TEACHING THE NOVEL:

using a response and workshop approach.

from Ina M. Remenda’s web site:

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/circle/litcirclesir.html#anchor222878

and used for discussion in reading adjunct training in the Reading and Study Skills Program at Jefferson Community Community College in Louisville, Kentucky

RDG 010 and RDG 020 rely heavily on using

a Response and Workshop approach

CONTENTS:

1. Purpose: to help students to enhance2. Rationale3. Elements of the Novel4. Focused responses5. Principle of Time, Ownership and Response6. Teacher’s Role7. Student’s Role8. Goal of Response Based Program9. Discussion of Responses in Small Groups

10. Large Group Sharing and Discussion11. Response after Discussion

12. Evaluation

13. TWO DAY Routine

14. Teaching the Same Novel to All

15. Students Have a Choice of Novels

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Purpose: to help students enhance:

1. their enjoyment,

2. comprehension and understanding of the story

3. and their appreciation of the craft of story writing;

4. to help students develop their ability to respond to a full-

length text on many levels.

Rationale:

This model is response based

with students being encouraged to strengthen their initial responses through careful reading and discussions with others.

* responses must begin with each student interacting with the text

Elements of the Novel:

The response model does not preclude teaching students some of the traditional language of literary criticism such as the elements of the short story or novel.

These elements are not taught as content to be tested.

Focused Responses

Response which require students to respond to various elements will be called focused responses.

First step: in the model must always require students to make an initial response to any work of literature before the group activities are undertaken.

Example: literature journal or log

Principles of Time, Ownership and Response

Time refers to:

1. time to read in class,

2. time to discuss, and

3. time to grow naturally into the response mode.

Principles of Time, Ownership and Response

Ownership:

1. refers not only to choices in what is read

2. but also ownership of responses.

3. also refers to the student setting goals for his/her own improvement.

Principles of Time, Ownership and Response

Response:

Student choices must extend, as far as possible, to what is read as well as to the nature of the response.

Teacher’s Role1. get students engaged in the reading through "putting them in the

picture",

a. using predicting skills and

b. making inferences about what might happen based on

their experience, and,

c. through the medium of the mini-lessons, teach strategies

for understanding aspects of the novel and the craft of

writing.

2. guide and clarify, but he/she should not provide definitive

answers for students to "play back".

Student’s Role

1.develop strategies for responding to a novel on many levels,

2.develop confidence in their ability to do so.

3.assume ownership of his/her learning and

4. read,

5.making initial written responses,

6.engaging in discussion with peers and teacher, and

7.reflecting on the discussions and mini-lessons so that their responses can become more assured and more varied.

Goal of Response Based Program

Goal: to help the reader with his/her interaction with the text.

Focused responses narrow the area of response, but still allow the student to interact with the text and make a response.

Discussion of

Responses in Small Groups

Look for a range of responses:

1. what is agreed upon,

2. what is not agreed upon, and

3. why the agreement, disagreement?

Large Group Sharing and Discussion:

with teacher acting as moderator

The teacher's role is:

to clarify and extend meaning through questions.

Large Group Sharing and Discussion:

Proust...the teacher must try to cultivate an atmosphere that is cooperative rather than competitive. Debate is an inappropriate model, since it assumes that some is right and some is wrong, that someone wins and someone loses.

The discussions should build:one idea feeding the next,

with participants gradually acquiring sharper insights, changing their minds, and adding the observations of others to their own, broadening their perspectives on the work.

Response After Discussion

Students will be given an opportunity to make a fuller response to the text after the discussion.

He/she is free to use or not use the ideas raised in the discussion.

The student should be encouraged to discuss points raised in the discussion and tell why his/her interpretation is the same/ different.

EVALUATION•Credit should be given for responses done from day to day. Teacher can check that responses are being written by quickly checking journals placed on the corner of desks while students are reading, or by collecting journals on a rotational basis.

•Status of the class records can be used to give credit for reading from day to day.

•Records of participation in small groups and even in large groups can be used for some credit.

•Journals can be marked on commitment and growth of the responses. Journals are not marked on spelling, punctuation etc.

•Students can be asked to up-grade journal responses into responses to be handed in for marks. These would be based upon agreed upon criteria and would be edited for spelling, punctuation and conventions.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Notes: This two day cycle will be appropriate for the first third to half of the novel (this depends on the individual book). The reading momentum should carry students along more quickly after that point, and a different cycle might be more appropriate.

1. A possible ratio of reading to workshop might be two to one.

2. A similar phenomena can be seen in the amount of writing that should occur in a journal.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Notes cont:

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Notes cont:

1. Since more information is being given about character, settings and relationships at the beginning of the novel and students should be recording their reactions to these things, more writing will be needed.

2. As the pace of the plot picks up, generally less writing will be required.

2. When the large issue(s) of the novel are being reflected on, more writing will again be required.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Notes cont: The day before the 2 day cycle begins, the teacher should do a book talk on the novel or novels if there is a choice.

After students have selected a novel, they should be given some time to read .

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 1:

•Teacher will likely present the mini-lesson giving the procedures or the focus for the day. (10 minutes)

•Example: On the first day, the teacher will ask students about the settings for their novels or who appears to be the main character.

