Novel Instruction: Four Ways to Approach Plot and Structure in Literature—Part 2: An Important Scene

(Read the first installment of this series here.)

This week we are continuing our series of examining literary elements as you teach novels in your classroom. The article below describes an approach to using an important scene. Use the ideas to create classroom activities or to engage your students in whole-class or small-group discussions.

An Important Scene

Overview:  Novels are divided into chapters, but the building blocks of fiction are scenes.  A scene usually has a clear beginning and ending, though its seeds often are planted in earlier scenes and its tendrils extend into later scenes.  Scenes can revolve around major events, minor events, character interactions, internal monologues, or just about anything else.

The Basic Questions: 

  • What are the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) of the scene? 
  • In what ways is this scene caused by or foreshadowed in an earlier scene?
  • In what ways does this scene cause or foreshadow a later scene?

The Big Question: 

Why is this scene important to the novel as a whole?  Students should consider how this scene establishes or contributes to such literary elements as characterization, point of view, setting, genre, and theme.

Dig Deeper: 

  • What is the mood of the scene?  How do the author’s word choices and sentence structures add to or create this effect?
  • How could this scene have ended differently, and what effect would that different ending have had on the scenes that follow?

Get Graphic: 
Have students create a combination storyboard/flow chart of the scene by drawing 4–6 images from the scene and showing how each image leads to the next. 
Students should then explain how the author’s word choices or use of imagery help the reader create mental pictures of this scene’s individual moments.

Make a Connection: 
One type of important scene in a novel is when a character experiences a turning point. It is at this point that a decisive change occurs that dramatically affects the rest of the novel’s plot. Ask students to name their turning points as they read the novel. At what point did they decide that they were going to either really like or really dislike the novel? What led to this turning point?

Next week: Part 3—Sequence and Structure

Novel Instruction: Four Ways to Approach Plot and Structure in Literature

Our reading habits are changing. This has a lot to do with what we are reading. Tweets, posts, snaps, infographics, and other contemporary text types are ideal for communicating ideas quickly and visually. They have a place in our society — and in our classrooms, too — but they are not substitutes for actual literature.

There are important life and literacy skills students can gain from the kind of reading experience that novels provide. Great literature can spark imagination, foster empathy, and reward deeper analysis.

Successful novels are cooked up from such ingredients as plot and structure, characterization and point of view, setting and genre, main idea and theme, and author’s craft. The article below is part of series that offers ideas for examining these literary elements as you teach novels in your classroom.

Over the next four blog posts, we will describe four ways to approach the classroom analysis of plot and structure in just about any novel. The first approach is to use the opening scene. Use the ideas below to create classroom activities or to engage your students in whole-class or small-group discussions.

The Opening Scene

When we crack open a book and begin reading, it is as if a door to a new world has been opened.  The first few pages of the novel are our first glimpses into this world, and so authors want us to be intrigued by what we see.  Use this idea as a basis for examining a novel’s opening.

Basic Questions: 

  • What happens in this first scene? 
  • In what setting does this first scene take place? 
  • Who is the narrator?  Is this narrator a character in the book? 
  • Which characters do we meet?  What do we learn about the appearances, personalities, and backgrounds of these characters?

The Big Question:  What purpose (or purposes) does the opening scene serve?  Opening scenes can . . . 

  • introduce us to the novel’s narrator (e.g., The One and Only Ivan)
  • reveal a character or narrator’s defining trait (e.g., Wonder)
  • establish a relationship between characters (e.g., Because of Winn-Dixie)
  • describe a physical setting (e.g., Holes)
  • depict a life-altering event (e.g., Hatchet)
  • construct an alternate world (e.g., The Giver)
  • do all of the above
  • do something else entirely

Dig Deeper: 

  • How would you describe the voice of the narrator? 
  • What do you notice about the language the author/narrator uses?
  • How would you describe the mood of the opening scene? 
  • What effect does this opening scene have on the reader?  What did the author do to create this effect? 
  • What predictions about the book can you make based on this opening scene?

Get Graphic:  Consider creating an organizer based on the visual of a door or window.  For younger students, create a large door drawing that is divided into three panels (one each for plot, setting, and characters).  For older students, draw a set of doors or windows with questions on them.

Make a Connection:  Ask students to name a book or movie that they think has a very memorable opening scene. Student choices are their opinions. However, they must support those choices with reasons that are not just opinions. For example, they can’t simply say that an opening scene is “good” or “exciting.” Instead, they must explain what the author or filmmaker specifically did to make the opening scene good or exciting.

Next week: Part 2—An Important Scene

Whole-Class Instruction vs. Homeschooling

In education, there are as many ways to manage and teach a classroom as there are teachers. In the next few posts, you will find outlined a variety of popular methods of instruction that have proven effective with many educators. Try them out to see what works for you, but by all means, adapt them as needed to suit you. You’ll find that a particular method of instruction not only may suit your style of teaching better, but may also be more suitable to the demands and success of the lesson plan at hand.

