Heads Up! Step 2: Gather Evidence

Transcription

1 Heads Up! Step 2: Gather Evidence Response to Literature - Step 2: Heads Up! By now, students have selected a theme to expand upon in writing. Through close analysis of short stories, students find examples from the text that support their theme. At the end of the step, they have organized categories of evidence from the texts in preparation for writing their first draft. Lesson Before the Step Prep and Tech Checkpoint: Check that students have a working theme statement that reflects the author s message. Review Teacher Resources for Step 2 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Beginner 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Intermediate 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Experienced b: Literary Essay Rubric Beginner 2.1b: Literary Essay Rubric Intermediate 2.1b: Literary Essay Rubric Experienced Speakers Completed Evidence/Examples column of Find Evidence T-chart (Handout 2.2a) a: Find Evidence Beginner 2.2a: Find Evidence Intermediate 2.2a: Find Evidence Experienced 2.3 Completed Find Evidence T-chart with a non-example (Handout 2.2a) 2.4 Plan T-chart evidence and category headings Speakers Student computers with Internet access Page 57

2 Response to Literature - Step 2: Reading Companion Reading Companion Step 2: Gather Evidence In this step, Beginner and Intermediate classes read additional stories with rich themes. Experienced classes read a second text, to be used later in their comparative essays. Step 2 requires students to support the theme statement they plan to write about by identifying relevant text-based evidence. During reading workshop, students should practice these skills as well by making inferences about their reading and backing up these inferences with evidence. Recommended Read Aloud: Beginner: The Luckiest of All Time by Lucille Clifton Q - 960L Intermediate: Shells by Cynthia Rylant R - 660L Experienced: Abuela Invents the Zero by Judith Ortiz Cofer L Recommended Small Group Readings: Intermediate Beginner Students compare two texts. Identity Theft by Gary Soto U - 900L Four Miles to Pinecone by Jon Hassler U - 960L Maniac Magee (ch. 3) by Jerry Spinelli W - 990L Raymond s Run by Toni Cade Bambara Q L Inside Out by Francisco Jiménez Z - 920L The Prettiest by Cynthia Rylant W - 970L Broken Chain by Gary Soto U L Experienced * Students compare two texts. Assign readings using these sets: Eleven W L with: Inside Out Z - 920L Growing Up U - 860L All-American Slurp Y - 900L You Decide U - 950L with: Growing Up U - 860L Fortune Cookie U - 450L The Babysitter U - 670L with: You Decide U - 950L Fortune Cookie W - 450L All-American Slurp Y - 900L with: Food from the Outside W - 970L or: I Too, Sing America (poem) *For more information about using text pairs, see Lesson 1.4 and Teacher Resources. All texts can be found in the Text Binder and in Prof. P s Office in the Online Classroom. Strategy/Skill: To use text details to make inferences about big ideas. Inference. Students should be able to: make inferences based on: o characters actions, interior monologue and dialogue o characters inner and outer traits select specific passages that most strongly support their theme statements. To attain these objectives, ask students to: read a short text and answer the following questions: o what kind of person is this character? o what type of conflict does this character experience? o what are some themes and messages that develop in this text? Page 58

3 Lesson 2.1: Analyze a Literary Essay Response to Literature - Lesson 2.1 Lesson at a Glance Students analyze a literary essay for its organizational structure. Students mark up the margins of the essay as they identify key parts and placement of ideas. They will follow this structure when writing their essays. Objective Students will have the foundational knowledge to complete the literary essay assignment. Focusing Question How is a literary essay organized? How can this structure be applied in your writing? Prep & Tech 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Beginner 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Intermediate 2.1a: Sample Literary Essay Experienced 2.1b: Literary Essay Rubric Beginner 2.1b: Literary Essay Rubric Intermediate 2.1b: Literary Essay Rubric Experienced Speakers Limited Tech Options If there is no access to the technology needed for this lesson, try the following option: Mini lesson: Instead of showing the animated program, talk to the students about how stories have big ideas and themes that the author wants us to uncover. We can connect these to our lives to make the experience of reading and writing more rewarding. Page 59

