide Author
Phil Biebl, Cover Design
Barbara K. Roe, Editor (1st ed.)
Patricia Braley, Editor (rev. ed.)
Margaret Wilsman, Evaluation
Thomas DeRose, Project Manager
Storylords was developed as part of the Reading Comprehension Project,
produced by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, and
funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education. The Wisconsin Educational
Communications Board is solely responsible for its content.
Copyright 1986; revised 2004
Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
and the Agency for Instructional Technology
All rights reserved.
In Wisconsin, direct inquiries to:
Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
3319 W. Beltline Highway, Madison, WI 53713-4296
Tel. 608/264-9693
Outside Wisconsin, direct inquiries to:
Agency for Instructional Technology
Box A, Bloomington, IN 47402-0120
Tel. 812/339-2203 or 800/457-4509
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Contents
Introduction
.....................................................................................................................................1
Program 1:
Activating Prior Knowledge Before Reading ............................................................3
Program 2:
Connecting What You Know with What’s on the Page ...........................................7
Program 3:
Knowing When You Don’t Know (in your head) ...................................................10
Program 4:
Knowing When You Don’t Know (on the page) .....................................................13
Program 5:
Directed Reading-Thinking Activity .......................................................................16
Program 6:
Question-Answer Relationships ...............................................................................20
Program 7:
Decoding Words in Context ....................................................................................24
Program 8:
Inferring Word Meaning in Context .......................................................................28
Program 9:
Story Mapping ..........................................................................................................32
Program 10:
Pronoun Anaphora....................................................................................................36
Program 11:
Identifying Main Idea and Details ...........................................................................40
Program 12:
Integrating Comprehension Strategies ....................................................................44
Master Sheets for Duplication:
Apprentice Storylord Certificate..............................................................................48
Activity Sheets.....................................................................................................49–55
Scroll for Student Writings ......................................................................................56
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Introduction
Storylords is designed for students in the second semester of first grade through the first semester
of fourth grade. It encourages children to expect meaning from print and to take active steps to
monitor their own comprehension.
The Concepts behind Storylords
To become independent readers, students must internalize a set of good reading habits, or strategies. These strategies will help them actively monitor their own comprehension and will provide
them with techniques to use whenever a text fails to make sense.
While classroom instruction helps children master the mechanics of reading, the teaching of comprehension skills has been less effective. Test scores show that students need more help with inferential thinking, which is essential to reading success.
Storylords is intended to supplement regular comprehension instruction in the classroom, not to
take its place. Its materials model ideas and activities that teachers and students can refer to during
regular classroom instruction in reading, as well as in subjects that require reading for content.
Reading research has shed insight into the reading process and formed the foundation of the
Storylords series. Two key observations suggest what all readers must learn; they are:
1. Good readers seem to draw inferences by simultaneously using several sources of information:
a. text information such as letters, words, sentence patterns, and concepts
b. prior knowledge of text information and text structure
c. knowledge of reading strategies and how to apply them
2. Good readers seem to construct meaning and monitor their own comprehension actively by
using these information sources consciously and unconsciously to understand, learn, and remember a text’s message.
Each Storylords program presents a strategy for better reading comprehension. The series describes
to students what these strategies are, how to apply them in reading, why the strategies make sense,
and when they might be effective in learning and remembering information. First and foremost,
the programs reinforce the idea that reading must make sense. When students encounter text they
don’t understand, they are directed to stop reading, identify where the problems are, and then try to
figure out how to solve them.
Components of the Reading Comprehension Project
The Student Series
The Storylords video series interweaves fantasy, exciting adventures, and compelling characters with
the reading comprehension strategies (see “The Storylords Fantasy,” on page 2). The programs
help both teachers and students recognize the importance of “reading to create meaning” and promote the conscious use of strategies for achieving meaning.
The Teacher Guide
This guide provides teaching notes, objectives, outlines of each comprehension strategy, synopses of
the Storylords episodes, pre- and post-viewing activities, application activities, as well as supplementary activities for incorporating the strategies into the regular classroom reading program and
content-area assignments.
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The CD-ROM
The interactive student activities on the Storylords CD-ROM enable young readers to apply the
reading comprehension strategies they see modeled in the video series. These activities also may be
used as stand-alone lessons. The CD-ROM is in a cross-platform format, so it runs on both
Macintosh and Windows-based computers. A companion teacher guide assists educators in making
the best use of this resource.
The In-service Series
A companion video series of 14 half-hour programs for elementary school teachers, Teaching
Reading Comprehension, features reading experts and classroom teachers who discuss reading comprehension research and demonstrate the teaching of reading comprehension with typical basal
readers. A viewer’s guide extends the content of this series and provides references for more information about each strategy or topic.
Using These Resources
This three-step instructional plan is suggested for making effective classroom use of the Storylords
materials.
1. Use the video program to introduce each strategy.
2. Provide review and guided practice with each strategy via activities in the teacher’s guide and
during the regular reading program and content area instruction.
3. Use the CD-ROM to provide students with the opportunity to learn each strategy well enough
to use it independently to monitor their own understanding of what they are reading.
The Storylords Fantasy
Storylords is set on the imaginary planet of Mojuste, where two Storylords wizards—one good and
one evil—live among the humanlike inhabitants. In the first program, the evil Storylord, named
Thorzuul, plans to gain supreme control of Mojuste by preventing its citizens from reading with
understanding. Thorzuul’s magic spells work to destroy the essential reading powers (i.e., thinking
strategies) on which Mojustians rely to understand what they read.
Desperate to save his planet from impending doom, the aging Lexor, the good Storylord, seeks an
assistant to help restore reading powers to Mojustians. Lexor travels to Earth, where he is successful
in recruiting a boy named Norbert to be an apprentice.
From Norbert’s point of view, Lexor’s Storylord training program leaves much to be desired. The
good wizard simply tells his apprentice that a wicked Storylord is causing problems on a planet
called Mojuste, gives him a ring that glows when Norbert’s services are needed, and shows him how
to use the magic “bike-o-tron” and a special chant to reach Mojuste. Then Lexor vanishes.
When Norbert is summoned to Mojuste in early Storylords episodes, he meets a Mojustian who
will be turned to stone by Thorzuul unless a special book, letter, or note is read and understood
accurately. As the series continues, Norbert’s sister Mandy joins him as an apprentice Storylord.
Together, the two apply reading comprehension strategies to save Mojuste and Earth from
Thorzuul.
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Program 1
Activating Prior Knowledge Before Reading
Key Idea
When readers mentally review what they already know about a topic before reading, it helps them
to understand written materials.
Objectives for Students
1. After the program, students will be able to discuss the importance of pausing before reading to
reflect on what they already know about the topic.
2. After additional activities, students will pause consciously before beginning a new reading assignment to recall what they already know about the topic and then use that information to understand the text.
Program Summary
Norbert, an ordinary beginning reader in Mrs. Framish’s class, meets the good Storylord, Lexor,
who challenges him to become an apprentice Storylord. The new apprentice will teach the inhabitants of Mojuste the strategies they need to improve the reading comprehension skills necessary to
save their planet.
As the first challenge unfolds, Norbert goes to Mojuste via a “bike-a-tron.” Once there, he meets
Melisande, a despairing dancer who is struggling to open a book titled Do the Elephant Stomp.
Chained shut by the wicked Storylord Thorzuul, the book can be opened and read only if
Melisande solves the following riddle:
Plant the seed before you read,
Then it will grow and you will know.
If Melisande fails to solve the riddle, read the book, and perform the elephant stomp to Thorzuul’s
satisfaction, she will be turned to stone!
After reassuring Melisande, Norbert returns to his classroom on Earth, where he and Mrs. Framish
work together to solve the riddle. “Plant the seed before you read” means that one should think
about what one already knows about a subject (prior knowledge). “Then it will grow and you will
know” means that thinking about what one already knows will help one understand the book better.
Norbert returns to Mojuste and encourages Melisande to let her prior knowledge of elephants help
her predict how to perform the elephant stomp. The pre-reading strategy works—Thorzuul’s magic
spell is broken. When the book’s chains fall to the ground, Melisande quickly compares what she
recalled about elephants with what is in the book. She then begins to dance the elephant stomp,
much to Thorzuul’s dismay.
Teaching Notes
Reading comprehension likely will improve if students take the following steps before each reading
assignment:
1. Skim the selection for major concepts essential to comprehension.
2. Let students tell what they know about the topic.
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3. Provide information (discussion, models, illustrations) as needed to broaden students’ understanding of the concepts.
4. Tie what students know to the story or text to be read.
After students read a selection, lead a class discussion to see how their personal knowledge helped
them understand the text.
Reading Strategy
Before reading a story or book, students should take the following steps:
1. Read the title.
2. Examine the illustrations.
3. Ask themselves, “What do I already know about this topic?”
4. Use what they know to predict what might happen in the story.
Before the Program
1. Introduce the storyline, outlined in “The Storylords Fantasy” on page 2.
2. Introduce Program 1’s vocabulary and its characters:
apprentice—a beginner, one who works to learn a craft or profession
incantation—words recited to produce a magical effect
Mrs. Framish (Fray’-mish)—Norbert’s classroom teacher
Jason—Norbert’s friend and classmate
Lexor (Leks’-or)—the good Storylord
Melisande (Mel’-i-shand)—a dancer who lives on the faraway planet of Mojuste
Milkbreath—the bad Storylord’s assistant
Mojuste (Moe-zhoost’)—a planet in fantasyland
Norbert—the new apprentice Storylord
Thorzuul (Thor-zool’)—the bad Storylord
3. Introduce the importance of prior knowledge by posing these questions to students:
“What if the wicked Storylord Thorzuul came to our school to take away some of our reading
powers? What do you think he might steal from us?” Conclude the discussion by saying, “The
worst thing Thorzuul could take would be all the ideas we have and all our special powers to
think about our ideas and remember them.”
4. Tell students that this Storylords program has in it a book about how to do an elephant dance.
Initiate a class discussion about the things a person might do to look like a dancing elephant. Ask
students to name all the parts of an elephant that might move in a dance, as well as to name the
ways each part might move. Help them develop a chart of their predictions, which may look
something like the one on page 5:
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head
ears
nod
turn
bob
wiggle
flap
parts of an elephant
that can move
trunk
feet
stamp
kick
shuffle
sway
jerk
squirt
5. Use this discussion to help students realize they were able to draw on ideas they had in their
heads to create the chart. Save the chart and, after viewing the Storylords program, compare it
with the ideas in Melisande’s book.
After the Program
1. Ask students to name what they liked best in the story. Encourage them by saying, “You can
become a Storylord in our classroom by listening carefully to what happens in the programs
each week and trying to use your new reading powers when you read your books.”
2. Help students recall the program by asking these questions: Who is Lexor? Who is Thorzuul?
Norbert? Mrs. Framish? What did Thorzuul do to the people on Mojuste? (He took away their
reading powers.) How did Mrs. Framish help Norbert? (She helped him understand Thorzuul’s
riddle.) What did Thorzuul’s riddle mean? (See “Program Summary,” on page 3. Write the riddle on the chalkboard and ask the students to interpret it, a line at a time.) How did Norbert
help Melisande solve her problem? (He taught her that what she already knew about elephants
would help her read her book.)
