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In this article, the author discusses plot and setting in depth (visualization, retelling important events, cause and effect, etc.). The author uses a progression from J-Z to describe how more complex texts require students to use their skills to a greater degree.

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PLOT _ SETTING, Skills Progression and Samples of Written Responses

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Here is a prompt that teachers can use to assess student comprehension of the text. The skills that are being assessed in the prompt are: retelling important events, synthesizing cause and effect, identifying problems, and visualizing setting. Teachers can also use the skills progression listed above to assess what skill level their student is at.

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Sample Prompts to Assess Comprehension of Fiction, Plot and Setting

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During this class period, we made inferences about the topic of different books based on the cover. We were tasked with trying to match different summaries to two different books just by looking at the cover of them.

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A young girl named Yasmin is an avid reader and reads everyday with the help from the Book Uncle. When the Book Uncles' lending library is in jeopardy, Yasmin takes a stand.

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Background knowledge/schema and the role it plays in comprehension

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Background knowledge/schema and the role it plays in comprehension

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In this document, I have recorded how my schema supported my learning while reading the class text and also where it lacked, creating gaps.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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In this document, I analyzed the text complexity of the reading for this week.

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This activity was completed in class.

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In this article, the author discusses the power that teachers hold when teaching new content, specifically when teaching about different countries. It is common practice, that teachers describe other nations as "cesspools" or "broken" furthering demeaning stereotypes. The author suggests the following when discussing different countries: helping students recognize the diversity in the particular region, explain the historical context when explaining the actions of certain members of the community, helping students value difference (without romanticizing, exoticizing, or distorting), and by discussing cultural exchange.

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I once heard an AP U.S. history teacher tell his class that the only countries that have not accepted democracy are "the parts of the world that are kind of the cesspools of the world, those nations that are just broken nations, destroyed nations."

I'd been observing his class during my doctoral research, and he was lecturing a group of suburban Massachusetts students on the supposed difficulty of establishing democracy in the Middle East. Without even attempting to differentiate between any of its countries, he included the entire Middle East in this list of "cesspools" and "broken nations."

With just a few words, this teacher shaped students' understanding of the region and equated it with violence, deficits and unimaginable differences. In that moment, for his students, the Middle East became home to "the other," the site of a clash between civilizations-"us" and "them."

As educators, it's easy to forget the power we hold in our classrooms. Often, students don't see the lenses through which we look-they take our interpretations of the world as objective fact. Consider historical narratives. When we tell stories about the past, we create meaning and establish normative understandings. This is not necessarily an objective process: When certain narratives are privileged in classrooms, others are displaced.

The people of the Middle East are not the only ones represented in demeaning ways. Race, gender, class and geography are all starting points for reducing complex identities into static stereotypes of otherness.

Stereotypes-even positive ones-are often the starting point for presenting an individual or community as "the other." Dividing regions into "good" and "bad" nations is an obvious play to stereotypes, but even divisions like "East" and "West" are limiting. Using these often-subjective assessments, people can pass judgment, establish hierarchies, exaggerate differences and present cultures and communities as remote and antagonistic toward one another.

However, when teaching about areas that are traditionally presented as "the other" in U.S. schools, teachers have the opportunity to pause and introduce their students to the idea of "otherness." We can work with students to dismantle demeaning misconceptions and challenge the assumptions that allow stereotypes to be imposed on a people or region.

If you want to do this work in your own classroom, here are a few red flags to look out for, and a few approaches to avoid in your own teaching.

Representing a population as homogenous.

Teachers can and should emphasize the diversity that exists within all communities and certain those often presented as "the other." For instance, the Middle East is home to a wide range of ethnic, racial, religious and linguistic communities, each with its own plurality of intragroup indentities and forms of expression. There is no one vision of Islam or Arab or Israeli identity, for example. No religious, national or ethnic group is just one thing, and exposing students to resources that allow members of a particular group to define themselves on their own terms can provoke students to look beyond simplifications. Helping students recognize this diversity is a first step toward complicating their consciousness of the region.

Implying a community possesses essential traits.

Teachers can avoid suggesting that individuals or cultures behave a certain way "because
that's who they are." Instead, we should emphasize the importance of historical context when explaining the actions of members of certain communities. There are a number of stereotypes about the Middle East: that it is home to terrorists, prone to violence, politically unstable and a threat to "Western" values and ways of life. But the Middle East is not inherently a "bad neighborhood." A confluence of geopolitical trends and events unfolding over centuries helps to explain the political realities at work in Syria or between Israelis and Palestinians-and even this context is only the beginning of a serious inquiry into the cultural and societal dynamics beyond such conflicts.