4 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.1 Intermediate Modify Mentor Text: On the Intermediate path, in addition to using Growing Up, all references to texts for modeling should include Thank You, M am by Langston Hughes. Modify Instructional Strategy: Instead of looking at the Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a), have students use Sample Literary Essay Intermediate (Handout 2.1a) which details the components of a comparative literary essay. Note that the organization of paragraphs is as follows: Introduction: introduces texts and theme Body Paragraphs: o text 1: theme, character, plot, etc. o o text 2: theme, character, plot, etc. similarities or differences across texts Conclusion: wraps up and extends theme statement with personal insight that connects text to world. Mini Lesson (10 min) Show lesson visuals, Analyze a Literary Essay. Today s Strategy: To prepare for writing a literary essay by analyzing a sample as well as the rubric containing expectations for the final product. Introduce the second step of the unit, Organize for Writing. Show the introductory animated program. Explain that before writing responses to literature, writers need to plan what they are going to write and often use outlines or organizers for this purpose. The organizer also helps writers keep track of the evidence or examples they find in the story that need to go into the essay. Explain the response to literature assignment that students will be writing. State that the purpose of today s lesson is to analyze the organizing structure of a sample literary essay so that students will know how to handle their assignment. Using their thesis statements as the foundation, students will create five paragraph essays about the short stories they recently read. The essay needs to contain: an introductory paragraph three body paragraphs in which Information is clearly arranged to support the thesis or theme statement a concluding paragraph that contains an observation or personal insight based on the evidence presented in the body. Overall, the essay needs to convince readers that the essay writer s theme statement is in line with the author s message. Prepare for analyzing a sample literary essay. Tell students that you will read aloud a sample essay in which the writer offers her interpretation of Growing Up with a theme statement. This essay reflects the organization students will use for the essays they will write. Distribute Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a) so that students can follow along and mark up text as you read. Distribute Literary Essay Rubric Beginner (Handout 2.1b) for students to use for further analysis later on. Page 60

5 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.1 Experienced Modify Mentor Text: On the Experienced path, instead of using Growing Up, all references to texts for modeling should relate to The All-American Slurp by Lensey Namioka and Inside Out by Francisco Jiménez. Modify Instructional Strategy: Instead of looking at the Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a), have students use Sample Literary Essay Experienced (Handout 2.1a) which details the components of a comparative literary essay. The structure of the essay paragraphs is as follows: Introduction: introduces texts and theme statement Body Paragraphs o similarity or difference #1 o similarity or difference #2 o synthesis of similarities and/ or differences Conclusion: wrap ups and extends theme statement with personal insight that connects text to world. Teacher Model Read the sample literary essay aloud and have students follow along using Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a) Read the essay aloud a second time, demonstrating how to mark the first one or two sections that point out the essay s organizational structure. For example, first paragraph contains summary of story followed by theme or thesis statement, second paragraph presents examples or evidence supporting the theme statement, etc. Show page two of the Sample Literary Essay (Handout 2.1a) and state that you will analyze the rest of the structure of the essay later. Based on what you have found through this partial analysis, think aloud about why the author might have chosen to include that particular information in each section of the essay. Narrative Let s look at how this literary essay about the story Growing Up by Gary Soto is organized. Looking at the essay as a whole, I can see that there are five paragraphs. I want to figure out what the essay writer puts in each one and why. I see that in Paragraph 1, the author begins by introducing the title and author, followed by a brief summary of the story. Then the author includes how the essay is organized by naming the categories of evidence. The introduction ends with the theme statement she intends to prove to the reader throughout the rest of the essay. This is an important way to begin. The reader needs to be very clear on what the essay writer is trying to communicate. I see that three body paragraphs follow. Looking at the first body paragraph, I see that there is evidence of Maria being annoyed with her family at the beginning of the story and how it relates to the theme statement. There is a specific quote or example from the story. I am going to go on to see what the essay writer includes in the remaining paragraphs both body paragraphs and conclusion - and I would like you to do the same, jotting notes on what you find on the structure portion of Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a). When you have finished, I would like you to review the Organization section of the Literary Essay Rubric Beginner (Handout 2.1b) to see how the essay we are analyzing and the one you are creating are based on similar expectations. Page 61