Follow-up Activity
The purpose of the follow-up activity is to integrate students’ speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills, as well as help them retain the program’s strategy. For each program, follow these steps:
1. Discuss the steps of the strategy.
2. Discuss how the strategy will help students become better readers.
3. As a group, write a paragraph or create a procedural chart. You may want to duplicate the lined
scroll on page 56 of this guide for students’ copies.
For Program 1, the class will write a paragraph. Work with students to answer this question: Before
you read something, what can you do to understand better? The group paragraph might read, “I
will think about what I know before I read. My own ideas will help me understand better.”
Application Activity
Select a story from the students’ basal reader. Read the title and examine the illustrations with the
class. Point out vocabulary that may help students understand the story. Ask students to think
aloud about things that might happen in the story. Write down their ideas on a chart. Pose ques-
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tions that lead students to make predictions about ideas related to these parts of the story: setting,
characters, goal, problem, episodes, and outcome.
Read part of the story, having students continually predict what might happen next. Then read further, discussing their predictions. Help them compare the chart of ideas they had before reading to
the ideas they find in the story. Reinforce the thought that they have a wealth of personal knowledge that will help them read better.
Certificate
You may want to duplicate the certificate on page 48 of this guide and present to students as they
master each reading comprehension skill.
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Program 2
Connecting What You Know
with What’s on the Page
Key Ideas
Each reader has a wealth of personal knowledge that can be applied when reading a text. To make
sense of what is on the page, the reader needs to draw inferences from a combination of what is
already known and what is given in the text.
1. After viewing Program 2, students will be able to talk about the importance of pausing during
reading to reflect on what they already know about the topic.
2. After completing the additional activities, students consciously will attempt to relate what they
know to what they read during a reading assignment or whenever comprehension problems
arise.
Program Summary
In Program 2, Norbert arrives on Mojuste to find Marko, a puzzled mime, struggling to solve the
riddle Thorzuul has presented to him on a scroll:
It floats on the wind,
You stand on the ground.
If you pull its tail,
It won’t make a sound.
Marko must pantomime the riddle’s solution for Thorzuul within 24 hours or be turned to stone.
Norbert, confident he can assist Mark, returns to Earth. Luckily, Mrs. Framish’s reading students
are studying how to make inferences. With a wordless picture book, Mrs. Framish helps them discover the key to making inferences (ideas in the head + ideas on the page = inference). “Holy
kamoly!” exclaims Norbert.
Back on Mojuste, Norbert helps Mark search the riddle for clues to its meaning and explores possible interpretations. Just in the nick of time, Norbert and Marko realize that Thorzuul’s hidden message refers to flying a kite. The reading strategy works, Thorzuul’s black magic is lifted, and he exits
in disgust with his companion, Milkbreath.
Reading Strategy
When reading, if a word, sentence, or passage does not make sense, a student should take the following steps:
1. Stop reading.
2. Ask, “What do I already know about this?”
3. Think. Combine personal ideas with text ideas. (Connect in-the-head with on-the-page.)
4. Ask, “Does this make sense?” If so, go on reading. If not, go through steps 1 and 2 again. If
there’s a still a problem, ask for help.
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Before the Program
1. Review highlights, characters, and the step-by-step strategy outline of Program 1.
2. Introduce Program 2’s vocabulary and its new character:
mime—a character who uses only actions and gestures to communicate without words
scroll—a rolled paper, usually with writing on it
Marko—the mime who lives on Mojuste
3. To introduce what Marko and Norbert will do in Program 2, ask a volunteer to read the following riddle from the board:
I’m white and brown,
As cold as ice,
And in a cone,
I taste so nice.
What am I?
Accept guesses. Expect that most students will answer with ease. Talk with students about the
clues they used to solve the riddle. Include on-the-page clues (white, brown, cold, ice, cone,
taste) and in-the-head clues (having eaten an ice cream cone, knowing about chocolate-vanilla
combinations—fudge ripple, chocolate chip, chocolate dip). Point out that they needed both
types of clues to solve the riddle. Explain that, in today’s episode, Marko will need to use those
same thinking powers to solve Thorzuul’s riddle.
After the Program
1. Ask questions to be sure students understood Program 2 and can verbalize the inference strategy.
For example, how did Norbert know he was needed in Mojuste? Why was he called to Mojuste?
What did Norbert learn about reading that helped Marko solve the riddle? (A reader must connect what’s in one’s head with what’s on the page.)
2. Help students review the clues Norbert and Marko used to solve the riddle. Remind them that
they used a combination of on-the-page and in-the-head clues.
Follow-up Activity
Work with students to answer this question, asked at the end of Program 2: When you read, what
two things must you connect?
The students’ group paragraph may read like this:
When I read, I must
Connect my own ideas
To the ideas I read
In stories or books.
Application Activities
1. Ask questions about a simple text. As students respond to each question, lead them to realize
that the answers to the questions were not in the text. They had to use clues in the text and ideas
in their heads to put together a good answer. Continually verbalize this inference strategy. For
example, write the following on the chalkboard and then read it aloud:
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Eric moved slowly toward the blue jay. He picked it up and gently placed it in a grass-lined
basket. “What has happened to this pretty blue jay?” thought Eric, as he walked carefully
toward the barn.
Ask students, what is a blue jay? How did you know that a blue jay is a bird? Why didn’t the
blue jay fly away? (Maybe it was sick or hurt.) How did you come up with that idea? What kind
of person do you think Eric might be? (He’s kind and gentle, and he loves animals.) How do you
know these things about him?
If necessary, model the inference strategy aloud. (“I know a blue jay is a bird because I’ve see
blue jays and talked about them. I’ve seen blue jays in books about birds.”) Encourage students
to think aloud, too.
2. Give students ample opportunity to practice this strategy, using unfamiliar sections from their
textbooks a storybook selection. The goal is to get individual students to use the technique on
their own.
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Program 3
Knowing When You Don’t Know (in Your Head)
Key Idea
Readers should employ this strategy when they don’t understand what they read.
1. After viewing Program 3, students will be able to talk about what they might do when they don’t
know enough about a topic.
2. After completing additional activities, students consciously will stop and ask themselves, “Do I
know enough about this topic?” whenever the text in a new reading assignment ceases to make
sense. If they answer “no” to the question, they will gather more information to use in rereading
the text.
Program Summary
Norbert is trying to learn to throw a spiral pass by following the directions in a booklet he has
found. But Norby just doesn’t have enough skill to use the booklet’s hints effectively. When his sister Mandy calls him to dinner, she shares the frustration of being able to understand the words but
not knowing enough about throwing a football to understand the rest. Mandy, who has mastered
the spiral pass, promises to teach Norbert throwing techniques in exchange for relief from dishwashing duty later in the evening.
Heading home, Norbert is waylaid by Lexor’s command to hasten to Mojuste. There, he finds that
Thorzuul’s magic threatens the life of Tsitra, a flamboyant artist who has been commissioned to
paint a picture of Thorzuul’s “Bad Guys” fudgeball team. Thorzuul’s directions tell Tsitra to show
that “… the bales are stacked [and Thorzuul is] doing the Big Waddle after making a long-distance
call.” Tsitra can read the words in Thorzuul’s letter but she has no idea what they mean.
“Don’t worry, Tsitra,” are Norbert’s confident words as he vanishes from sight.
In science class the next day, Norbert learns a special strategy for reading assignments that don’t
make sense. He calls it STRARO to help him remember Mrs. Framish’s lesson: Stop, Think,
Reread, Ask, Read Over.
Back on Mojuste, Norbert teaches the STRARO strategy to Tsitra. In the process, they find an article on the game of fudgeball and apply their new knowledge in rereading Thorzuul’s message.
Another victory of the good Storylords!
Teaching Notes
Program 3 helps young readers understand when it will help to stop reading, get more information,
and then read the passage again.
Authors cannot possibly create passages that explicitly define all vocabulary and give every possible
detail. This would be tedious reading, indeed. When students find that they know less than the
author assumes, they should draw upon the STRARO strategy presented in Program 3.
Model this inference strategy with ample preselected reading or content-area materials you currently are using. Show students by example how to seek information to solve comprehension problems
caused by a mismatch between their knowledge and the ideas in the text, as well as how to use the
new ideas when they reread. When they have grasped the strategy, assign lessons in which students
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work independently. Ask them to cite instances when they used the strategy. Practice the inference
strategy using the chart from the follow-up activity.
Reading Strategy
When reading, if something does not make sense, students should take the following steps:
1. Stop reading.
2. Think about what is causing the problem.
3. Reread to see if they have missed something.
4. If necessary, ask someone or search for more information.
5. Reread the text using the new information.
Before the Program
1. To review the storyline and strategy of Program 2, draw a set of four empty boxes on the chalkboard and label them as follows: Who? What? How? What Happened?
Ask questions and use student responses to fill in the boxes, providing help when needed, especially in recalling the inference strategy. Re-teach it if necessary.
Box 1: Who had a big problem on Mojuste in the last program? (Marko, the mime.)
Box 2: What was Marko’s problem? (He couldn’t read a poem; didn’t know what
the poem meant.)
Box 3: How did Norbert help Marko with his reading problem? (Norbert helped Marko
realize that he had good ideas in his head to solve the problem. All Marko
needed to do was to connect what he already knew with the ideas in the
poem.)
Box 4: What happened when Marko learned and used Norbert’s strategy? (He
figured out what the poem meant.)
Ask students whether the strategy helped them do their schoolwork during the past week.
Describe instances in which the reading group used it to learn or remember.
2. Introduce Program 3’s new vocabulary and its characters.
spiral pass—a way of throwing a football so that it spins as it flies through the air
Mandy—Norbert’s younger sister
Tsitra (Tsee’-tra)—the artist who lives on Mojuste
3. Provide the class with this synopsis of Program 3: Today, Thorzuul visits Tsitra, an artist on
Mojuste, and says she must paint a picture he has described in a letter. Tsitra can read the words
in Thorzuul’s letter but has no idea what Thorzuul wants her to paint.
To help students understand Tsitra’s problem, ask them how they would illustrate in a painting
the ideas in the following paragraph:
Tabby cat crouched under a low tuffet, ready to pounce. A silver bobbin had dropped from
Mrs. Gray’s lap and was rolling across the floor. A tail of red dragged behind the bobbin and
made a path right under Tabby’s nose.
Ask a student volunteer to identify the parts of the paragraph that are hard to understand; they
may include: crouched, tuffet, pounce, bobbin, tail of red. Be prepared to explain or illustrate the
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concepts these words represent. Then, ask students to describe again what they would include in
their painting. Emphasize that the new information they learned helped them read the paragraph.
After the Program
1. To help students remember the inference strategy, ask them: What problem did Norbert have at
the start of today’s program? Who is Mandy? How did she offer to help Norbert? Emphasize
how the first scene sets the stage for the inference strategy. Norbert didn’t have enough background knowledge to understand the words in the booklet. The solution: gain more information.
2. On Mojuste, Tsitra was in trouble. Ask a volunteer to retell the scene in which Norby meets
Tsitra and finds out about her problem.
3. Display Tsitra’s letter. Have a volunteer read it aloud.
Dear Tsitra:
Please paint my team, Thorzuul’s Bad Guys, playing a game of fudgeball. Make sure the bales
are stacked, and show me doing the Big Waddle after making a long-distance call. Have it
ready by tomorrow…OR ELSE!!
Sincerely, Thorzuul
As a class, list the words or ideas that make the text hard to understand (fudgeball, bales, stacked,
Big Waddle, long-distance call).