Presenting a community as incomprehensibly different.

Differences exist between and within populations, but exaggerating difference can deny shared humanity and can make marginalized groups appear remote and alien. We can help students value difference without using it as a tool in exoticizing, romanticizing or distorting the cultures or experiences of people different from themselves. For example, the Middle East has often been presented by academics, travelers and artists as sensual and irrational, home to the bizarre. But behind these representations is a history of economic trade, intellectual influence and cultural exchange. Studying the reciprocal influences between Europe and the Middle East over the centuries can help students appreciate the ways that ideas and institutions have been shaped because of, not in spite of, these interactions.

Neglecting the history of cultural exchange.

No community avoids external influence entirely. Representing a group as "the other" denies the reality of cultural exchanges between peoples over time. Teachers can push back against this tendency by unpacking the ways groups have interacted and created hybrid identities through the diffusion of ideas and expressions. Recognizing this history in classrooms challenges notions of cultural purity and absolute difference between communities.

Students live in a globally interconnected world. As educators, it's our job to help them demystify its complexity and diversity. We can avoid representing the diverse communities in the Middle East and elsewhere as "the other." Reflecting on the ways we represent marginalized communities-in our language and the ideas behind it-we can choose to introduce all the cultures we teach as pluralistic, dynamic and deserving of respect. In doing so, we can ensure the classroom is a place that prizes humanity and cultivates students' global consciousness.

Daniel Osborn, Ed.D. is an instructor of history at Dean College. He is the author of Representing the Middle East and Africa in Social Studies Education: Teacher Discourse and Otherness.

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I once heard an AP U.S. history teacher tell his class that the only countries that have not accepted democracy are "the parts of the world that are kind of the cesspools of the world, those nations that are just broken nations, destroyed nations."

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In this google doc, I have planned a comprehension lesson when teaching 3rd graders about setting. This lesson is about the text from last week, Book Uncle and Me.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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When using the Dollar Street website, I have found different images that can help students relate to the Book Uncle and Me text. In this google doc I provide different images and the discussion I have with students in order to build their schema.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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This shows one of the first conflicts in the story, where Beth is unable to go to a field trip because her parents could not afford it. This occurrence is very common in schools. This helps the reader learn more about Beth and Olive. Throughout the text, Olive is trying to find a way to solve this conflict so all students can attend the field trips.

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At the end of the book, another conflict occurs, Olive is not elected to the student council. Trent and Sawyer win the election. Even though Olive lost, she is still respectful and congratulates her friends. She later decides that she is still going to help students that cannot afford field trips whether she is on the student council or not. Afterwards, Sawyer decides not to take the position in student council and allows Olive to take his position. This showcases how the characters have grown over the book.

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This strategy for inferring is mentioned on p. 169. When using this strategy students will take note of how Olive's feelings change throughout the text depending on what has happened. I wanted to use this strategy because Olive's feelings are constantly changing throughout the text. Students have to look at the events that have occurred and infer how Olive is feeling based on the events and pictures that are seen in the text.

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This is a strategy that involves inferring and synthesizing, that can be found on p. 178. When using this strategy students will observe Olive and why she does what she does in the text. Students will add notes on why Olive does, thinks, or says certain things. For example: students can look at why Olive runs for student council.

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I wonder why Beth went into the bathroom and did not go on the trip. Is she really sick? (p. 18-20)

I wonder what would have happened if Sawyer would have decided to accept his position in student council. (p. 196)

I wonder if the author ran for student council when they were in school. This story reminds me of when I ran for student council in middle school.

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Lesson 7.13 From Seed To Theme p.206
Using a theme board have students help you list some common topics that show up in the text. Students will look further at what the character learned and how they grew throughout the text. After discussing this students will look further at what they think the lesson might be. I think this is a great lesson for the book "Act" because their are many topics that the author discusses (friendship, activism, doing the right thing, inequality, etc.). These are some of the different seeds of theme that are shown in the text. This allows students to look at the different seeds of theme and then form a sentence to state what they think the theme is.

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Lesson 7.15 The Real World in My Book p.208
In this activity students are looking at the real-world issues that are shown in the text. Students then look at why this issue is important and why they think the author is bringing it up. One of the main real-world issues that is brought up in the book "Act" is inequality, classism, and doing the right thing. We can see how the main character Olive is trying to fight against students being left behind on field trips. She does this by coming up with an idea for a bake sale. By doing this activity students can look deeper into the real-world issues that are presented in the text.