6 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.1 Preparing for Writer s Work Time Active engagement: Ask students to form pairs to analyze the second body paragraph. Students are to record what they find in that paragraph on page two of the Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a). Give the following directions: On your own, reread the remainder of the sample literary essay. Jot notes in the margins concerning what you find. Using the Sample Literary Essay Beginner (Handout 2.1a), write down what each section of the sample literary essay contains. Think about how and why the essay writer organized the essay the way s/he did. When you have completed the task, look at the Literary Essay Rubric Beginner (Handout 2.1b) to get a sense of what is expected. Please pay particular attention to the Organization section. Intermediate and Experienced Modify Assessment/Outcome: Use Literary Essay Rubric Intermediate or Experienced (Handout 2.1b). Writer s Work Time: Part I (15 min) * There will be a mid-workshop interruption after the students look at the rubric. Students work independently to review the Literary Essay Rubric Beginner (Handout 2.1b) to better understand how an essay is organized. They then look at the rubric to see what is expected of them in the organization of their own essays. Midworkshop Interruption (5 min) Tell students the second part of Writer s Work Time involves summarizing the short stories about which they will be writing. They will use these summaries in the introductions to their essays later on. Summaries should be a short paragraph that contains only the most important part of the story as it relates to the theme. Once they have done this, tell students to write down their thesis or theme statements and share them with a peer. Writer s Work Time: Part II (10 min) Students write summaries of the short stories that will be the focus of their literary essays. When they have finished, students spend a few minutes writing down their thesis or theme statements. Page 62

7 Conferring and Differentiation During Writer s Work Time, determine if student work includes: an accurate analysis of the sample literary essay Response to Literature - Lesson 2.1 a written summary of the short story that will be the focus of the literary essay. Using the chart below as a guide, conduct individual conferences and/or guided groups. On the Conferring Log, record what you find, what you teach and next steps for the student. What you might find: Insufficient analysis of sample essay/ no information on some sections Too much detail in their text summaries Irrelevant or unclear thesis/theme statement Ready for more Suggested Approaches: Revisit handout: Show student Sample Literary Essay (Handout 2.1a) again, this time focusing only on one section, such as the body. Demonstrate process: Use a familiar text and show student how to map its rising and falling action. Help student see what is necessary and what is extraneous. Reconnect with earlier work: Review Write Theme Statements (Handout 1.3b) to remind student of the elements of a strong thesis/theme statement. Refer to mentor text: Using a familiar story or movie, collaborate on a thesis/theme statement that fits and also extends to the world. Provide extension: Students may visit the Study Center for more activities such as What s the Big Idea? and Think Space. Students may also look at DD or Z s notebooks in the Online Classroom to see how they completed this assignment. Sharing and Lesson Summary (5 min) Reconvene the class. Have students share thesis statements within their small groups. Have one to two students share strong examples with the whole class. Page 63

8

9 Lesson 2.2: Find Evidence Response to Literature - Lesson 2.2 Lesson at a Glance Students analyze their stories to find evidence that supports their thesis or theme statements in preparation for writing their responses to literature. Students record direct quotations and pertinent examples from their stories and include an explanation of their significance to the story line and theme. Objective Students will find multiple forms of text-based evidence from a story to support their thesis or theme statements. Focusing Question How can you find supporting evidence for your theme in the story you are reading? Prep & Tech Completed Evidence/Examples column of T-chart on Find Evidence (Handout 2.2a) 2.2a: Find Evidence Beginner 2.2a: Find Evidence Intermediate 2.2a: Find Evidence Experienced Limited Tech Options If there is no access to the technology needed for this lesson, try the following option: Mini Lesson: Instead of showing the electronic version of the T-chart, create a sample T-chart on chart paper. Note: Before Lesson 2.2, students should have reread their short stories. Instruct them that it is helpful to keep their theme statements in mind and to underline passages that relate to their themes. Rereading can either be assigned for homework or as part of a reading period. Page 65