Help the students review the inference strategy and develop a sequenced chart story similar to
the following:
Tsitra was forced to Stop reading because she couldn’t understand Thorzuul’s letter. No matter how hard she Thought, she couldn’t figure out what he meant. Tsitra Reread the letter
but found no more clues. Norbert and Tsitra had to Learn More before Thorzuul’s letter
would make sense. They Read the letter Over Again and used the new ideas to help them
understand it.
Follow-up Activity
Ask students what they would do if they read a story and knew all the words but still didn’t understood what the story was about. To guide their answers, you may wish to help them make the following chart of the STRARO strategy:
1. Stop reading if you don’t understand something.
2. Think about what is not making sense.
3. Reread to see if you missed anything.
4. Ask someone or look for more information.
5. Read over using your new information.
Practice the steps of the inference strategy using the passage below or one adapted to your students’
reading abilities.
Near the end of the copse crouched a young stoat. Its beady eyes followed the plump young
does that had strayed far from the warren to nibble the green fodder.
Be prepared to help the students find information on the words copse, stoat, does, warren, and fodder.
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Program 4
Knowing When You Don’t Know (on the Page)
Key Idea
When students don’t understand a passage because they find too few clues or because the clues are
misleading, they should first reread and then read ahead to gather more clues.
1. After viewing Program 4, students will be able to talk about the importance of rereading and
reading ahead when the text seems to lack sufficient clues to meaning.
2. After completing the additional activities and when a portion of text fails to make sense during a
new reading assignment, students will remember to reread and read ahead for additional clues
before asking for help.
Program Summary
Norbert is coaching Mandy on her part in a play. Her portrayal of a pterodactyl suffers because
she’s never heard of a pterodactyl. She didn’t attend to the script’s clues and didn’t read ahead to
gather ideas. Norbert barely has time to point this out when the glowing ring summons him once
more to Mojuste. This time, he lands in a restaurant where Chef Jeff is fretting over a puzzling
note from Thorzuul. Thorzuul has demanded a treat that is:
Under some ice cream,
Over some meat,
Beside some milk—
What a treat!
Failure to produce the treat will ensure Chef Jeff’s future as a statue in Mojuste’s fine restaurant.
What strategy can Norbert come up with?
The next day Mrs. Framish’s students read a story about a cat, Mr. Muddyface, and learn a strategy
to use when something they read doesn’t make sense. They already know it sometimes works to
stop, think, and reread for missing clues. Today, they learn to read ahead for clues to meaning. How
can this strategy work on Chef Jeff’s one-paragraph note?
Back on Mojuste, Chef Jeff has reread and rethought, but to no avail. When Norbert suggests they
apply the read-ahead strategy, the chef is aghast. There is no more text … or is there? They turn
Thorzuul’s note over and find more of the riddle!
If you will heat it,
I will eat it!
With the new clue (something cold to be heated), Norbert and Chef Jeff search the refrigerators.
They find an apple pie under some ice cream, over some meat, and beside some milk. The strategy has
worked its “magic” and overcome Thorzuul’s evil power.
Teaching Notes
Programs 3 and 4 help students avoid the extremes of plodding or racing through assignments, not
paying attention to the meaning. They offer students strategies to use when a text doesn’t make
sense. Program 3 showed that comprehension suffers without prior knowledge; it suggested that the
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solution is to learn more and then apply the new knowledge to the text. Similarly, Program 4 teaches the reader to read ahead to gather more information. Both programs illustrate the importance of
“knowing what you don’t know” and then knowing what to do about it.
Reading Strategy
When a text doesn’t make sense, students should take the following steps.
1. Stop reading.
2. Think about what doesn’t make sense.
3. Reread to search for missed clues.
4. If no new clues appear during the rereading, read ahead for additional clues.
Before the Program
1. Review Program 3 and its strategy. Have students recall Tsitra’s task (paint Thorzuul’s fudgeball
team in action). Ask students, what was Tsitra’s problem? (She didn’t know anything about
fudgeball.) Help the students recall the step-by-step procedure Norbert and Tsitra followed to
decipher Thorzuul’s letter.
2. Introduce Program 4’s vocabulary and its characters.
brontosaurus—a huge, herbivorous, land-dwelling dinosaur (extinct)
linguini—long, thin strands of pasta
pterodactyl—an extinct flying reptile with a broad wing span
soufflé—a light, fluffy baked egg dish
Chef Jeff—a head cook on Mojuste
3. Introduce the story and its reading comprehension strategy:
In this program, Chef Jeff will turn to stone if he doesn’t follow Thorzuul’s command. The
strategy from the last program doesn’t work well enough.
Ask students to figure out something new to help Chef Jeff. Write the following paragraph on
the board and read it with the class.
Jed stopped and listened. A branch had snapped behind him. He turned around slowly and
saw two brown eyes peeking over a small bush near the path. Bright silver rings sparkled
against the smooth, black face.
What was watching Jed from behind the bush? Whose eyes and face were they?
Accept guesses. Have students read the paragraph again for missed clues. Ask them if they can
be certain they know the owner of the eyes, face, and rings. Ask how they can find the answers
to their questions. Lead them to realize that they need additional information from the text.
Write the remainder of the paragraph on the board:
Jed knew that some jungle men wore nose rings, but he had never seen one before today. Was
the man dangerous?
Help students put the “read ahead” strategy into words. Ask them to see how Chef Jeff and
Norbert use it.
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After the Program
To help students remember the story and the steps of the strategy, ask the following questions:
1. Why couldn’t Mandy act like a pterodactyl?
2. What parts of the story about Mr. Muddyface confused Mrs. Framish’s class? When the class
couldn’t figure out who Mr. Muddyface was, did rereading the story help them? What did they
have to do?
3. What was Chef Jeff doing to figure out Thorzuul’s note when Norbert arrived? (Reading it over
and over.) Did his strategy work?
4. How did Norbert use the ideas he learned from Mrs. Framish to help Chef Jeff?
Follow-up Activity
Help students formulate a group paragraph in answer to this question: What would you do if you
read something and it didn’t make sense?
The paragraph might be similar to the following:
When something I read doesn’t make any sense to me, I will reread the text to look for an idea I
missed. If that doesn’t work, I will try reading ahead to look for an idea to help me.
Practice the strategy with the following passage and questions (or with another example appropriate
for your students).
Baby Kangaroos
A young kangaroo is called a joey. When it is born, a joey is very, very small. It crawls into its
mother’s pouch right after birth. The joey does not leave the pouch for many months. It just
stays in the pouch and grows larger.
Ask students: What is a baby kangaroo called? Where does a joey live when it is very young? What
does a joey eat while in its mother’s pouch?
Some students may guess that the joey nurses. Ask whether it is clear from the text what a joey eats
or drinks. Lead students to realize that they need more information. Then, display the next paragraph.
A mother kangaroo lets her baby nurse, or drink milk, for about eight months. When the joey
grows too big for the pouch, it must get its own food.
Ask the students to express the reading-ahead strategy into words. Practice the strategy often with
basal reader lessons and content-area materials. Remind the students to use it on their own.
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Program 5
Directed Reading-Thinking Activity
Key Idea
Readers must develop the habit of deliberately and consistently monitoring their own comprehension by predicting text meaning, reading to confirm or reject the predictions, and using the evidence gathered during reading to evaluate their predictions.
1. After viewing Program 5, students will be able to talk about the active self-monitoring strategy;
predicting text meaning, reading to gather clues, and searching for more clues when the text fails
to make sense.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will consciously apply the self-monitoring
strategy (predict, read, prove, repeat during independent reading).
Program Summary
When the program opens, Norbert is trying to convince Mandy that she could be a better reader if
she would just take time to think about what she already knows and make sure she always understands what she’s reading. Norbert is summoned by Lexor, and Mandy secretly follows him to
Mojuste.
They arrive at a library on Mojuste where Marian, the librarian, needs immediate assistance.
Thorzuul has been making daily visits to the library and has already turned to stone 10 children
who failed to pass his reading test. Who could pass the test? Norbert could probably pass the test,
but Thorzuul would suspect him at once. Mandy might be able to, but she doesn’t always read well
when the teacher isn’t there providing guidance.
Norbert remembers how Mrs. Framish taught her class a self-directed monitoring strategy. The
children learned to think and make predictions before reading, using clues from the title, illustrations, and their own background knowledge. Next, they learned to think during reading, gathering
evidence to confirm or reject their predictions. Finally, they learned that if the text still fails to
make sense, they should reread, read ahead, ask someone for help, or look up new information to
help them understand.
When Thorzuul appears, he challenges Mandy to tell him what The Sultan’s New Pet is about.
Shrewdly, Mandy bargains with the evil man to free all 10 children if she passes his reading test.
Thorzuul agrees. Mandy applies the self-monitoring strategy and wins. At once, Storylord gloves
pop onto her hands and Norbert has an assistant! Thorzuul exits in fury.
Teaching Notes
Reading is problem solving. It involves a continuous process of making, testing, and evaluating predictions. Directed reading-thinking activities (DRTAs) help students learn this problem-solving
approach to reading. The following are steps in a DRTA.
1. Predict. Use “in the head” (see Program 3) and “in the book” (see Program 4) clues to make
guesses about text meaning.
2. Read. Search for textual clues that confirm or reject predictions.
3. Prove. Pause and reflect on evidence gathered during reading to test predictions.
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4. Repeat. Continue the cycle until the end of the text.
Beginning at the first grade level, use DRTAs with groups of eight to 10 students. Give the students
multiple opportunities to practice making and proving predictions. Encourage them to combine the
in-the-head and in-the-book clues. They should learn that predicting meaning requires them to
read the text carefully. Reading ahead will test whether their predictions were accurate. Students
should learn to make, test, and evaluate predictions each time they read independently.
Program 5 introduces the DRTA strategy. You will need to provide additional instruction to expand
the concept in reading and content-area classes.
For more information about DRTAs, read the works of Russell G. Stauffer. A good starting point
would be “Individualized Reading-Thinking Activities,” on pages 765-769 in the May 1975 issue of
The Reading Teacher.
Reading Strategy
Before reading a story or textbook, students should take the following steps.
1. Predict.
a. Read the title and examine illustrations.
b. Think about what you already know.
c. Guess what the story will be about by combining your personal knowledge
and textual clues.
2. Read silently and search for evidence to confirm or reject your predictions.
3. Prove your predictions with evidence from the text that supports or rejects them.
4. Repeat.
a. Predict what might come next.
b. Modify previous predictions.
c. Read.
d. Prove.
Before the Program
1. Review Program 4 and its strategy. Display the first part of the riddle Thorzuul left for Chef
Jeff. Ask students to recall why Thorzuul left the riddle and what the treat turned out to be.
Help them remember how Norbert and Chef Jeff read ahead to find more clues and solve the
riddle. Have students review the steps in the strategy.
2. Introduce Program 5’s vocabulary and its new characters.
assistant—helper
concocted—mixed together
chauffeur—driver
loathsome—hateful, disgusting
Mandy—Norbert’s younger sister
Marian—the librarian on Mojuste
3. Present the storyline for Program 5: Mandy follows Norbert to Mojuste and must help him rescue 10 children who have been turned to stone. Norbert quickly teaches her a plan to outsmart
Thorzuul.
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4. Introduce the new strategy by displaying a children’s book that has an illustration and the title
on its cover. Have students read the title, describe the illustration, and guess what the story
might be about. Write their predictions on the board. Read the story, stopping whenever appropriate to let students confirm or reject their predictions using clues from the text and from their
own knowledge.
