Reading and Writing Fairy Tales - Grade 6
In this text, students will use the “detective” metaphor to guide them through a set of experiments in reading nonfiction. The notion of reading like a detective is based on assumptions about people and texts that can be summarized in the following way:
Human beings are symbol-using animals. We are always indicating, meaning otherwise or in addition to.
Texts, including images, ads, film, and television, are things people make that other people can read. These texts have multiple “levels” and, therefore, can be read in multiple ways.
The metaphor, as it is used in the unit, suggests that the habits and behaviors a detective employs to solve a crime—for example, asking questions, building (and rebuilding) theories based on evidence, doubting, mistrusting appearances—can also be usefully employed by readers of texts to see “below the surface” meanings.
Table of Contents
Writing Tasks
Title: Tracking Scat
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 1-5
Students should use the “Tracking Scat” forms to monitor and record the con- tent of each part. As such, after reading the novel, each student should have four completed “Tracking Scat” forms—one for each part. The tracking forms are tools that help students to record and remember four types of information: characters, major events, significant moments, and detective “moves.” Significant moments can include words, lines, or longer passages of text that seem to contain important information, or indicate patterns or symbols. Students should be encouraged to add page numbers to most of the information they place on the tracking forms, as this will help them do the upcoming work with the novel more easily and efficiently.
Title:Comprehension Task Summarizing the Red Diamond Energy Plan
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
Divide the class into groups of two or three.
Read the assignment sheet aloud to the class and then take time to look over Chapter 12, the section of the novel where McBride tells Bayliss about the plan. You might use this as an opportunity to direct students’ attention back to the tracking sheet for Part II of the novel so that they can see how the tracking sheets serve as an index of the significant moments in the book.
Explain to the class that this session’s work period will be devoted to small-group work on the assignment.
Give students a minute to gather the following things: a copy of the novel, his or her notebook, the completed tracking sheets, and the assignment sheet you just handed out.
You might take a minute to help the class brainstorm a rough agenda students can follow to do the work. For example, students might begin by rereading Chapter 12 (silently or aloud in their small group). After that, groups might begin to sketch out Red Diamond’s plan—what they have, what they want to do, what stands in their way, what they plan to do about it. Students could then make notes about each of these categories in their notebooks, and so forth.
Title: Argument Reading Ads Like a Detective
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 14
Place students in groups of twos or threes.
Tell them that they will have this session’s work period to complete Part 1 of the “Reading Ads Like a Detective” assignment.
Display the ads, one at a time, for the class to see. Allow ample time for the small groups to complete the work of Part 1 before rotating to the next ad.
Confer with the groups about the work as they move through the ads. Be sure to encourage students to be as precise and detailed in their “surface” readings as possible.
Suggested Student Materials: Interpretative/Argument Student Checklist
Title: Argument Reading Kozol Like a Detective
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 20
Place students in groups of two or three.
Tell them that they will have this session’s work period to try reading Kozol like a detective.
Give students time to work in their small groups on the task. Use this time to confer with groups about the work. Be sure to encourage students to be as precise and detailed in their note taking as possible. When appropriate, encourage students to consider the impact a specific word choice has on meaning or tone in Kozol’s text.
Title: Comprehension Task Retelling Schlosser
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 24
Students should use the work period to complete the comprehension task with their partner(s).
Use this time to confer with students about this work. Take care to connect back to the “surface-level” or comprehension work they did with other texts in the unit as needed.
If students need additional time to finish the work (homework or additional class time), postpone the closing meeting discussion until that work is done.
Title: Argument Reading Schlosser Like a Detective
Suggested Student Materials: Interpretative/Argument Student Checklist
Title: Reading Like a Detective A Final Assignment
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 28
Display a copy of the assignment and review it with the class. Answer any questions students have about the task.
Give students time to begin work on this assignment.
Use this time to confer with students about this work.
Charts for Discussion
Title: Important or Confusing Moments in “Amazing Grace”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 19
Use the focus lesson to read the Kozol text aloud to the class. Before you read, tell students to have a pen or pencil handy, and, as you read, to mark places in their copy of the text that seem important or that they have questions about or find confusing.
