Access and comprehend grade-level literature (Inclusive Big Idea #10)

Reading Literature

Grade 6: English Language Arts

Inclusive Big Idea #10: Access and comprehend grade-level literature

Standard: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. RL.6.10

• Story Coding: Provide the students with a copy of the text for the students to mark. Students should then use a coding system to help them mark and understand the text. Students may use objects, textures, or images to code sections. They could highlight a text in different colors. The coding system might look something like this:
  • (-(: I have a connection
  • ???: This part does not make sense
  • !!!: Wow! This was interesting
  • \#\#\#: This is an important part
• Reflective Monitoring: As students read a text, they can record thoughts/ questions/ wonderings about the text in a reflective journal, through an audio journal, or by using a sentence stem. After each day of reading the text, they should spend the last 5 minutes doing a Quick Write reflection (which may look like writing words, creating images, or dictating reflections) about what they just read. This is a way for them to keep track of their thinking as they continue to read.
• Book Clubs: Gather students in a small group to have a conversation about a common text. The group should determine what chapters will be read and when. Then, they gather periodically to share their thoughts about the book. AAC systems should include key terms.
• Incorporating Technology: Have the students watch a play with closed captions. Use assistive technology add-ons that provide accessibility such as Google Chrome Snap & Read or an online text compactor to create a shortened version of the text.
• Small Group Discussion: Students can participate in a teacher-led discussion about the story, more closely examining the themes presented in the story. Students could discuss how the characters feel about specific situations, citing examples from the text to support their thoughts. Ask higher level questions (whys and hows) to facilitate discussion. Students can ask each other questions about the story.
• Model to Understand: Model using “key words” in a text to locate the information in the text. Example: given “Where did the boy go after school?”, highlight that it’s a “where” question, meaning students should look for a location in the text. Reference the text and look for the part that talks about where the boy goes. Highlight key information in text and write the answer. Students can practice with you, and then complete on their own.

For example, one possible barrier is if the design of the lesson does not support students to understand the key background information.

Ideas to reduce this barrier could include:

• bridge concepts with relevant analogies and metaphors
• use an experience book or student journal to build background knowledge
• allow students to participate in the design of classroom activities, academic tasks, and in setting their own academic and behavioral goals for a lesson, such as using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI)

Use these Inclusive Strategies to help reduce barriers.

• What are the types of narrative structures?
  • Prose:
    • chapters- a section of a book usually containing a main event or idea for the story
  • Poetry:
    • verse- a line of writing where words are arranged in a rhythmic pattern
    • rhythm- a flow of rising and falling sounds in language that is produced in verse by a regular repeating of stressed and unstressed syllables
    • meter- a systematic rhythm in poetry that is usually repeated
    • stanza- a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in usually repeating patterns
  • Drama:
    • scene- where the action is occurring
    • cast of characters- people in the play
    • setting- place where the story happens
    • dialogue- conversation between two or more people
    • stage directions- provide actors with information about where to stand, how to move, or how to react 

Links Across Content Areas

• Dramatic Arts: Have the students put on a play, a storytelling day for younger students, or a poetry recital. Ask students to share their favorite books, plays or poetry. 

Seventh Grade: Access and comprehend grade-level literature (RL 10)