After the Program
1. Ask students: What happened to Mandy’s hands at the end of today’s program? What do students think that means? Lead them to discover that Mandy earned her new status by both learning and applying a reading strategy.
2. Write the title of the book featured in the program, The Sultan’s New Pet, on the board. Ask the
class how Mandy knew the pet was a giraffe (picture clues and prior knowledge) and how she
figured out that the word sultan meant king (context clues and prior knowledge).
3. Mrs. Framish’s students and Mandy did some similar kinds of thinking. List things Mrs.
Framish’s class discussed during reading. Ask the students to think of similar things Mandy did.
These include:
a.
Think before reading. (Mandy thought about pets and how the giraffe fit in.)
b.
Think while reading. (Mandy thought about clues in the story.)
c.
Stop when a word doesn’t make sense and figure it out. (Mandy figured out the meaning
of sultan.)
Follow-up Activity
This activity extends the DRTA introduced in today’s episode. Work with the students to develop
the predict, read, prove, repeat plan. Create the following classroom chart. Display it and refer to it
often.
Before I read, I will:
1.
Read the title and look at the illustrations.
2.
Think about what I already know.
3.
Guess what the story will be about.
When I read, I will:
1.
Look for clues to see if I guessed right.
2.
Sometimes have to guess again.
After I read, I will:
1.
Stop and think about the guesses I made.
2.
Prove whether they were right or wrong.
Use the Program 5 Activity Sheet on pages 49 and 50 to provide guided practice.
1. Have the students read the title of the story, look at the illustrations, and think what this story
might be about. Ask them to write their predictions on the first few lines.
2. Read the first segment of the story aloud or have the students read it. Then, ask them to check
their predictions.
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3. Have the students continue to work through the story, predicting, reading, and proving.
Apply the same procedure to narrative and expository texts read in ordinary class work.
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Program 6
Question-Answer Relationships
Key Idea
When young readers learn about question-answer relationships, they master a strategy that puts the
questions under their control. This strategy helps them to recognize the three types of questions
and then go on to locate the information they need to answer them.
1. After viewing Program 6, students will be able to talk about the three types of question-answer
relationships.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will be able to recognize, ask, and answer
three types of questions to monitor their understanding of what they are reading independently.
Program Summary
Norbert is explaining to Mandy how Mrs. Framish taught his class to find answers to questions.
The glowing ring beckons them to Mojuste, where they pop into the clothing boutique operated by
identical twins Min and Win Gwynn. Min and Win each have received a letter from Thorzuul and
they need assistance from a Storylord.
Dear Min,
I have a red summer cape
and a blue winter cape.
Which one should I wear?
Thorzuul
Dear Win,
It snowed last night.
What color cape should
I wear outside?
Thorzuul
The twins are perplexed because Thorzuul has taken away their ability to find answers to questions.
Mandy encourages Norbert to review Mrs. Framish’s lesson on how to find answers to questions.
When asking questions about a story, Mrs. Framish provided labels for three different questionanswer relationships (QARs).
1. The first question had a Right There QAR. The answer to a Right There question is stated
directly in one sentence in the text.
2. The second question was labeled Think and Search. To answer a Think and Search question,
the reader must put ideas from two or more sentences together and think about them.
3. The third question had an On My Own QAR. Answers to On My Own questions are not in the
text but are drawn from a reader’s own experience.
The apprentice Storylords apply Mrs. Framish’s QAR strategy to solve the problem of the Gwynn
twins’ letters. First, they categorize the questions in Thorzuul’s notes. Then they put the ideas from
both letters together and arrive at the answer—Thorzuul must wear a blue cape.
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Teaching Notes
While basal reader manuals encourage teachers to ask a great number of questions, they give few
hints for helping children locate answers to questions. One objective of teaching the questionanswer relationship strategy is to help students identify sources of information to use in seeking
answers to questions.
The first step in instruction might be to teach students two sources of information to use in
answering questions: in the book and in the head. Next, expand the in-the-book category to
include Right There QARS—where the answer is stated literally—and Think and Search
QARs—where the answer is stated in the text but requires inferences from two or more sentences.
On My Own QAR answers are based on the reader’s prior knowledge—where the answer is stored
in the head.1
Reading Strategy
When working to answer any question, oral or written, a student should take the following steps:
1. Decide what type of question it is: Right There, Think and Search, or On My Own.
2. Locate an appropriate source of information.
3. Answer the question.
To reach a strategic level, students should seek to monitor their own comprehension during independent oral treading by doing the following:
1.
Generating all three types of questions
2.
Locating answers to questions posed
Before the Program
1. Review how Mandy outsmarted Thorzuul in Program 5. Use the chart developed in the followup activity to help students review the steps of the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (predict,
read, prove, repeat). Ask students to report on using the strategy during independent reading.
2. Introduce Program 6’s vocabulary and its characters:
coordinated—similar, matching
dickies—detachable blouse or shirt fronts worn under sweaters or jackets
Min Gwynn—one of the identical twins who operate a clothing boutique on Mojuste
Win Gwynn—Min’s identical twin
3. Preview the new strategy and storyline. Min and Win Gwynn, identical twins, each receive a letter from Thorzuul. The letters contain questions the twins must answer to avoid being turned
into stone.
Use a modified discovery technique to preview the QAR strategy. Write the following passage
on the board:
___________
Taffy Raphael, “Teaching learners about sources of information for answering comprehension questions,”
Journal of Reading 27(4):303-311; idem, “Teaching question-answer relationships, revisited. Paper presented
and distributed at the May 1985 convention of the International Reading Association in New Orleans, La.
1
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Heather looked at the great big snowflakes falling on her mittens. The white flakes looked so
pretty against the bright red yarn! Heather almost forgot how cold she felt.
Read the text to the class or have the class read it aloud. Ask the following questions and help
the students discover how to locate answers to them:
a.
What was falling on Heather’s mittens? How did you find the answer to this
question? (Many times answers to questions can be found in one sentence
in the text. This type of question-answer relationship is called Right There.)
b.
What color were Heather’s mittens? How did you find the answer? (Sometimes,
the ideas from two or more sentences in a text must be combined to find the
answer. This type of question-answer relationship is called Think and Search.)
c.
What else could mittens be made of instead of yarn? How did you find the answer?
(Answers to questions often cannot be found in the text. You must find the answer
in your own experiences. This type of question-answer relationship is called On
My Own.)
After the Program
1. Ask students: What problem did Min and Win have in the program we just watched? Why
couldn’t the twins answer Thorzuul’s questions? (They didn’t know how to put ideas together to
develop answers to questions.) What are the names of the different kinds of question-answer
relationships we just learned?
2. Write Min and Win Gwynn’s letters on the board so students can practice locating answers to
each of the question types. Be sure to follow the step-by-step strategy:
a.
Decide on the question type.
b.
Locate the correct source of information.
c.
Develop an answer.
The following questions will help students classify the QAR and identify the source of the information.
a.
In Win’s letter, when did it snow? (Right There)
b.
Where did Thorzuul want to wear his red or blue cape? (Think and Search)
c.
What is a cape? (On My Own)
Follow-up Activity
As a class, discuss some of the many school situations in which students answer questions. Explain
to students that the QAR procedure can help them find answers to questions for all their school
work. Then, review the three QARs once again. Work with students to develop a chart of the
QARs to display on a bulletin board; it should resemble the following example.
When I have to answer questions, I will:
1. Decide what kind of question has been asked.
a. Right There
b. Think and Search
c. On My Own
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2. Think about where to look for information.
a. in the text (one sentence)
b. in the text (two or more sentences)
c. in my head
d. both places
3. Find information or think about ideas, and then answer the question.
Display the chart and refer to it often until students become familiar with the QAR strategy and
employ it on their own.
1. To begin this guided practice activity, write the following paragraph on the board.
The sun is our closest star. It is a million times larger than Earth. The sun looks like a round
ball of fire. It is made of hot gases that glow. These hot gases give our Earth light and heat.
Then, create the following three-column table on the board, except for the text inside of parentheses. Fill in the table as a class, having students read each question, give an answer, and identify the QAR. When necessary, refer students to the chart they made in the Follow-up Activity, on
page 22.
Question
Answer
How You Found the Answer
1. What does the sun look like?
(A round ball of fire.)
(Right There)
2. What is the sun made of?
(Hot gases that glow.)
(Think and Search)
3. What might happen to Earth
if the sun stopped glowing?
(Answers will vary.)
(On My Own)
The goal is to put students in control of the questions. They must be able to develop all three
types of QARs to use in monitoring their own comprehension.
They will need to engage in many activities like the following to move toward this goal. In the
classroom, use passages from the students’ readers and other textbooks.
2. To move young readers toward applying the QAR strategy independently, write the following
paragraph on the board. Have students work in pairs to each write a question about the paragraph. Direct the pairs to exchange questions, answer their partner’s question, and identify the
QAR. Discuss the completed work with each pair.
Lesa made many puppets for her play. Two were Storylords puppets. Lexor was dressed in a
white robe. Thorzuul had on a long black cape.
3. Assign the Program 6 Activity Sheet on page 51 for independent practice. Direct students to
read the paragraph, answer each question, tell what they had to do to get each answer, and label
each QAR.
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Program 7
Decoding Words in Context
Key Idea
Readers may fail to recognize written words that are part of their spoken vocabulary. Reading to the
end of the sentence, looking in sentences and around a visually unfamiliar word for clues to its
meaning, and sounding out the word are strategies that lead to word recognition.
1. After viewing Program 7, students will be able to talk about the importance of decoding the pronunciation and meaning of unfamiliar words from context and through graphophonemic clues.
2. After completing additional activities, students will use context clues to determine the meaning
of an unfamiliar word in a new reading assignment and graphophonemic clues to determine its
pronunciation.
Program Summary
Mandy interrupts Norbert to get his help with an unfamiliar word in her library book. Patiently, he
leads her through a series of meaning and pronunciation strategies until she successfully decodes
the word envelope. They are summoned to Mojuste, where Thorzuul has presented Zandro, a young
boy, with a command.
I watch dandelions by the hour.
Is it a weed, or is it a flower?
They grow in my lawn, gold as the sun.
Bring me a bunch or you’d better run.
Zandro can’t meet Thorzuul’s demand because he doesn’t know the pronunciation or meaning of
dandelions. Mandy has Norbert review the strategies he used earlier to help her.
Norbert’s flashback to Earth shows Mrs. Framish teaching a lesson about handling unfamiliar
words in text by gathering clues to pronunciation and meaning. She points out that sometimes
young readers may know what a word sounds like but not what it looks like.
First, Mrs. Framish suggests reading to the end of the passage. Next, the students become word
detectives and search the entire passage for clues to meaning. Then, Mrs. Framish guides her students to try several pronunciations. Finally, a student reads the entire passage aloud, and Mrs.
Framish reviews the successful strategy with her class.
Just as Norbert finishes reviewing the lesson, Thorzuul arrives. Norbert stalls Thorzuul while
Mandy, the new apprentice, is left alone to help Zandro decode his message. In the nick of time,
both youngsters decode dandelions, and Zandro hastens to pick a bunch for Thorzuul.
Teaching Notes
This lesson presents a series of strategies for determining the pronunciation and meaning of unfamiliar words. Students learn that context, grammatical clues, and graphophonemic (symbol/sound)
clues all work together in word identification. Unfortunately, many basal readers present isolated
skill lessons on phonics, structural analysis, and context clues. Mature, independent reading requires
24
that students use a strategy of integrated word analysis to arrive at word pronunciation and meaning.