Whole-Class Instruction

Many experts agree that teacher-directed lessons should be conducted for the whole class rather than in small groups. Dividing the class into groups decreases the teaching time to which each student is exposed. In addition, substantial amounts of seat work are necessary to keep students who are not meeting with the teacher busy and quiet (but not necessarily instructed). Whole-class instruction, however, assures that all students are exposed to the same curriculum. Students feel equal with one another because they are not separated into groups which are labeled by their abilities.

The teacher must be sure that all lessons and guided discussions have something for all students even though some parts of the lesson may be too easy or difficult for some students. The easy lesson portion gives children of all abilities a boost in self-esteem and a feeling of mastery over concepts, while portions of lessons that are difficult challenge more advanced students. Even students who do not respond at all during a lesson are usually thinking about the topic and learning from the responses of other students. Overall, whole-class instruction challenges students of all abilities and nurtures their higher-level thinking skills.

While whole-class instruction has its benefits and is considered standard in the education field, there may be drawbacks to using this method of instruction. Robert Jackson, in his article “Whole-Class Instruction: Is It Out of Date?” writes that

“Some parents, recognizing the enormous individual differences among students and seeing the harm done by unfavorable comparisons [brought forth by the grading system], have chosen to educate their children at home, where work can be given at students’ learning edge. They have made the decision that individualized instruction is more important than interaction with peers at school.”

Which brings up… homeschooling – another method of instruction. As we know, there are some parents who like to have control over what their child learns and have therefore chosen to adopt this form of education.

If you are a parent who has chosen to homeschool your child, what are some of your reasons for advocating homeschool? How and why did you decide to adopt homeschooling, and how can you tell if it’s right for you and your child?

Here are 10 things to consider if you are deciding whether homeschooling is right for you, courtesy of Beverly Hernandez, from Homeschooling.About.com:

Homeschool Decision – 10 Things to Consider

Next post: Independent Practice

Reading Strategies for ELL (English Language Learners)

Reading Strategies for ELL/ESL

As teachers receive more and more ESL/ELLs (English Language Learners) into their classrooms, it’s important that they learn to integrate them with the rest of their student population. If you require some extra help with a language you do not fully understand, consider seeking it at espressotranslations.com/digital-transcription/.

The following reading strategies will help you with the process. Comprehensiable instruction and opportunities for verbal interaction will motivate students to engage in learning and actively participate in classroom activities.

Here are some great reading strategies from this igcse english tutor to help ELLs be more comfortable with reading.

Echo Reading

Use this strategy to help struggling readers with fluency, pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The teacher (or other native English speaker) reads the text first, using proper intonation and a good pace. Students follow along silently and then “echo”, or imitate, the first reader.

Echo reading helps ELL students 
-Improve sight reading and speaking skills.
-Build confidence in their pronunciations.
-Remember important concepts.

Ways to Use Echo Reading: During chants, jingles, songs, poetry, and short stories.

Tips for Teaching this Strategy:
-Use gestures to show students which text to read.
-Have Students who are native English speakers lead the reading; it’s helpful for ELLs to hear voices similar to their own.
-Adjust the length of the text being read to meet the needs of your students. (e.g. For Emerging ELLs, the first reader should read one line of text; for Developing ELLs (and higher levels), the first reader can read several lines of text.)

Sample Activity
Hold a hand to an ear to demonstrate the idea of hearing an echo. Explain that bats use echoes and different tones to locate food sources and other important information. Vary the pitch (higher or lower) while reading to encourage students to practice different intonations when they echo read.

 

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA)

Use this strategy to model how to make and confirm predictions. Here are the steps to DRTA:
1) Choose a text. Preselect stopping points where students can pause while reading.
2) Preview keywords or pictures. Ask questions to guide students’ thinking.
3) Have students make prediction about what they will read.
4) Stop at set points so students can check predictions, revise them, and make new predictions.
5) Ask questions to help students match their predictions to the reading.
6) Discuss what has been read before reading the next section.

Examples: Use objects or pictures to preview a text and make predictions; ask questions about keywords and vocabulary; focus on characters and what they might do.

Tips for Teaching this ELL Strategy
-Use as a whole-class or small-group activity
-Remind students to use what they already know to make predictions

Sample Activity
Have students look at pictures in a book to predict what a story or text might be about. Have them write one or two questions they have about the story. Review the students’ questions to determine where to stop and discuss the story. Read the selection as a class, pausing as planned. Call on the students who quote questions related to that part of the story, and conduct discussion about the reading thus far.

For more strategies on teach ESL/ELLs, see Strategies to use with your English Language Learners