Top Ten Toolkit
Text Sources
1. Jokinen, Anniina. Luminarium. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/, 1996.
This site is maintained privately by Anniina Jokinen, and the materials are are consulted for accuracy by authorities in the field (Norton Anthology of English Literature, Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, etc.) The site is a multimedia reference source for English Literature; it is comprehensive and covers the Renaissance period through The Eighteenth Century. Each period is accompanied by a short historical account, images, art, music, and links to the most accomplished writers of the time’s work.
It is sometimes difficult to bridge the time gap, and get middle grades students interested in period literature. Although many of the works’ themes are timeless, and reoccurring in contemporary literature, adolescents often are reluctant to see beyond differences in language and dress, etc. This site puts the literature in historical context, which offers a cross-curriculum tie. It also is made to engage today’s tech-savvy youth with quick links to multimedia. Through this site the students have a visual component to accompany the texts that we read in class, and they are able to browse according to their specific interests. Furthermore, the site provides links to academic essays and articles that will encourage the students to think critically about the literature. Since each writer is a mere click away from another, the site also encourages students to compare/contrast works from the same period, and between periods.
2. Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970.
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a text that represents gender diversity, through the representation of its strong female characters. The work is not only an autobiography, but also a bildungsroman. The autobiographical fiction traces the writer’s progression from childhood to adulthood, and her transformation from a “caged bird” to a beautiful strong woman. The work covers a variety of important themes including racism, identity, and literacy. In the exploration of these themes, Angelou utilizes complex metaphors, and incorporates numerous stylistic devices.
This work of literature is jammed packed with tools of learning. Not only does the work provide a variety of positive female images for developing young women, but it also provides an opportunity for the shaping of the perception of women, for young men. Angelou’s novel also tackles difficult subjects, such as racism, identity, rape, and literacy. These themes can be difficult to teach on their own, but within the context of the novel, students can relate their experiences to real characters. As a coming of age story, the students in middle grades will be particularly able to identify with the struggles of the protagonist. In addition, the novel will help students understand such important literary devices as metaphor, first-person narrative voice, and the genre of bildungsroman. The students will also be exposed to Angelou’s influences, such as folklore, and slave narratives. The novel can also be tied to social studies lessons on the civil rights movement, and racism.
Strategies
1. Tea Party (Engaging Diverse Cultures)
In this strategy, the teacher first places phrases, sentences, or single words taken from a piece of literature that the students will read, and passes them out to the students. The phrases should represent a variety of aspects of the book, and should provide insight to the characters, plot, setting, conflicts, etc. Next, the students are asked to move about the room, and read their particular cards to each other, and begin discussing what the cards might imply about the text. The students then return to small groups, and combine all of their ideas to predict what the text might be about. The students create a “We Think” paragraph that summarizes what the text might be about, and read them aloud to the class. They are encouraged to explain how them came to this prediction, and explain the inferences that they made. The class then reads the text, and is able to revisit their predictions in context. This strategy is appropriate for all ages, and can be used with almost any kind of text. During this strategy students are asked to bring there outside experiences, and knowledge to the classroom, and use that information to make inferences about the text. By connecting events in the text to prior experiences the students are exposed to a variety of diverse backgrounds. Each student’s diversity to influence their interpretation of the text, and they will have the opportunity to share these differences with other students and compare their own experiences to others'. I would use this strategy as a pre-reading exercise for in my Language Arts classroom. I would use this strategy with novels, and poetry, to get students thinking about diversity, language use, and how form is and extension of meaning in literature.
2. Say Something (Assessment)
Say Something is a during- reading strategy that encourages comprehension, by helping students focus on what they are reading and not what their mind is wondering to. The strategy interrupts the student’s reading and asks them to think about what they have read. Students are put into groups of two or three, and asked to take turns reading the text aloud. As each student reads, they are asked to pause to “say something” about what they have just read. This comment can take many forms; it can be a connection to something else they have read, or a prediction, a question, or a clarification. It is just asked that the comment be meaningful to the student and pertain to the text. The other members of the group then offer a response to the comment, and another reader begins. This strategy is appropriate for middle grades, and is appropriate for all reading levels. If the groups are mixed ability, struggling readers can learn from the more advanced readers. This strategy encourages students to read for meaning, rather than just reading the words on the page. It encourages them to recreate this activity in their head when they are reading alone, silently. I would use this strategy in my Language Arts class while we are reading a novel, or a longer piece of literature. I would model the behavior first, and provide rules for comments, and examples of meaningful comments. The reason I would use this strategy as an assessment is because it is a creative, less intimidating way to assess students’ reading for meaning. Some students have difficulty expressing their ideas in writing, so this assessment would provide an opportunity for all students. It is also a great opportunity for students to refine their oral expression skills, which is equally important as writing. I would give participation grades for the exercise, and ask the students to answer a few questions about their experience with “say something” afterward.
3.Bookmarks (Critical Reading)
This strategy is utilizes the pun in “book MARK” to encourage critical reading. First, the teacher models, by creating a few example bookmarks. The teacher then explains that she would like each student to create their own bookmark that “marks” what is important to them in the text that they are reading. The bookmark can take many forms: the teacher can pass out a template that provides many spaces for unknown words, their page number, and the word’s meaning, or the bookmark can be a place where students record questions they have about the text, the students can also record important information such as character info, or setting changes. The bookmark can be made and used with any type of literature, and any grade level. By jotting down important information on these bookmarks, students are encouraged to think critically about the text as they go along, and also have a reference for as they proceed through the text. I would encourage students in my Language Arts class to utilize this strategy every time they read. I would give them the choice of what information they wanted to include on the bookmark, and would like them to be collected at the conclusion of the novel so that I could track their progress.