Too often, readers develop the habit of skipping over difficult or unfamiliar words during reading,
which leads to serious comprehension problems. The strategy of integrated word analysis will
replace the “skipping over” approach if continued instruction, guided practice, and independent
application activities are provided in the classroom.
Reading Strategy
When students come to an unfamiliar word during independent reading, they should gather meaning and pronunciation clues by taking the following steps:
1. Reading to the end of the sentence.
2. Rereading or reading ahead.
3. Looking at the word parts.
4. Saying the words in different ways.
5. Ask themselves, “Does this word make sense?”
6. Reading on if the answer is yes; trying again or asking for help if it is no.
Before the Program
1. Review the strategy and storyline from Program 6, in which Mandy and Norbert helped Min
and Win Gwynn learn about question-answer relationships (QARs). Ask student volunteers to
name the QARs (Right There, Think and Search, On My Own) and write them on the chalkboard.
Use the following paragraph to review each QAR with the class. Go through each step of the
strategy—ask a question, have students answer it, identify the type of QAR, and justify the
QAR.)
Cardinals and blue jays like to eat sunflower seeds. Birds that eat these seeds have strong
beaks. They need strong beaks to crack seed covers.
a. What kind of seeds do cardinals and blue jays eat? (Answer: Sunflower seeds.
QAR: Right There. Justification: The answer is in one sentence.)
b. Why do blue jays need strong beaks? (Answer: They need strong beaks to crack the
covers of the seeds they eat. QAR: Think and Search. Justification: The answer
was drawn from information found in two sentences; the ideas had to be combined.)
c. What color are cardinals? (Answer: Red. QAR: On My Own. Justification: Because the
passage didn’t mention the color of cardinals, the answer had to come from personal
knowledge.)
Have students work alone to write a question for each QAR type about the following paragraph.
Let volunteers ask for group responses to their questions. Respondents must answer the question, identify the QAR, and justify it.
Min and Win are identical twins. They work in a clothing store in Mojuste. The twins sell
summer and winter things for men, women, and children.
2. Introduce Program 7’s vocabulary and its characters.
allergic—sensitive to something in the environment
25
envelope—a flat, folded paper container for a letter
dandelion—plant with bright yellow flowers
Zandro (Zan’-droh)—a boy who lives on Mojuste
Zetus (Zee’-tus)—Zandro’s father, who is a jeweler
3. Tell the class that, in today’s program, Norbert and Mandy will help a boy named Zandro figure
out how to solve Thorzuul’s message. Zandro is in deep trouble because he can’t figure out a
long word Thorzuul has written in a note. Ask students what they should do when they come to
a word they have never seen before. Accept all reasonable responses and list them on the board.
4. To introduce the strategy, write on the board the following letter from Thorzuul to Zandro’s
father, the jeweler Zetus. Work with the students to solve the “unfamiliar word” problem by
using integrated word identification strategies.
Dear Zetus,
My wife loves to wear beautiful arm bands. You must make her a bracelet in the shape of a
snake. It must fit her arm or you will be turned to stone at once.
Thorzuul
If the letter is too difficult or too easy for your class, revise it accordingly. Help students gather
clues to the meaning of bracelet by reading to the end of the sentence, rereading the first sentence, and reading the last sentence. Once they gather clues to the meaning, guide them to
sound out the word.
After the Program
1. Ask students to explain why Zandro was hiding when apprentice Storylords Mandy and Norbert
arrived. Why couldn’t Zandro solve the word problem? (Thorzuul had destroyed all that Zandro
knew about searching for clues to figure out how a word sounded or what it meant.) How did
Mandy and Norbert help? (Norbert taught Mrs. Framish’s strategy to Mandy and Zandro, and
Mandy worked with Zandro to apply it.)
2. Write the following text on the board, which is the teaching example Mrs. Framish used in
Program 7. Ask a student to read it aloud.
Hansel and Gretel were locked in a candy cage. Its long bars were made of licorice.
Some were black and some were red. They all tasted sweet and delicious!
Have students recall the in-the-book and in-the-head clues Mrs. Framish’s class used to figure
out the word licorice. Remind them that the class tried several different ways to say the word
until they came up with something that made sense.
3. On chart paper, list the steps of the decoding strategy (see Reading Strategy on page 25) and
save it for reference and review. Ask students to think about how Mandy and Zandro solved the
unfamiliar word licorice.
Follow-up Activity
Work with the class to develop a group paragraph that summarizes the strategy taught in this lesson. Students could make individual declarations promising to never skip over difficult words; for
example:
I, ____________________, promise I will always try my best to figure out hard words. First, I
will think about the word and then read to the end of the sentence. I will think some more while
26
I read the sentences that come just before and after the hard word. I will gather all the clues I
can and then try to sound out the word. I will try to think of a word I know that will make sense.
1. Model the integrated word identification strategy for the word uniform in the following paragraph. (If students have trouble with any of the strategies taught in this series, modeling as a
means of re-teaching is a good practice.) Talk about all the clues you could use to gather meaning and to figure out how to pronounce the word.
The boys were dressed and ready to play ball. Eric’s uniform was red, yellow, and white. The
colorful suit was just his size, but the cap was much too large.
2. For guided practice in using this strategy, write the following passage on the board (or adapt it
to suit the ability level of your students). Guide students to search for clues to solve the meaning
and pronunciation of petunia. Ask those who know the word to refrain from saying it until the
class has gathered all the clues.
Lexor looked sadly around his once beautiful garden. Only one lonely red petunia was in
bloom.
“This madness must end,” thought Lexor. “I spend all my time saving my people from
Thorzuul. There’s no time left for me to care for my flower garden. Only one plant is in
bloom.”
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Program 8
Inferring Word Meaning in Context
Key Idea
When readers are unable to pronounce a word they have never seen before in print, they should
still infer its meaning from context.
1. After viewing Program 8, students will be able to discuss the importance of using context clues
to build the general meaning of an unfamiliar word.
2. After completing additional activities, students will consciously apply context clues during independent reading to build the general meaning of unfamiliar words.
Program Summary
Norbert is sick in bed and reading a book. When he comes across an unfamiliar word , he discusses
the word with his mother and then uses available context clues to explain how he has constructed
the word’s meaning. He isn’t certain how to pronounce the word, but because he’s reading silently,
its meaning is all that matters.
Jason comes in from school and reports that the class played “word detective” again, using context
clues to figure out that the word petoskies must mean a kind of stone. After Jason leaves, Lexor summons his apprentices, but because Norbert is ill, Mandy volunteers to go alone.
On Mojuste, Mandy meets Caroma, who paints magical moving pictures with a stroke of her brush.
Caroma has been threatened by none other than Thorzuul.
Dear Caroma,
Please paint me a picture of a kestrel. Show it hunting or just flying. It should have sharp claws
and a sharp beak. If I like it, I’ll ask you to paint other, bigger hawks.
Thorzuul
Caroma has neither heard of nor seen the word kestrel before and, due to Thorzuul’s evil magic, she
no longer has reading strategies to help her figure out unfamiliar words. Mandy takes control at
once and guides Caroma through Thorzuul’s message using Jason’s context-clue strategy. They
decide that kestrel means some kind of hawk. They are not worried about pronouncing the word;
knowing what it means is enough.
Caroma puts up a new canvas, and her magical strokes produce Thorzuul’s kestrel in motion.
Thorzuul arrives, takes one look at Caroma’s masterpiece, and leaves in a rage. Another victory for
strategic readers.
Teaching Notes
A reader doesn’t need to know the exact meaning of a word or how to pronounce it to understand a
reading selection. In well-written passages, many context clues allow readers to come up with a
“best guess” definition for an unfamiliar word.
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Mrs. Framish uses the word petoskies in her class. As her students progress through the passage, they
build a definition. Understanding of the word increases. Even though they never have heard the
word and are not sure how it sounds, her students make a good guess about its meaning.
Many students skip over words such as petoskies or immediately ask a peer or the teacher for assistance. Program 8 provides them with a strategy for understanding the general meaning of unfamiliar words. Your students will need continuous instruction and encouragement until they use this
active comprehension strategy consciously when reading independently.
Reading Strategy
When students encounter words they never have heard or seen before, they should gather context
clues by taking the following steps:
1. Reading to the end of the sentence.
2. Rereading previous sentences.
3. Reading to the end of the paragraph.
After gathering context clues, students should do the following:
1. Combine the clues to build general meaning for the unknown word.
2. Test the generated meaning by rereading the original sentence to see if it makes sense.
Before the Program
1. Review the previous program and its strategy. In the last episode, Norbert and Mandy helped
Zandro figure out how to pronounce a word he couldn’t read in Thorzuul’s note. Once Zandro
could say the word, he recognized exactly what it meant. Ask students to recall how Zandro figured out that the note talked about dandelions. (They used all the meaning clues in the note and
then they tried many ways to say the word. Knowing what the word meant made it easier to figure out how to say it.)
Review the strategy with the students using the following passage, or create one appropriate to
your students’ reading level.
Bright red apples hung on every branch of the old tree. Norbert picked a large one and took
a big bite saying, “This apple tastes delicious. It’s so sweet and juicy. I’ve never tasted a better
piece of fruit. I wonder if all the apples on Mojuste are this good.”
Have students locate and list all meaning clues on the board. Combine all possible clues to arrive
at a general meaning for delicious. Try different pronunciations. Once students can say the word
correctly, most will know what it means.
2. Introduce Program 8’s new character:
Caroma (kar-oh’-ma)—a painter who paints moving pictures on Mojuste
3. Introduce Program 8’s storyline and its strategy: Because Norbert is ill, Mandy travels alone to
Mojuste to help Caroma, an artist who paints moving pictures. Thorzuul has challenged Caroma
to paint the moving picture he has described in his note, but Caroma can’t figure out one very
difficult word in Thorzuul’s message.
Ask students to try to figure out how Mandy will help Caroma. As an example, encourage them
to list clues to the meaning of the underlined word in the following letter. Guide them to discover that by putting clues together, they can figure out the meaning of the word even though
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they’ve never seen or heard it before. Point out that they do not have to know how to say the
word to learn its meaning.
Dear Zandro,
I found a new falconer to work in my barns. His job is to feed and train my young falcons.
These hawks must learn to fly down and hunt mice and rabbits who visit my gardens every
day.
If you cannot tell me what a falconer is, I will turn you to stone by tomorrow.
Thorzuul
After the Program
1. Ask the class if anyone can remember the important reading power Caroma had lost in today’s
program. If they were sent to Mojuste to help someone just like Caroma, what would your students tell that person to do?
2. Why is it important to figure out words you haven’t seen before? (Because you must understand
the words if you want to understand the story or passage.)
3. Jason said Mrs. Framish’s students played word detectives. Ask your class: Now that you’ve seen
this program, can you explain how the students in Mrs. Framish’s class played the detective
game?
4. Review the inference strategy Mandy and Caroma practiced when they worked to figure out the
meaning of kestrel. Write on the board the message Thorzuul sent to Caroma (see the Program
Summary on page 28). Review the clues found in the text.
In-the-book clues:
In-the-head clues:
can fly and hunt
sharp claws, sharp beak
paint other, bigger hawks
must be a bird, bug
must be a bird of some kind
kestrel must be a hawk; a
smaller type of hawk
Lead students to realize that, even though they’ve probably never heard or seen the word before,
they could figure out what kestrel means by gathering clues from the page and thinking about
them.