After the reading, take 2-3 minutes to create a chart with the students to capture their questions and their important or confusing moments. To do this, you might create a two-column table on a chart or the board, titling one column “Important Moments” and the other “Questions/Confusion.” Resist the temptation to discuss the text at this point. This is simply a rapid-fire share out where students say what they think is important or what they have questions about. It is very important that you identify the line or page for each entry on the chart as it will function as an index of sorts during the work ahead.
In addition, use this time to help students determine the meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases, including figurative and connotative meanings.
Checks for Understanding
Title: Big Ideas Central to Students’ Accounts
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 7
Reconvene the class and work with the whole group to generate a list that captures the big ideas that should be central to students’ accounts. Once again, insist that students identify specific lines and page numbers for any moments they cite. Capture the list on a chart or another display so that students can revisit it later.
Encourage students to make notes in their notebooks during this discussion.
Tell students that they will have the upcoming session to write their summary account of Red Diamond’s energy plan.
Title: When We Read Like a Detective, We. . .
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 9-10
Reserve 20-25 minutes for the closing meeting.
Work with the class to craft a whole-class “theory” of what it might mean to “read like a detective.” To do this, reconvene the class and call on volunteers from each group to share two or three items from their list.
Capture these items on a chart titled “When We Read Like a Detective, We. . .” Be sure to push students for clarification as needed and insist that they reference specific moments in the novel. Take care to jot page numbers down next to each entry.
Title: What is Hiaasen Trying to Convince You About in Scat?
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 12
Ask students to take 2-3 minutes to make any additional notes or changes to the responses they wrote at the beginning of class.
Use the remainder (6-8 minutes) of the closing meeting to collaborate with the class to compose a 150-200 word draft response to the question “What is Hiaasen trying to convince you about in Scat?” Capture the class’ response on a chart or another display, in addition to having students copy this into their notebooks.
The purpose of this exercise is two-fold: 1) to provide students with an opportunity to see how the work they do in an interpretive discussion can be translated into writing—including insights into the writing process that come from hearing you think aloud and from noticing the questions you use to prompt for input from the class; 2) to craft a draft of text-based writing related to the “reading like a detective” work that you can revisit with the class during Sessions 17-18, a moment in the unit where students will be preparing to write their first “reading like a detective” interpretive paper.
Title: Important or Confusing Moments in “McJobs”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 23
- After the reading, reconvene the class and take 2-3 minutes to create a chart to capture the students’ questions about the text and their important or confusing moments. To do this, you might create a two-column table, titling one column “Important Moments” and the other “Questions/Confusion.”
Resist the temptation to discuss the text at this point. This is simply a rapid-fire share out where students say what they think is important or what they have questions about. It is very important that you identify the line or page for each entry on the chart as it will function as an index of sorts during the work ahead.
Independent Reading
Title: Reading Log
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Independent Reading
As you transition to independent reading, discuss how students can keep a reading log. Show students how you would like them to set up and use their reading log to record their independent reading this year. An example of one way a reading log could be set up is provided nearby. You may choose to have students create a table in their notebooks, use a pre-made sheet, or a digital format.
Explain to students that they should make an entry in their log only after they have finished a book. You will need to negotiate with students how to handle the entry of magazine readings (for example, entire issues versus individual articles).
After students have set up the log, including proper headings, creating the grid, etc., show students how to make an entry.
Answer any questions students have about the reading log.
Begin independent reading.
Consider conducting individual reading conferences with students as they are engaged in independent reading. In No More Independent Reading Without Support, Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss (2013) suggest that during early conferences, you should listen to students and work to build trust: Ask students how they view reading and how they think of themselves as readers; ask what they are interested in. Over time you can ask more about what they are reading and about how you can help them or what they are struggling with. Use what you learn from these conversations to guide additional instruction with groups or with the class.
Title: Independent Reading – Individual Planning Sheet
Instructions:
Title: End of Marking Period Self-Assessment
Instructions:
Unit Resources
Title: Comprehension Task Summarizing the Red Diamond Energy Plan
Title: Argument Reading Schlosser Like a Detective
Title: Reading Like a Detective A Final Assignment
Title: Scaffolds and Modifications: Descriptions and Use