•On each Day 1 mini lessons appropriate to the focus for the day will be given by the teacher.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 1 cont:

•Status of the class conferences can be used to determine whether students are keeping up with the reading.

• (Teacher has a class list with slots for date and page numbers) (5 minutes) If the teacher circulates while the students are reading, he/she can verify the pages, and can see who is having trouble. Have poor readers set targets for reading improvement.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 1 cont:

•Students will read for 35-40 minutes.

•Students will read for 35-40 minutes.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 1 cont:

•Students will spend 10 min. making their initial response in their journals, selecting passages to be read to the small group, formulating questions etc. depending on the focus for the day.

•It is the teacher's responsibility to set the focus for the day, although students could help with this as they become used to the model.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 1 cont:

•Homework: Remind students of the expectations (number of chapters or pages to be read, assignments, responses etc.) for the next class.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 2

•Teacher will remind students of the focus for the day. (10 minutes)

•Students will spend 10 min. reviewing their response, selecting passages to be read to the small group, formulating questions etc. depending on the focus for the day.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 2 cont:

•Students will meet in small groups to discuss the day's reading.

• The activities for the day will depend on the focus.

•A sharing of response to the reading should always be first.

•Questions may be part of that response.

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 2 cont:

•Large group share: each group should pick one interesting finding/ observation/ question to present to the large group. (15 minutes or as needed)

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 2 cont:

•Students will up-date journals adding information, ideas, feelings, clarifications based on the discussions.( either during final 10 minutes or for homework)

TWO DAY Routine

using a response and workshop approach

Day 2 cont:

•Remind students of the target reading and focus for the next 2- day cycle.

• The focus will change to other elements of the short story or other aspect of character as the students move through the novel.

Main Problem With

Teaching The Same Novel To All

Some students are:

•1. unable to read well enough or

•2. are so disinterested in the subject matter that they don't read.

The number is usually not more than two or three in an average classroom. This problem can only be solved by giving these students other choices more suited to their reading or interest level.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Do not read the whole novel aloud in class. You may wish to read certain parts for motivation or to illustrate a point, or you may have students read certain parts for the same reasons.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Do get the students involved through predicting what will happen from the title, passages you might read, etc. Don't overload them with background. A good novel will fill the students in as they read. Also, what students don't understand can be phrased as questions in their initial responses which can be discussed in the groups. Encourage students to write down questions that they have and keep looking for answers as they read. Share your own honest responses with them so that they know what kinds of things one can put into a response.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Do have students keep a literature response journal separate from their other materials in their binders.

•Students must be encouraged to read faster and more efficiently.

•Set up a dependable structure for the class. The general outline will stay the same, although some of the activities within a category will change.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•There will be a minimum reading assignment for each day given in advance (although it will drive the good students crazy). Because of time constraints, it will be necessary to assign more than what all but the fastest readers can read in the allotted reading time during class. Faster readers may read ahead, but the day's activities will be based on the assigned portion.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Students should be assigned to small discussion groups which stay the same unless there are serious conflicts.

•Give some time in class for reading (see daily outline), followed by individual response opportunities.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•In the reading groups that follow after the reading time has elapsed and initial responses have been written in their journals, students will do a variety of activities such as read a portion of the text that they like or that illustrates good writing or a point that is under discussion that day. Students will discuss their selections/ responses to the assigned section.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Questions, comments, observations from the small groups can be brought to a large group meeting where they can be further discussed. The teacher acts as moderator, questioning and clarifying, getting all the possibilities out in the discussion, and where applicable, checking for textual support.

•After the small group discussion, students will add to their initial response.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Students may be required to upgrade responses on particular chapters to be handed in to the teacher for evaluation. Marks may be assigned to these. The teacher should read the response journals on a rotational basis either for the purpose of making "dialogue journal type" comments with marks given for participation or for assigning marks either for completeness, on for quality, or both. Students should be encouraged to set realistic goals for growth, and they should be marked, in part at least, on evidence of growth.

TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL

•Finally, more formal papers may be required as a culminating activity depending on the requirements of the grade. These papers will be based on the reading, responses and the activities undertaken throughout the unit.

Much the same format will be used as above for TEACHING THE SAME NOVEL TO ALL , but students will meet in groups according to their book choices.

If the number for any one book is too large, the group can be divided.

STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE OF NOVELS

Notes:

STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE OF NOVELS

Notes cont:

Multiple copies of 3 - 6 novels with students choosing from these.

A range of interest and reading levels can be included.

Provisions for the poorer readers can be made through the selection of books

STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE OF NOVELS

Notes cont:

Procedural and focused mini-lessons will be taught, but instructions for the day will have to be put on the board or duplicated for each novel if the task for the day is title specific rather than general in nature.

This can be more work for the teacher, but having a choice of reading material has advantages for the students in that they can take more ownership of their learning and are motivated to read by interest.

STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE OF NOVELS

Notes cont:

Students will still have the support of the group in developing better comprehension and better responses.

The teacher should sit in on the groups in turn to question and encourage - playing the same role as the teacher in the large group mentioned above.

STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE OF NOVELS

Notes cont:

Monitoring and Evaluation will be similar.

However, the teacher will want to read the journals and respond more frequently.