10 Intermediate Modify Mentor Text: Search for evidence in both Thank You, M am and Growing Up. Students will compare two texts to complete the assignment. Modify Instructional Strategy: Have students use Find Evidence Intermediate (Handout 2.2a) as they go through the process of finding evidence in two texts instead of one. Experienced Modify Mentor Text: Search for evidence in All-American Slurp and Inside Out. Model how you find evidence when comparing two texts to one another. Modify Instructional Strategy: Have students use Find Evidence Experienced (Handout 2.2a) as they go through the process of finding evidence in two texts instead of one. Response to Literature - Lesson 2.2 Mini Lesson (10 min) Show lesson visuals, Find Evidence. Today s Strategy: To find text-based evidence of the thesis or theme statements by using a T-chart. Tell students the purpose of the lesson. Tell students that the purpose of today s lesson is to find text-based evidence to support their thesis or theme statements. By writing about this evidence, they will be able to convince their readers that their interpretation of the story is in line with the author s message and that the theme they selected is important enough to think about. Show a strategy for highlighting evidence in a text. Explain that one way to select evidence in texts is by highlighting the sentences that stand out. From there it is much easier to look at the evidence to determine what you have and what you need. Using the mentor text, demonstrate this highlighting for students. Explain how to collect evidence in order to document the theme in the story. Using your theme statement as a model, for example, People can love and hate their families at the same time, demonstrate how you use a T-chart to document the theme common to the two stories. Show Find Evidence Beginner (Handout 2.2a). Explain that you will look for two kinds of evidence while scanning the text: direct quotations and summaries. Define direct quotations as short pieces of text taken word for word from the text and put in quotation marks. Explain how direct quotations require page number references. Define summaries as parts of the story written in your own words. Teacher Model Write your thesis or theme statement. Show/draw a T-chart that students can recreate in their notebooks. If more appropriate for your students, demonstrate using Find Evidence Beginner (Handout 2.2a). Model reading a portion of Growing Up to search for evidence that supports your thesis or theme statement. Identify an example from the text that does not support your theme statement, and think aloud why that piece should not be written on your T-chart. Return to Growing Up to find a more appropriate example. Demonstrate how to record a direct quotation on the left column of your T-chart. Include a page number as a reference. Demonstrate how to summarize an example from the story and record it in your T-chart. Page 66

11 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.2 Narrative My thesis statement is, People can love and hate their families at the same time. I am going to reread my story to find examples that support this theme. I will look for places where Maria is so annoyed by her family but still clearly cares about them. On the first page, she describes Disneyland in detail, but I cannot make a connection between that part of the story and my theme. I will not include that part in my T-chart. A few pages into the story, here s a direct quote from the story when the author says about Maria, She couldn t wait until she was in college and away from them. I am going to write that direct quotation down in the left column and include the page number as a reference. How does this evidence connect to my theme statement? What I think it means is that Maria loves her family but she needs to separate from them as she becomes her own person. Here s more text-based evidence of my thesis or theme statement. In the middle of the story, Maria doesn t mean to hurt her father s feelings but also doesn t want to go on a family vacation. I will put a summary of this example on the left side of my T-chart. How does that evidence connect to my theme statement? Maria pushes too hard in trying to assert her independence because she hates the idea of being treated like a little kid. Preparing for Writer s Work Time Give the following directions: Write your theme statement at the top of Find Evidence Beginner (Handout 2.2a) or in your notebook. Reread your story to look for text-based evidence. Complete the left-hand column of the T-chart: Evidence/examples from the story by recording direct quotations or summaries supporting your theme statement. Direct quotation must be copied word for word. You may summarize other examples in your own words. Writer s Work Time (25 min) Students reread their stories closely to find examples that support their thesis or theme statements. They record their evidence in the left-hand column of the chart. Students may use the handout or their writers notebooks to record their evidence as either direct quotations or summaries. Look for good examples of evidence and connections to share in the lesson summary. Page 67

12 Conferring and Differentiation During Writer s Work Time, determine if student work has: evidence from the texts that is relevant to the thesis or theme statement. Response to Literature - Lesson 2.2 evidence that is recorded appropriately as either a direct quotation or a summary. Using the chart below as a guide, conduct individual conferences and/or guided groups. On the Conferring Log, record what you find, what you teach and next steps for the student. What you might find: Evidence is limited Evidence is irrelevant to thesis statement Work better with others Ready for more Suggested Approaches: Demonstrate process: Show student how you have chosen evidence that supports your thesis or theme statement. Reconnect with earlier work: Bring student back to the original thesis or theme statements written in the writer s notebook. Explain that some thesis statements do not have enough evidence to support them. This may be an indication that the theme statement does not fit the story and, therefore, needs to be modified. Use another modality: Have classmates who are using the same text work together to share ideas for evidence for each other s thesis or theme statements. Provide extension: Students may visit the Study Center for more activities such as What s the Big Idea? and Think Space. Sharing and Lesson Summary (10 min) Reconvene the class. Tell students that some of them may want to adjust their big ideas and theme statements before looking for more evidence in the next lesson. By the time they complete gathering evidence, students should make sure they have: several examples/pieces of evidence evidence that relates to the thesis or theme statement a written, clear connection between evidence and thesis statement. Page 68