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This week I created some transmediation about the text "Act." I love to draw but often do not have time to do so. I decided to draw a picture of Olive and writing some of her characteristics as part of her hair. This is a fun transmediation activity that students can do with different characters in the book. Students can also draw pictures of themselves and do this activity.

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My group created a comprehension lesson about the graphic novel Act. In this lesson, we use the strategy "From Seed to Theme." When using this strategy students pick out one word "big ideas" as seeds. Students then use these seeds to state the theme in a sentence.

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Group 4 Micro-Teaching #1, Planning for Comprehension Instruction, Minilesson Template, Fall 2021

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This week, when reading History Smashers, I kept track of questions that I had while reading the first 3 chapters. These are some of my questions:
Chapter 1:
How did they determine which Native American men got to vote? (p. 6)
I wonder what NC did? How did they determine what men could vote? (p. 7)
How was New Jersey an exception? Did they let women vote? (p. 9)
By saying, "all inhabitants" were black women allowed to vote in New Jersey? (p. 10)

Chapter 2:
Where did the movement really launch? (p. 13)
How many others participated in the boycott against slave labor? (p. 22)
I wonder who ran things on day 1. Since they were scared to put a woman in front of the crowd. (p. 25)
It mentions that there were 11 states that attended. Which states did attend? (p. 30)

Chapter 3:
By helping with the war effort, did this help their cause? (p. 35)
Did people actually abide by the 13th amendment? Were people of color treated any differently? (p. 37)
With the movement ripped apart, how did women ever get the right to vote? (p. 41)
Was the AWSA successful? (p. 50)

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This week I used strategy 8.4 "Ask Questions, Form Ideas" when reading the class text. When using this strategy you first jot down any questions or wonderings that you have. Next, you study these questions and notice if there is a pattern. Try to determine what the text is mostly about. Next, try and answer the questions that you have, if possible. Finally, look at what you have wrote to determine the main idea. I used this strategy in chapter 1 by asking students questions about voting and different groups right to vote. In chapter 2, I asked students questions about different movements that occurred. I wanted students to think deeply about the different events and debunk the myth that everything started in Seneca. In chapter 3, I asked questions that made students think deeply about the amendments that were ratified and how these affected the women's rights movement.

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Chapter 1: This chapter goes into the background about who could vote during this time period in the United States and why. It discusses how women were not allowed to vote during this time (exception of New Jersey for a short period).

Chapter 2: This chapter discusses the misconception that the women's suffrage movement started in Seneca Falls. It discusses how women had been boycotting before this event.

Chapter 3: This chapter discusses the 15th amendment and how many women suffragists did not agree with it. The author discusses how the Civil War was happening during this time and many women stepped up to help. After the war had finished they still were not treated equally.

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https://youtu.be/VvzMp5WUjls

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Here is a link to my Jamboard where I practice close reading.

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I used to think that the women's right movement spread its message by word of mouth or via newspaper. Now I know that women were arrested, picketed, and went on hunger strikes. Doing these things was dangerous as they were physically and mentally harmed. (Chapter 7)

I used to think that the women's right movement started in Seneca Falls. Now I know that women were fighting for equality in different ways before then. (chapter 2)

I used to think Susan B. Anthony was a historical figure that we should look up to. I now know that Anthony had racist view points that are problematic. I now know of other women during this time that do not have these problematic viewpoints and still made an impact on women's right to vote.

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How might this experience help you critically reflect on the nonfiction books/texts you select and use to teach social studies/history?

What's "complex" about reading in the content areas (especially social studies)--and what does this mean for me as a reading teacher?

What might you do/change moving forward?

By reading History Smashers I was able to reflect on some of the different nonfiction texts that I read as a child. It was very limited and I was not able to see different viewpoints. When teaching history in my own classroom, I want to have texts that showcase different viewpoints and do not just show one side of the story. I also want texts that go into specific details about events like History Smashers does. Often narratives that are shared in social studies follow white men and their experiences. As a teacher, I plan to critically analyze the social studies texts that I give to students to ensure it showcases multiple viewpoints.

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This week, I created a duet text set based around the text "History Smashers: Women's Right to Vote." I further explored the topic of Susan B. Anthony's friendship with Frederick Douglass. I further explored both Douglass and Anthony's viewpoints and how these put a strain on their friendship.

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p. 256:
international
anticipation

p. 258
evaporate

p. 264
invisible

p. 268
unraveling
lukewarm

p.272
acknowledge

p.273
betrayed

p. 281
introduce

p. 289
smirking
hollowness

p.293
security

p. 303
partition
enhanced

p. 308
doubts

p.310
rhythm
efficiently

p. 317
glinting

p.321
unfurl