Follow-up Activity
Work with students to create a simple summary chart for the strategy. This chart could be posted
and referred to on occasion.
When I come to a word I don’t know,
I don’t always have to know how to say it,
but I should always try to figure out what it means.
To do that, I need to gather many clues
and put them together to make a good guess.
1. To provide guided practice, work with students to build meaning for the word silhouette in the
following passage.
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Today, the teacher made a silhouette of my head. First, he put a piece paper on the wall.
Then, he put a light beside my head. I was sitting sideways. I saw my shadow on the paper!
The teacher traced my shadow and let me cut out the shape of my head. I’m going to send
the silhouette to my grandma.
Assign the Program 8 Activity Sheet on page 52. Review the steps of the strategy taught in this
episode. Ask students to work independently to figure out the meaning of the word bolero.
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Program 9
Story Mapping
Key Idea
Readers who actively apply their knowledge of story structure can organize information they read
in new stories into a story map. Story mapping helps readers understand and recall new ideas.
1. After viewing Program 9, students will be able to talk about the six basic components of most
narrative stories: setting, characters, problem, goal, episodes, and resolution.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will consciously identify the six structural
components of narrative stories they read independently and will use these components to
understand and remember ideas.
Program Summary
Norbert and Jason are reciting the six story elements found in most narratives: setting, characters,
problem, goal, episodes, and resolution. To impress Mandy, the boys rapidly map out a story she
chooses, “The Three Little Pigs.” When Jason leaves, Lexor materializes and zaps his apprentices
to Mojuste.
At Castle Thorzuul, the evil Storylord Thorzuul demands Mandy and Norbert’s immediate opinion
of the “story” he has written:
Once there was a wise and handsome Storylord named Zorthuul. He wanted to rule every planet
in the universe. And someday he will! The End.
What can Mandy and Norbert do? If they say the story is bad, Thorzuul will turn them to statues.
If they say it’s good, he’ll tell the Mojustians that Norbert and Mandy are on his evil side.
Salvation comes when the two reflect on Mrs. Framish’s recent class on story mapping. In the class,
students learned and identified the six basic components of stories. As Norbert and Mandy apply
their knowledge of story structure to Thorzuul’s story, they realize he has tricked them; the piece is
not a story at all! Too many basic elements are missing.
Relieved, Norbert and Mandy present the facts to Thorzuul. While he has a character and a goal,
the remaining elements of a story (setting, problem, episodes, resolution) are missing. How can
they evaluate a story that isn’t there? Outwitted at his “best ever” plan to beat the apprentice
Storylords, Thorzuul storms off.
Teaching Notes
Narrative stories usually are organized into six parts (see the Program Summary above). This story
structure provides a basic outline that enables the reader to keep track of incoming ideas and know
how parts of a story fit together. The ability to recognize the internal structure of new stories helps
readers comprehend and remember central ideas.
You will need to help your students learn to recognize and categorize each story part. Familiar fairy
tales and fables are good materials for introductory mapping lessons. Once students become famil-
32
iar with the mapping process, story maps can be used with narratives in the basal reader. However,
many basal stories are difficult to map because they are missing story parts.
Initially, you might map basal stories as you plan for instruction, and then use the map as a guide
for comprehension. Use the episode’s story element—rather than pages —as the units that students
should read silently. Formulate questions to help them locate and interpret the major story parts in
each episode.
Reading Strategy
While reading a narrative text, students should work consciously to understand its organization by
searching for answers to these questions:
1. Where and when does the story happen? (Setting)
2. Who is/are the main character(s)? (Characters)
3. What does/do the main character(s) want? (Goal)
4. What problem needs to be solved? (Problem)
5. What things happen in the story? (Episodes)
6. How is the problem solved? (Resolution)
After reading a narrative, students should do the following:
1. Think about the major story parts.
2. Use the story parts to retell or summarize the story.
Before the Program
1. In the previous program, Mandy helped Caroma learn to use meaning clues to figure out a word
she’d never before seen or heard. Review that strategy by writing the following paragraph on the
board. Lead students to apply the strategy to determine the meaning of prosperous.
“I will soon rule Mojuste, and then I’ll be prosperous,” thought Thorzuul. “Everything will
soon belong to me! I will be the richest Storylord in this galaxy.”
2. Tell students that in today’s episode, Norbert and Mandy will come face-to-face with the evil
Thorzuul when he challenges them to judge the quality of a so-called story he has written.
Thorzuul hopes the assistant Storylords haven’t yet learned how stories are put together. Tell
your students that you will help them discover a plan called story mapping that helps readers
understand how stories are put together.
a.
Select a well-formed story, myth, fable, or legend and read it to the class.
b.
Ask the six questions (see Reading Strategy, above) and use the students’ responses to create
a map of the story.
For example, if you selected the story “Three Billy Goats Gruff,” your map would resemble the one
on the following page.
After the Program
Review the program and strategy. Ask the following questions:
1. Why do you think Lexor called Norbert and Mandy to Mojuste in today’s program?
2. Today, Thorzuul had come up with a plan he thought was foolproof. What was his plan?
33
34
3. What did Norbert and Mandy decide about Thorzuul’s story? Why wasn’t it really a story? How
did knowing this help Norbert and Mandy?
4. Do you think Thorzuul knew his writing was missing some story parts? (You may have to lead
the students to understand that this was part of his plan. If Thorzuul could have tricked the
apprentices, he would have used the same plan time and again on Mojuste.)
Review the six major story parts with the students.
Follow-up Activity
Students need a lot of practice identifying story parts. Review the six major story parts frequently.
Remind students that mapping stories will help them construct the meaning of stories they read and
help them recall major ideas of those stories.
Draw an outline of a story map on the board and label the story components.
1. Have students talk about an original story they would like to create as a class. Then, have them
brainstorm for words or phrases for each story component.
2. Using the story map as a guide, work with the students to develop a class story.
3. Work with students to create a chart of the six basic story components and the related questions
they can use to gather information from stories (refer to Reading Strategy on page 33).
Select a narrative from the basal reader you’re using in your classroom.
1. Read and map the story to identify important story information.
2. Decide whether your students have sufficient and accurate prior knowledge to comprehend the
story concepts. Plan instruction to fill gaps.
3. Assign episodes as silent-reading units and use pre-reading and guided-reading questions to
direct students to major ideas.
4. While discussing major ideas, work with students to map the story.
5. Have students do the following activities:
a.
Retell a story to the class using the map as a base.
b.
Write a summary of a story using the map as a base.
c.
Rewrite a story and change one major story part.
6. Distribute copies of the Program 9 Activity Sheet (page 53). Ask each student to create a story
map and then write a story from it.
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Program 10
Pronoun Anaphora
Key Idea
Readers must be able to infer the relation between pronouns and their antecedents.
1. After viewing Program 10, students will be able to explain that it is important to determine the
link between pronouns and words they stand for in the passage.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will make a conscious effort during independent reading to link pronouns to their referents.
Program Summary
Mandy is busy doing a homework assignment on pronoun referents. Mrs. Framish has just substituted in Mandy’s reading class and taught a lesson on “words that stand for other words.” The lesson and homework practice prove to be Mandy and Norbert’s saving grace when Lexor calls them
into service on Mojuste.
Traveling via bike-o-tron, Mandy and Norbert arrive in the computer room of Thorzuul’s castle.
Thorzuul, Jr., wearing a replica of Thorzuul’s Storylord costume, is seated at the terminal. On the
screen is a quiz that the Storylords will have to figure out:
Tim asked Larry to go to the show with him. He bought a candy bar and some pop. Larry’s
mom was mad at him for spending money on such junk food.
Thorzuul zaps Norbert, leaving him motionless but able to talk. Mandy must solve the quiz by
telling Thorzuul who bought the candy bar and pop. Can Mandy remember enough about Mrs.
Framish’s reading lesson?
As Mandy reflects, we’re taken back to Earth for Mrs. Framish’s lesson on pronoun anaphora. Mrs.
Framish explains that when people write, they sometimes use words that stand for other words. The
class then works with several sentences in which anaphora ties sentences together. Her students
learn to infer links between pronouns and their antecedents.
Back in Thorzuul’s computer room, Mandy has 30 seconds to resolve the anaphora in Thorzuul’s
quiz. She succeeds, and Thorzuul’s plan fails again.
Teaching Notes
Authors use many devices to link sentences into a cohesive text. One device used consistently in primary reading materials is pronoun anaphora; that is, the use of pronouns to stand for words that
have gone before. Comprehension difficulties arise when readers cannot infer the relationship
between a pronoun and its referent, or antecedent.
There are several additional types of anaphora that may interfere with reading comprehension. For
more information about anaphoric devices, you may wish to consult Understanding and Teaching
Cohesion Comprehension, edited by Judith W. Irwin and published in 1986 by the International
Reading Association, ISBN 0872079643, or refer to the materials on anaphora in the Teaching
36
Reading Comprehension series (see “Components of the Reading Comprehension Project: The Inservice Series,” in this guide’s Introduction.)
Beginning basal materials gravitate toward replacing nouns with pronouns—such as he, we, it, and
so on—because, according to formulas based on word length, these terms help lower the reading
level of the materials. Actually, the overuse of pronouns in early reading materials can make comprehension extremely difficult for young readers, who have the added task of making inferences to
resolve the anaphora. Problems also arise when two to three sentences come between a noun and its
pronoun.
Your task as a teacher is to:
1. Examine the text materials your students will use in reading or content-area classes. Note the
amount and type of anaphora the author has used.
2. Determine where your students may experience comprehension problems.
3. Plan instruction to help students resolve anaphora ahead of time and while reading assignments.
Reading Strategy
During reading, when a sentence contains a pronoun, students should think about the word to
which the pronoun refers. If uncertain of the referent, they should take the following steps:
1. Reread for missed clues.
2. Read ahead for new clues.
3. Decide which word the pronoun represents.
Before the Program
1. Remind students that, in the previous program, Norbert and Mandy used a story map to evaluate a piece of Thorzuul’s writing. Ask them to recall the results of the evaluation. Work with students to list all the parts of a story on the board, and then select one of the following activities.
a.
Read and map a story. This can be part of your regular reading group work.
b.
Create a map for an original story; use map ideas to develop a simple dramatic activity.
c.
Have students work in pairs to create a map they can use later in the day for creative
writing.
2. Introduce Program 10’s new character:
Thorzuul, Jr.—Thorzuul’s son
3. Introduce the storyline and strategy for Program 10. Comment that Thorzuul isn’t making
much progress toward gaining control of Mojuste. Each time he restrains someone’s reading
strategies, Lexor’s apprentice Storylords come to the rescue. Now Thorzuul has turned his
attention to Norbert and Mandy and is trying to trick them with tough reading passages.
In today’s program, Thorzuul and his son, Thorzuul, Jr., have used a lot of pronouns in a story.
(Explain that pronouns—such as he, she, it, you, and they—are words authors often use to stand
for names and other words.) Mandy will have to figure out who or what the pronouns in
Thorzuul’s story represent.
Tell students you want to see how good they are at figuring out the meaning of pronouns. Write
the following passage on the board (or compose one that will challenge the readers in your
class):
37
Lexor is a good, wise Storylord. He likes to help people. All the people on Mojuste love him.
They think he will save them.
a.
Read the passage aloud.
b.
