Hocked gems financing him, our hero defied the
scornful laughter. "Think of it as an egg, not a table," he said.
Then three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging over vast calmness, and
sometimes over turbulent peaks and valleys, until at last welcome winged
creatures appeared, signifying monumental success.
1. What are the hocked gems?
I think the hocked gems are referring to something
of value that has been stolen, such as money.
2. What should we think of as an egg and not a
table?
I think the stolen property, or the hocked gems,
should be thought of as an egg and not a table. A table is large and
easily visible, but an egg is small and can easily be concealed. The stolen
property should be concealed so that it is not seen.
3. Who are the three sturdy sisters?
I think the three sturdy sisters are people looking
for justice. This could mean the people that have been victims of the
stealing, or it could mean police officers that are "seeking proof."
4. What kind of winged creatures appeared?
Since the winged creatures signified success, I
imagine that the study sisters were successful in seeking justice. Winged creatures make me think of birds, so I’m
thinking of these birds as doves. Doves
signify peace, and I think the sisters brought peace to those affected through
the story.
I think that this passage would be a difficult one
to use with young students. Before and
during the reading of this passage, I would be sure to talk about vocabulary. I’m not sure that my students would know many
of the words, such as financing, scornful, turbulent, and monumental. For students whose schema and the text’s
content don’t match, I would try taking them through the steps that I went
through as I tried to make sense of this passage. I would start by spending some time asking
them which parts of the text were most confusing to them. Some areas made sense to me, but others, such
as the “egg, not a table” part made me change my opinion of this text a few
times. I think that encouraging the students
to isolate individual parts of the passage may help them to combine them into a
way that makes sense to them.
As a student, I strongly disliked reading texts
that didn’t match my interest. I loved
reading, but I didn’t enjoy certain genres of books. When assigned those books to read, I wouldn’t
enjoy them, and I consequently stopped reading any books as frequently. I lost a lot of my love for reading around
middle school. While I do think that it
is important to have students read particular books, especially if the entire
class is reading something together, I do think that students should be given
choice in what they read. This could
even take the form of surveying the class on books of interest to them before
checking out class sets of books.
Another way to give students choice is by having literature circles in
which the students are given some choice in the book they choose to read and
discuss with their classmates.
Mackenzie,
ReplyDeleteI had the same problems you did as a young student with reading. A lot of things did not interest me. I do think that introducing something like this to our students would be a good idea for a challenge, just as it was to us. With the result, we are able to survey the background knowledge. I do also agree that vocabulary instruction is essential in the beginning of a lesson such as this.
I like what you said about breaking down the passage into parts they understand and don't understand. That makes it seem much more manageable and hopefully not as overwhelming and confusing. It helps you as the teacher really meet the students where they are!
ReplyDeleteI also love that you brought up literacy circles. I used these in my undergrad studies and they worked so well with the students. It gives them a way to enjoy reading and then have beneficial discussions with each other. I think that if I had been given more opportunities for literacy circles and to chose texts that I enjoyed, I would have liked reading a lot more as a young child- like you and Laura!
I hadn't thought of the egg as being stolen property and having to be concealed! But I had thought the winged creatures were some type of bird. It is so interesting how parts of our interpretations were similar even though we had different background knowledge!I too, hated to have to read certain books in school that didn't interest me! I really stopped reading for enjoyment during middle and high school. Giving the class choice in what they read is important and literature circles is a great way to ensure you have given them choice. Students also need to be able to discuss what they are reading and the literature circles allow for that as well!
ReplyDeleteMackenzie, I agree with you that this passage would be too difficult for young readers and I would not use this selection with them. I also see the importance of teaching/reviewing the vocabulary from passages before and during the reading process. Teaching vocabulary will increase students' schema and they will have more knowledge to understand the passage. I had a hard time trying to figure out the content of this text and didn’t even know where to begin, so I researched it on Google and found out it was about Christopher Columbus. I applaud you for answering the questions on your own and I think your responses are interesting.
ReplyDelete