13 Lesson 2.3: Refine Evidence Response to Literature - Lesson 2.3 Lesson at a Glance Students review the text-based evidence they gathered in the previous lesson and assess whether it is aligned with their thesis or theme statements. They gather additional information and/or delete unrelated examples if necessary. Objective Students will finish collecting the set of evidence they plan to use in their responses to literature. Focusing Question How can you be sure that you have enough of the right evidence to support your theme statement in your response to literature? Prep & Tech Completed Find Evidence T-chart with a non-example (Handout 2.2a) Limited Tech Options If there is no access to the technology needed for this lesson, try the following option: Mini Lesson: Instead of showing the electronic version of the graphic organizer, use a T-chart (from Lesson 2.2) created on chart paper. Page 69

14 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.3 Intermediate Modify Instructional Strategy: Students use this lesson to find evidence for the second text as well as complete the T-chart in Find Evidence Intermediate (Handout 2.2a) as it relates to the first text and thesis/theme statement. Experienced Modify Instructional Strategy: Students use this lesson to find evidence for the second text as well as complete the T-chart in Find Evidence Experienced (Handout 2.2a) as it relates to the first text and thesis/theme statement. Mini Lesson (10 min) Show lesson visuals, Refine Evidence. Today s Strategy: To expand upon and/or refine evidence for relevance to the thesis or theme statement by testing it for significance using a T-chart. Tell students that the purpose of today s lesson is to finish collecting text-based evidence supporting their thesis or theme statements. This evidence will be needed to support their theme statements in the body paragraphs. Students will evaluate the information they have on their T-charts to determine whether or not it supports their theses or theme statements. Students will then have a chance to fill in what is missing and delete whatever is extraneous. Explain that writers who respond to literature use only the best possible examples to convince readers that their themes represent the author s message. Sometimes writers decide to get rid of evidence that does not quite fit. Other times, writers realize that they need to search through the text to find more examples related to the theme. This is the way that they prepare themselves to write their first drafts. Teacher Model Display your T-chart for Growing Up with five or six pieces of evidence (including one non-example) representing your theme statement. Restate your theme statement. Think aloud while you skim through this evidence, indicating how the quotations and summaries on the left column of the T-chart relate to the theme statement. Write this information down in the Meaning column (right side of the T-chart.) Think aloud about a piece of evidence that is irrelevant, and indicate why it should be eliminated and cross it out. Narrative My thesis or theme statement is, People can love and hate their families at the same time. I need to check that each of my examples supports my theme statement. Maria shows how worried she was the whole time the family was away and how mad she is when she hears how much fun they had. That s a good example of my theme statement. I will describe the connection in the MEANING column of the T-chart. Now I realize that I only have four supporting examples and they may not all turn out to be meaningful. To find more examples, I need to think about another piece of evidence showing how Maria loves and hates her family at the same time. I can write that Maria didn t enjoy Disneyland the last time she was there. This does not really relate to my theme statement. I can cross this one off. I will keep working. Page 70