Ask volunteers to underline each pronoun and identify whom it represents.
c.
Explain to students that authors often use pronouns to stand for other words;
emphasize that it is important to figure out how these words go together.
After the Program
Review the program with the following questions:
1. Why do you think Thorzuul has stopped trying to trick Mojustians? (All his plans have failed;
Norbert and Mandy always come to the rescue.)
2. Why do you think Thorzuul has turned his attention to challenging the apprentice Storylords?
(He thinks that if he can trick the apprentices, they will lose power to help others on Mojuste.)
3. What problem did Mandy face on Mojuste today?
Write on the board the quiz Thorzuul posed to Mandy (see below). Ask a volunteer to explain how
Mandy figured out the answer. Have student volunteers refer to it as they explain the clues Mandy
used.
Tim asked Larry to go to the show with him. He bought a candy bar and some pop. Larry’s
mom was mad at him for spending money on such junk food.
Thorzuul asks Mandy, who bought the candy bar and pop?
Ask students to explain why it is important to figure out when one word stands for another word.
(If you don’t know which words go together, you can get mixed up when you read.)
Follow-up Activities
1. Remind the class that figuring out which words go together will help them understand what they
read.
2. Write these sentences on the board, but leave out the underlines, circles, and arrows.
The truck stopped outside Lesa’s house.
She ran out to meet it.
Have volunteers locate and underline the pronouns, locate and circle the antecedents, and draw
arrows from pronouns to their antecedents, as depicted above.
3. Ask volunteers to create similar sentence pairs. Follow the same practice procedure.
4. Develop a group paragraph summarizing the importance of figuring out pronoun and referent
relationships. Your paragraph may be similar to the following:
Authors often use two different words to mean the same thing. To be a good reader, I have to
figure out which two words go together.
1. Write the following paragraph on the board, or develop one appropriate to your students’ reading level. Work with students to identify each pronoun and its antecedent.
Thorzuul, Jr., looked at Norbert and Mandy. “They must be the new Storylords,” he thought
to himself. “I wonder if Mandy is very smart. She can’t know as much about reading as I do.
38
I’ll bet Norbert can’t beat me at reading work, either. They just aren’t as good at it as I am.
Dad will help me trick them. Soon we will rule the world!”
2. Assign the Program 10 Activity Sheet on page 54 for independent practice.
3. Apply the strategy directly to classroom materials.
a.
Examine the reading materials your students will study.
b.
Identify pronouns and referents you think may cause comprehension problems.
c.
Work with students to help them understand the anaphora.
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Program 11
Identifying Main Idea and Details
Key Idea
In good expository writing, authors use a variety of paragraph structures to present main ideas and
supporting details. Good readers can find and remember the main idea of a passage. They understand that other sentences tell something about that main idea.
1. After Program 11, students will be able to talk about the importance of finding the main idea of
a paragraph or passage, as well as recognizing supporting details.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will seek and identify the main idea of a paragraph while reading expository text independently. If the main idea is implicit, students will generate an appropriate statement.
Program Summary
Norbert and Mandy are hard at work on organizational tasks. Norbert is organizing sentences;
Mandy, her dolls. Lexor, who appears holding a mouse doll that Mandy has been looking for, sends
his two apprentices on another adventure on Mojuste.
This time, they materialize in Thorzuul’s office. Thorzuul now has Mandy’s mouse doll, and he has
turned Lexor into a figurine. To rescue Lexor and the mouse doll from Thorzuul’s evil grip, the
apprentices must read and organize a set of sentence strips into a paragraph that makes sense.
Once again, Mrs. Framish’s reading lesson saves the day. Her class learned that a paragraph usually
is about one main idea, with a few supporting details. She introduced the lesson by comparing a
paragraph to a tabletop and its legs: the main idea is the tabletop, and the details are the legs that
support the top.
Next, Mrs. Framish presented a set of sentences. Her students experimented and finally decided
which sentence was the main idea and which sentences were supporting details. The test for identifying the main idea and the supporting detail sentences was quite simple. The main idea sentence
had to tell what the entire paragraph was about. Each supporting detail had to tell something about
the main idea sentence.
Norbert remembers the main idea lesson well. He and Mandy set to work with the scrambled sentences. After several trials, they are satisfied with the arrangement, and just in time. Thorzuul
barges into his office, examines the children’s paragraph, and finds it accurate.
“Foiled again,” Thorzuul growls in frustration. As he exits, he poses a final threat: “That does it!
They’ve beaten me for the last time! It’s no more Mr. Nice Guy!”
Teaching Notes
When students read expository writing for information, as they do in science and social studies
textbooks, they need to come away from the text knowing what the author considered important. In
expository texts, authors use a variety of paragraph structures. Common structures for primary
materials include cause and effect, sequence of events, and descriptions.
40
Program 11 and its activities will help you guide students to figure out how authors organize paragraphs in expository texts; that is, how information in the paragraphs is grouped. Main ideas may be
explicit (directly stated) or implicit (unstated). Explicit main idea sentences, or topic sentences, may
be introduced early in the paragraph or may be placed at the end.
Examine expository materials your class will read. Decide which writing pattern the author has used
(cause and effect, time sequence, description). Are topic sentences present, or is the main idea
implicit? Where in the paragraphs are the topic sentences placed? Once you have completed this
analysis, select specific passages to use in reading comprehension lessons.
Work with your students to make them familiar with common text structures. This familiarity will
help them identify main ideas in new passages written with those patterns.
To introduce each basic structure, select a well-written paragraph and model it for the class by
thinking aloud as you identify its main idea and supporting details. Verbally express the thoughts
that go through your mind as you determine the relationships among the ideas in the passage. Your
modeling will help students understand how to perform this study task.
Practice activities should get students to generate main ideas rather than simply recognize those
stated explicitly. Good activities for generating main ideas include writing short answers to questions and retelling the most important points about some topic.
Be sure to explain to your students why they are learning to determine main ideas. (Learning to
decide which ideas are most important will aid comprehension. Recalling main ideas will be useful
to them when they study independently.)
Reading Strategy
When reading an expository paragraph, students should take the following steps:
1. Read the entire paragraph.
2. Ask yourself: Does the paragraph have a main idea sentence? Where in the paragraph is it
located?
3. Read the first sentence and think about it. Ask yourself, does this sentence tell what the entire
paragraph is about? Does it tell about all the other sentences?
a.
If the answer is yes, you will know that this is the main idea sentence. As a check, read the
other sentences and ask yourself if they tell about the main idea.
b.
If the answer is no, keep looking for the main idea sentence.
4. Repeat Step 3 for each of the subsequent sentences until students are sure which sentence is the
main idea and which are supporting details.
5. If there is no main idea sentence, try to compose one. This sentence should describe what the
paragraph was about.
Before the Program
1. Remind students that Thorzuul began a direct attack on the apprentice Storylords in Program
10. To save Norbert from being turned into a statue, Mandy had to answer a question about a
story on Thorzuul’s computer.
41
Ask students to recall Mandy’s task. (She had to decide which two words in the passage meant
the same thing). Review Mandy’s task using the following passage. Have students locate each
pronoun and decide which word it represents.
Thorzuul, Jr., wanted to hunt for poisonous spiders. Min and Win Gwynn had been invited
to Castle Thorzuul to hunt with him. When Thorzuul heard the twins were coming, he was
furious.
“You want to hunt spiders with them?” he roared. “Never. You find your cousin, Kayzuul.
She will hunt them with you.”
2. Introduce Program 11’s vocabulary:
headquarters—a main office
turnip—a kind of vegetable; a plant with a round white or yellow root
Brussels sprouts—a green vegetable that looks like tiny cabbage heads
’tween worlds—between Earth and Mojuste
3. Tell the class that Thorzuul will continue to worry Norbert and Mandy in today’s program.
Thorzuul will give the Storylord assistants several sentences, each one written on a strip of
paper. The apprentice Storylords must arrange the sentence strips into a paragraph that makes
sense. If not, Lexor himself will face life as a miniature statue.
To introduce this strategy, put the following sentences on sentence strips and place them in a
chart holder or tape them to the board in the following order:
Some insects live in the woods.
Insects are found almost everywhere.
Others live under the bark of trees.
They live in air, water, or on the ground.
They even live under the ground.
Read the sentences aloud. Ask students to identify which sentence tells about all the other sentences. (“Insects are found almost everywhere.”) Then, consider each sentence to determine if it
tells something about the main idea sentence. To conclude, work with students to arrange the
five sentences into a good paragraph.
After the Program
1. Remind your class that Thorzuul is working hard to find a reading skill that Norbert and Mandy
haven’t mastered. Ask students to describe the reading skill that Thorzuul used in today’s program. (How to identify the main idea and supporting details in a paragraph.)
2. Suggest that it must be very useful to be able to decide which idea in a paragraph is most important, or Thorzuul would never have used this plan to try to trick Norbert and Mandy. Ask your
students to tell why it’s important to find the main idea.
Lead them to understand that readers can’t be expected to remember every word in a story or
information book. However, if they can separate the most important ideas from the less important ones, they can try hard to remember the most important ones.
3. Display Thorzuul’s sentence strips.
They’re always served for dinner.
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I like them better than Brussels sprouts.
Turnips are my favorite food.
Sometimes I have a chocolate turnip sundae for dessert, too.
Work with students to re-create the paragraph. Ask students to think aloud as they decide where
to place the sentences.
Follow-up Activity
Discuss with the class the fact that people cannot remember every word they read. Ask students to
name the type of ideas they should work hard to remember when they read. (The major ideas.) To
remind students of today’s lesson, work with them to develop, in their own words, a paragraph similar to the following:
I cannot remember every word I read in books. I can remember the main idea. When I read
information books, I will try to figure out which ideas are the most important. I will try hard to
remember those ideas.
1. Have each student write a sentence summarizing the following paragraph. (You may wish to
replace this paragraph with one that is appropriate to your students’ reading level.) Have students share and evaluate their sentences.
Louis Cry was a strong man. He grew up on a farm in Canada. He was strong enough to lift
a barrel of cement with one arm. Once, he lifted a stagecoach that held 18 men.
2. Choose several well-written paragraphs with explicit main ideas from a social studies or science
text used in your classroom. Have students read each paragraph, think about the author’s most
important idea, and report the main idea sentence to the group. Have students support their
choices.
3. Assign the Program 11 Activity Sheet on page 55 for independent practice.
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Program 12
Integrating Comprehension Strategies
Key idea
A strategic, independent reader understands that what is read should make sense. A strategic reader
recognizes when the text makes sense and when it does not make sense, and knows strategies to use
to build text meaning.
Objectives
1. After viewing Program 12, students will talk about the importance of consciously drawing on
strategies to complete a reading task.
2. After completing the additional activities, students will actively evaluate, plan, monitor, and regulate their own comprehension when they read independently. They will consciously apply reading strategies to understand and remember what they read.
Program Summary
In this final episode, Lexor visits Norbert in the middle of the night to warn him that he soon will
face his biggest challenge. In school the next day, Mrs. Framish reviews with her class several of the
reading strategies she has taught them during the past year. Mrs. Framish displays passages and
guides her students to use strategies appropriate for solving the comprehension problems the passages present. She compliments the students on becoming good readers, dismisses the class, and
leaves the room.
Norbert stays behind to clean the chalkboard, and Mandy drops by to meet him. Just as she tells
him that a motorcycle just like Thorzuul’s is parked outside the school, in walk Milkbreath and
Thorzuul.
