Using NonPrint Texts and Argument to Teach Difficult Text

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Using Non-Print Texts and Argument to Teach
Difficult Text

• Sara Spachman ? English Teacher
• Curie Metro High School ? Chicago, IL

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• It was the eve of Progress-Stage Six, and the
  daily message had prescribed Stage Five Ecstasy
  Formula. Everyone, from 000 to 999, in Community
  Home 8051, for Premating Males in Progress-Stage
  Five, was experiencing the formulas balanced
  emotional heightening. Everyone, that is, except
  G17-AZ(q)444,801,735, category male, known
  familiarly as 735.
• -- from Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful

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Helping the Reader Succeed

• Pre-Reading
• Front-load key concepts and terminology
  (similar to PreP activity)
• Tap into visualization before reading through
  pictures this can give students who will
  struggle seeing something difficult or foreign
  a jump start
• Key Point Remember your audience! Incorporate
  pictures that reflect your students
  knowledge-base and interests. Pick words/phrases
  with which they are already comfortable.

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Photo-Word Montage
Which pictures/words dont belong?
perfection
utopia
beautiful
made for each other
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• Which pictures/words dont seem to belong?
• Anyone pick

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• Even though some seem to go together better than
  others, all the words and photos in the montage
  are related to the story well be reading.
• Take another look at the montage. This time,
  make a prediction about what the story will be
  about.

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Make a prediction about the story
perfection
utopia
beautiful
made for each other
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Students Predictions

• A prediction from Robert, a student who always
  wants to get it, but often has to try and try
  and try again I think the story is about a
  world full of perfection. The people will
  probably be obsessed with their looks, plastic
  surgery and botox, face lifts, and adult problems
  like my favorite TV show Nip Tuck.

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Students Predictions

• A prediction from Krista, a shy student who often
  gets it but has difficulty expressing herself
  This story is going to be about a utopia that is
  perfect and everyone is beautiful. There happen
  to be a few who are not as beautiful and who are
  miss fits in the utopia, they dont belong
  there.

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Students Predictions

• A prediction from William, an ELL student who has
  trouble motivating himself to do anything that
  doesnt involve a computer Its going to be
  making people perfect and keep everyone happy.
  Its going to have no conflicts and make some
  people look like other people.

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Helping the Reader Succeed

• During Reading
• Dont forget pre-reading work!
• Whenever possible, re-visit pre-reading materials
  to maintain, increase, or change students
  comprehension.
• Add steps to the reading process that promote
  conflict and use of the text.
• Honor all interpretations that are supportable
  and prompt students to be the checks on others
  interpretations and (mis)readings.

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Which picture/word fits this paragraph?

• It was the eve of Progress-Stage Six, and the
  daily message had prescribed Stage Five Ecstasy
  Formula. Everyone, from 000 to 999, in Community
  Home 8051, for Premating Males in Progress-Stage
  Five, was experiencing the formulas balanced
  emotional heightening. Everyone, that is, except
  G17-AZ(q)444,801,735, category male, known
  familiarly as 735. 735 stood in a small,
  mirrored, harshly lighted meditation chamber, cut
  off from the goodness of the Community Mind.
  Under the plastiskin contours of his perfect
  features he felt a flush of shame on his own
  imperfect face he couldnt master the formula.
• -- from Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful

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Which picture/word fits this paragraph?
perfection
utopia
beautiful
made for each other
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Helping the Reader Succeed

• More During Reading
• Tap into the power of peer collaboration.
  Utilize pairs or small groups.
• Take about 2 minutes to read the next paragraph.
  Pick a picture or word from the montage that
  fits that paragraph and discuss your choice
  with a partner.

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Helping the Reader Succeed

• Even More During Reading
• Create opportunities for students to approach a
  text in multiple ways. This can involve
• Taking a classmates interpretation they dont
  agree with and finding evidence to support it.
• Taking on the POV of a character in the story and
  trying to understand things from his/her
  perspective.

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Half-Way Point A Quick POV Activity

• Half-way through the story (to the ? ? ?) I asked
  my students to get into the mindset of the main
  character, category male 735.
• Based on what you understand about 735 at this
  point, choose a picture from the montage that
  captures how hes thinking and/or feeling.

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What my students had to say

• Laurel picked this picture because Even
  though he looks good, he isnt feeling good. The
  ugliness he felt at the beginning of the story
  hasnt gone away. Its worse now.

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What my students had to say

• Robert picked Antonio Banderas because both
  735 and Antonio seem to be having deep, dark
  thoughts. And Antonio looks as though hes
  searching for something, just like 735.

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Reinforcing Predicting

• Also at this point in the story, I asked my
  students to make a new prediction, this time
  about what will happen to category male 735.
• From Jessica I believe that 735 will try and
  make everything be unperfect so that he does not
  feel like an outcast and can be able to feel
  let in.
• From Robert By the end of the story I think
  that 735 will finally solve the mystery with
  female 735, and he will forget about the
  perfect world.

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Helping the Reader Succeed

• Post-Reading
• Follow through! Give students a chance to
  reflect using steps and materials used in
  previous parts of the process. Possibilities
• Students can craft statements including the
  phrase Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful that
  express male and female 735s sentiments about
  those words. Then students can argue about
  whether the 735s thinking was right.
• Students can create a new montage of their own
  that better reflects the end of the story.

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Students Post-Reading

• From Robert The couple 735 believes that
  non-perfection is beautiful, beautiful,
  beautiful. The way I see was that since the two
  werent perfect, they still had each other and
  that meant the world to them. Even though their
  home was washed away and they were hungry, just
  because you arent perfect doesnt mean you
  cant still be happy. And to 735 and 735 the
  last thing in their minds was perfection. But
  it was still good.

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Students Post-Reading

• From Alexandria (who swore on her life that
  she just didnt get this story) I agree that
  imperfection is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
  I agree with this because if everyone looked the
  same and was perfect, they really wouldnt stick
  out as being beautiful. I think that beautiful
  is when there is something about you that sticks
  out, is noticeable, or is unique. So if people
  have imprefections like 735, they are beautiful
  because they are striking and not like the next
  person.

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Students Post-Reading

• From William I said that the 735 characters
  thought that everything was beautiful. By that I
  mean that they both thought each and every thing
  about themselves and others was unique and
  wonderful in their own way.

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Students Post-Reading

• From Benjamin My statement was that the
  couple 735 believes that imperfections make
  people beautiful. I slightly agree with this
  statement because imperfections make people
  unique in their own way. However, the ugliest
  person in the world will not go out with someone
  who is only slightly better looking than him
  People want to end up with someone beautiful,
  someone that looks hot. I also guess that it
  comes down to what your likes are. Some persons
  imperfect person might be anothers most
  beautiful person. So imperfection is beautiful
  but you have to find the kind of imperfect for
  you.

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• Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful by Stuart
  Friedman can be found in
• Worlds of Tomorrow, ed. August Derleth,
  Pellegrini Cudahy 1953.
• Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales, ed. Isaac
  Asimov Groff Conklin, Collier Books 1963.
• Worlds of Tomorrow, ed. August Derleth, Four
  Square Books 1963.

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• Our PowerPoint presentations can be accessed
  on-line through the following website
• http//www.spachman.net
• Thank you for joining us today!