15 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.3 Preparing for Writer s Work Time Active engagement: Ask students to reflect upon a key piece of evidence or example that is missing from the teacher model and add it to your chart. Give the following directions: Reread your theme statement. Complete the MEANING column of the T-chart on Find Evidence Beginner (Handout 2.2a). Remove evidence that does not support your theme statement. Think about key events in the story as they relate to your theme statement. Determine whether or not any information is missing from your T-chart. Fill in the gaps by finding and recording additional quotations and summaries so you have at least six pieces of evidence. Writer s Work Time (25 min) Students review their theme statements and T-charts. They look for evidence that does not fit with their theses or theme statements and cross it off. Students also determine whether they are missing any crucial evidence from their stories and spend time finding examples in the text that might be helpful to fill the gaps. Look for good examples of evidence that connects with the thesis to share in the lesson summary. Conferring and Differentiation During Writer s Work Time, determine if student work has: evidence from texts that is relevant to the theme statement evidence that is recorded appropriately as either a direct quotation or a summary Using the chart below as a guide, conduct individual conferences and/or guided groups. On the Conferring Log, record what you find, what you teach and next steps for the student. What you might find: Suggested Approaches: Thesis/theme statement does not match evidence or connection is weak Works better with others Ready for more Prompt with questions: Ask student questions about his/her thesis or theme statement and help clarify what the statement is actually about. Then move back into Find Evidence (Handout 2.2a) to focus on the right-hand column. Use another modality: Have classmates who are using the same text work together to match evidence to each other s thesis or theme statements. Provide extension: Students may visit the Study Center for more activities such as What s the Big Idea? and Think Space. Students may also look at DD or Z s notebooks in the Online Classroom to see how they completed this assignment. Page 71

16 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.3 Intermediate and Experienced Modify Technology Use: Have Intermediate and Experienced classes post their most powerful pieces of text-based evidence in Step 2 of the Online Classroom in the activity named Share Your Evidence. When posting, they should identify their story in the subject line and write their evidence in the body of the post. Sharing and Lesson Summary (10 min) Reconvene the class. Give students a chance to share their T-charts with their partners to identify whether they have: gathered sufficient evidence to turn into a written piece (at least six examples) included both summaries and direct quotations with page numbers. Share a student s T-chart which includes sufficient and varied evidence. If your students have a lot of extraneous information, have them remove unnecessary examples during Lesson 2.4. If your students have only one or two pieces of evidence, Lesson 2.4 can provide an opportunity to find more supporting examples. Page 72

17 Lesson 2.4: Organize Evidence Response to Literature - Lesson 2.4 Lesson at a Glance Students organize the body of their responses to literature. By reviewing their theme statements along with the evidence they collected earlier, students identify chunks or categories of information to be addressed in the body of the written piece. Objective Students will plan an appropriate organizing structure for their responses to literature. Focusing Question What is the best way to organize your response to literature? Prep & Tech Plan T-chart evidence and category headings Speakers Student computers with Internet access Limited Tech Options If there is no access to the technology needed for this lesson, try the following option: Mini Lesson: Instead of showing the electronic version of the graphic organizer, use a T-chart created on chart paper. If there are no student computers available, show Z s Think Aloud: Organize Evidence into Categories during the mini lesson instead of asking students to watch it during Writer s Work Time. Page 73

18 Intermediate Modify Instructional Strategy: Instead of having students identify categories of evidence, review the structure of the comparative essay using Sample Literary Essay - Intermediate (Handout 2.1a). Remind students that the body paragraphs should be organized around: text #1 (body paragraph 1) text #2 (body paragraph 2) similarities and differences across texts (comparison/ contrast) (body paragraph 3) Comparisons/contrasts may address one or more of the following: theme character plot setting. Experienced Modify Instructional Strategy: Instead of having students identify categories of evidence, review the structure of the comparative essay using Sample Literary Essay -- Experienced (Handout 2.1a). The body paragraphs are organized around: similarity or difference #1 (body paragraph 1) similarity or difference #2 (body paragraph 2) synthesis of similarities and/ or differences (body paragraph 3.) Response to Literature - Lesson 2.4 Mini Lesson (10 min) Show lesson visuals, Organize Evidence. Today s Strategy: To organize for writing by looking for chunks or categories of evidence. Explain the purpose of the lesson. This lesson will help students organize the evidence they collected in preparation for writing the first draft of their literary essays. Explain that when planning a written piece, writers often break up their information into chunks or categories of ideas that fit together. To figure out the categories, writers reread their notes and look for threads that connect several bits of information. From this, categories will emerge. By thinking about these categories, writers know how to organize the information they will write about. Tell students that there is more than one way to organize information or evidence in support of a theme. Three typical methods for organization are: character 1, character 2, character 3 point of view 1, point of view 2, interaction beginning, middle, end. Teacher Model Think aloud about commonalities among your pieces of evidence for Growing Up. Model marking your T-chart to group similar ideas together, aiming for three categories. Develop temporary headings for each category. Show students that there are alternative ways to categorize this information. Think aloud about why the categories you selected are most appropriate for your theme. Explain how to set up a page in a writer s notebook to record this information. Comparisons (similarities and differences) may address one or more of the following: theme character plot setting. Page 74