Thorzuul challenges the apprentice Storylords to a duel. He says, “If you win, you’ll never see me
again. But if I win, you’ll be permanent exhibits in my statute collection.”
With that, Thorzuul hands Norbert and Mandy an envelope containing four sentences. They must
arrange the sentences to form a sensible paragraph. To complete the task, Norbert and Mandy must
apply several of the reading strategies taught throughout this series. They meet the challenge and
defeat Thorzuul. He vanishes forever!
Mrs. Framish returns to her classroom, and Lexor materializes. Norbert tells him how much they
needed him only a few moments earlier.
“No, my children, you didn’t need me,” Lexor responds. “You have become Storylords on your
own. And as long as you keep using what you’ve learned to help you understand what you read, you
will never have to fear the ignorance of those such as Thorzuul!”
Lexor then reveals that Mrs. Framish has worked undercover on Earth as a fellow Storylord.
Instantly, the teacher transforms into a Storylord in full regalia.
The series ends with a final “Holy kamoly,” in the hope that you and your students will become
Storylords who continue to fight the battle against illiteracy.
44
Teaching Notes
The goal of the Storylords series is to help your students learn to expect meaning from the printed
word and to learn the reading strategies needed during independent reading. Your role as their
teacher has been to provide continual direct instruction, reinforcement, and motivation for each
strategy introduced in Storylords, as well as to practice these strategies with materials used regularly
in your classroom.
The true test of success is this: Do your students integrate the strategies presented in Storylords?
Have the strategies helped your students improve their reading comprehension?
As you plan ahead for reading comprehension instruction, examine the texts your students must
read.
— Determine what each text demands of them.
— Examine the text’s structure, concepts, and vocabulary.
— Consider the strategies your students will need to comprehend the text.
— Think about what your students already know, as well as what they need to learn, about the way
the text is organized, its vocabulary, and the way its concepts are presented.
Then, plan objectives for your lessons. Ask yourself: What must I teach to help my students comprehend this particular text?
Reading Strategy
Before independent reading assignments, strategic readers will take the following steps:
1. Analyze the story or information book and think about what they already know about the topic.
2. Plan for comprehension by predicting what the text will be about.
During independent reading, strategic readers will take the following steps:
1. Read to test or prove their predictions.
2. Generate new predictions and read to test or prove them.
3. Monitor their comprehension. When the text does not make sense, they stop reading and
a.
think about a reading strategy that might help solve the problem; and
b.
apply the strategy.
After independent reading, strategic readers will take the following steps:
1. Think about what they have read.
2. Recall key information.
a.
In narratives, recollect the six story parts.
b.
In expository writing, recall the main ideas and supporting details.
Before the Program
1. Remind the students that Thorzuul is doing his best to trick Norbert and Mandy. He plans difficult reading activities, and Norbert and Mandy must work quickly to apply reading strategies to
solve the problems Thorzuul poses.
In Program 11, Mandy and Norbert had to arrange four sentences into a sensible paragraph.
Lead students to recall how they met the challenge. (Mandy and Norbert first read all the strips
45
and then decided which sentence told about all the other sentences. They used that sentence as
the main idea sentence, and arranged the three other sentences in a meaningful sequence.)
Use the following sentences to practice the strategy:
Wrigley’s gum is sold in machines.
Now, almost everyone knows about Wrigley’s chewing gum.
William Wrigley started a chewing gum business.
It is sold in stores, too.
He sold gum everywhere.
2. Introduce Program 12’s vocabulary:
duel—a contest or battle between two persons
permanent exhibits—displays that don’t change
3. Introduce the final episode. Tell the class that Thorzuul will challenge Norbert and Mandy to a
duel, a fight to the finish. Ask students what they think the duel will be about. Tell them that
they will be introduced to at least one new Storylord today. Have them guess how the new
Storylord will fit into the fantasy. Then, tell them that Norbert and Mandy will have to remember all the strategies they have learned in Mrs. Framish’s class to have a chance against the evil
Thorzuul.
4. Challenge your students to take part in the duel by using the strategies they have learned to read
the following passage. (Or, select a passage that is appropriate to your students’ reading level.)
William Cody worked for the railroad more than 100 years ago. Cody’s job was to shoot
American bison for meat. The buffalo meat was used to feed railroad workers. William Cody
shot more than 4,000 buffalo in a short time. He became known as Buffalo Bill.
a.
Vocabulary—meaning of bison. Have students identify the clues that reveal the
meaning of a word.
b.
Pronoun anaphora—he. Have students tell whom he refers to and make the
connection to Buffalo Bill.
c.
Question-answer relationships—Have students form one question per category.
d.
Main idea—Have students write a main idea statement about the paragraph.
After the Program
1. Ask your students to describe how Norbert and Mandy won the duel with Thorzuul. How could
Norbert and Mandy use their reading strategies without their Storylord gloves? (The strategies
were in their heads, not in their gloves.)
2. Discuss the surprise of learning that Mrs. Framish was a Storylord all along. Ask students, how
all reading teachers are like Storylords?
3. Ask students to recount how the reading strategies they have learned help them as they read.
Guide them to understand that they should employ these strategies whenever the text they read
doesn’t make sense.
4. Review the strategies applied during Program 12 by putting Thorzuul’s final test on the board
and working through it as a class. Talk about the strategies Mandy and Norbert used to complete the task. (The following sentences are listed in the correct order; mix them up for the exer-
46
cise.)
Hawks and their relatives vary in size.
The smallest, the falconet, weighs barely two ounces.
Its largest cousin, the harpy eagle, can weigh 14 to 18 pounds.
That’s like the difference between you and an elephant.
5. Ask your students these questions: Were Norbert and Mandy apprentice Storylords at the end of
today’s program? How did they become Storylords? (They proved they could apply the reading
strategies.)
Follow-up Activity
Lead a discussion about the entire Storylords series. Help students recall the storyline by listing the
characters on the board and having students tell what reading power each character lost and
regained. Discuss the last episodes, in which Thorzuul posed challenges directly to Norbert and
Mandy.
Review the lessons you taught that reinforce the reading strategies. Guide students to understand
that they practiced these strategies because the strategies will help them become better readers.
Include two key ideas in the discussion.
1. Reading should always make sense.
2. When reading does not make sense, stop and apply a strategy you think will work.
Then, create a group experience chart similar to the following:
Everything I read must make sense. If it doesn’t, I must stop reading and figure out the problem.
My reading strategies can help me understand what I read. If one strategy doesn’t work, I will
try another one.
Write the following sentences on the board. Work with the students to assemble a meaningful paragraph. (The correct order is 2, 4, 3, 1.)
1.
They are all part of one large group of fish.
2.
Some fish live in fresh water and others live in salt water.
3.
Trout and smelt can, too.
4.
Salmon live in both kinds of water.
Continue to work with reading strategies as follows:
1. Have students write a main idea statement for the paragraph.
2. Ask students to identify what salmon, trout, and smelt are.
3. Underline the pronouns and have students name their antecedents.
4. Have students develop sample questions that represent each of the question-answer relationships
presented in Storylords.
47
48
Program 5 Activity Sheet
Name _________________________________
Up, Up and Away!
What do you think this story will be about?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_________________________________________
Matthew and Tim had waited all morning for Dad to
come home. At 10 o’clock, a yellow taxi pulled into the
drive. Mr. Wills got out with many suitcases. Two huge
balloons were tied on the handle of his biggest suitcase.
One balloon was a shining blue airplane. The other was
shaped like a bird.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
What do you think will happen next?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Why?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
49
Mr. Wills paid the taxi driver. Before he could get into
the house, both Matthew and Tim were on the porch.
“We’ve waited all morning for you, Dad,” said Tim.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Matthew said, looking at the
two bright balloons. “Who are those for, Dad?”
“Well, I think they are for my boys! Would you like to
play with them?” Dad grinned. He began to untie the
balloons. Just then, Rex, the family dog, came running
up on the porch. He jumped up on Dad and then on
the two boys.
“Down, Rex,” said Tim. But it was too late. The shiny
airplane balloon soared off the porch and up above the
house. Next, the bird-shaped balloon flew up.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_________________________________________
How do you think the story will end?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Why?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_________________________________________
Matthew and Tim jumped off the porch and ran out
into the yard. Rex followed them, barking loudly. Soon
the bird balloon was almost as high as the airplane.
Both balloons were above the trees.
How do you like these kite balloons, boys?” asked Mr.
Wills. “You’re lucky the strings are so long. I think
you’d better pull them down soon. You wouldn’t want
to lose them before you show them to Mom.”
“You’re right, Dad,” said Matthew. The boys pulled the
new balloons down and headed for the house.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
50
Name _________________________
Read this short story.
Thorzuul wants to trick all the readers on Mojuste. His plan is to take away their reading powers. Then no one will be able to learn from books or other writing. Thorzuul thinks this trick
will make it easy for him to rule Mojuste.
Thorzuul will not be able to rule you if you can do this!
1. Answer each question.
2. Tell whether the question is a Right There, Think and Search, or On My Own question.
3. Tell what you did to answer the question.
Question
Answer
Question
Type
1. Whom does Thorzuul
want to trick?
2. What does Thorzuul
want to take away?
3. Why would Thorzuul
want to rule Mojuste?
51
What You
Had to Do
Name ___________________________
All right, Word Detectives, read this note from Thorzuul’s wife.
Draw a picture of me in my garden. I want to be dressed in my best clothes. I should be wearing
my red bolero over a yellow shirt. My bolero does not have any sleeves, so don’t make any. It
doesn’t have any buttons, either. It is open in the front. I always wear it with a red and yellow
skirt. But, be careful, it never touches my skirt.
Write the clues you think describe what a bolero must be.
Draw a picture of Thorzuul’s wife in her bolero here.
52
Name ____________________________
Think about a story idea. Use your pencil to write ideas about each story part. Use the map to help
you write your story.
53
Name ____________________________
Crossword Puzzle
Read the story. Every time you come to an underlined word or phrase, decide which pronoun could
be used instead. Put the pronoun into the crossword puzzle. Use these pronouns: she, it, your, he,
her, they, him, me, his, them.
Chris and Lesa visited a farm. Chris and Lesa (1 Across) had a good time. Chris and Lesa (1
Down) helped the farmer feed all the farmer’s (2 Across) animals. First, Lesa helped the farmer’s
wife feed the farmer’s wife’s (2 Down) chickens.
“Thanks for helping the farmer’s wife (3 Across),” said the farmer’s wife.
Next, Chris helped the farmer feed the cows. Chris (4 Across) gave the cows (6 Down) some hay.
“The farmer’s (5 Across) cows eat fast!” said Chris to the farmer. “The cows (6 Across) have
already eaten the hay. Cows must really like the hay!” (8 Across)
Soon the farmer said it was time to milk the cows. The farmer (7 Down) asked Lesa and Chris
to help the farmer. (10 Across) Chris helped carry milk pails. Lesa helped, too. Lesa (9 Down)
thought the work was a lot of fun.
54
Name __________________________
Main Idea and Support Details
Think of a good idea you could write something about. Put a few words about the idea in the center cloud. Think of four things that tell about your “center” idea. Write these four “details” in the
outside clouds. Then use your ideas to help you write a paragraph. The first sentence in your paragraph should be the center idea.
Write your paragraph on these lines:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
55
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Teacher Guide - Prairie Public Broadcasting

Transcription

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