19 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.4 Headings Beginning Evidence/Examples Sample notebook page Doesn t want to go on family vacation. She couldn t wait until she was in college and away from them (99). Middle She made a list of all the ways she could be nicer to them. End She was annoyed that they had had fun without her. Narrative I m going to look through my T-chart to see what my examples have in common. My theme statement is, People can love and hate their families at the same time. I notice that I have evidence about Maria at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. There is more than one strategy for grouping my information. I could create categories based on different characters in the story, but that is not what s important about my theme statement. What is important is how Maria s feelings toward her family change frequently. So the beginning, middle, end is the best way to show this change. Preparing for Writer s Work Time Active engagement: Show students Z s Think Aloud: Organize Evidence into Categories in Step 2 of the Online Classroom. Ask students to suggest which approach Z took to organizing his evidence. Give the following directions: Reread your theme statement. Review your evidence. Determine what categories of information you have. Decide on headings for your categories. Remember that certain types of categories will only fit certain theme statements. Record your headings in your writer s notebook, using two columns and leaving space between headings for evidence. You will remove these headings later. Writer s Work Time: Part I (10 min) * There will be a midworkshop interruption after the students determine their organizing structures. Students sort through their evidence to decide what categories fit best with their theme statements and examples. After deciding on categories, they develop descriptive headings. Students also write a sentence describing the connection between their theme and their organizing structure. Page 75

20 Response to Literature - Lesson 2.4 Midworkshop Interruption (5 min) Have students stop for an explanation of how to assign evidence to each category. Demonstrate how the categories or chunks of information now make it easier for them to plan and organize their writing. Ask students to record the evidence that fits their headings in their writers notebooks. Alert students that they need to make sure that their evidence matches their headings AND supports their theme statements. Suggest that if they don t have enough evidence to fully support each heading they should go back to their text to find more evidence. Alternatively, this problem may indicate that they have selected an inappropriate organizing structure for their writing. Writer s Work Time: Part II (15 min) Students write the evidence that relates to their categories in their writers notebooks. They may add or delete information in order to best support their theme statements. Conferring and Differentiation During Writer s Work Time, determine if student work has: evidence that is well-organized in a manner that fits with the text and theme statement. Using the chart below as a guide, conduct individual conferences and/or guided groups. On the Conferring Log, record what you find, what you teach and next steps for the student. What you might find: Difficulty determining which categories to use Evidence does not match the category headings or thesis/theme statement Different learning style Ready for more Suggested Approaches: Provide another model: Students may look at DD or Z s notebooks in the Online Classroom to see how they completed this assignment. Prompt with questions: Guide student with questions representing several different ways of categorizing the evidence from the story, such as, Is evidence of your theme statement shown through changes over time (Beginning, Middle End of story)? or, Is evidence of your theme statement shown through the characters (Character 1, Character 2, Character 3)? Use another modality: Have student put each piece of evidence on an index card and then sort (and re-sort if necessary) according to potential categories. Provide extension: Students may visit the Study Center for more activities such as What s the Big Idea? and Think Space. Sharing and Lesson Summary (5 min) Reconvene the class. Give students a chance to share their T-charts with one or two classmates to identify whether they have gathered sufficient evidence to turn into a written piece (at least six examples) and included both summaries and direct quotations with page numbers. Page 76

21 Checkpoint Review categories by collecting them. Assess whether students have: sufficient evidence Response to Literature - Lesson 2.4 organized evidence in a way that matches their theme statements Record on the Teacher s Checklist what students have completed to this point. If the majority of students have sufficiently developed theme statements, move on to Step 3. If not, it is important to reteach, using the differentiated instruction and conferring strategies listed above in order to give students another chance to build their theme statements as a critical foundation for their essays. Depending on the number of students who are struggling, you may opt to proceed and to form a small guided group during the next lesson. Page 77