FIGURE 2I
A first grader’s summary of Whistle for Willie, based on a Story Chart
Teaching Comprehension: A Systematic and Practical Framework © ThinkingWorks®, Scholastic Teaching Resources
APPLICATION/EXTENSION STRATEGY:
Literary Report Card
Once students have read and understood the text, their learning continues when they apply what they have read to new situations or extend what they have learned in some way. Generally, application/extension strategies encourage students to do something with the material they have just read. By thinking—critically, logically, and creatively— about the information and ideas that emerge from their reading, students transform their thinking into actions and become producers of knowledge (Graves et al., 1998; Zull, 2002). Strategies to apply and extend learning flow from strategies used prior to reading and during reading. These strategies involve students, at all age levels, in aesthetic responses such as enjoying text and in cognitive responses such as analyzing, synthesizing, justifying, and evaluating information. If students respond to the text in one or more of these ways, they will better remember what they read, have a greater appreciation for the important concepts and ideas in the text, and express themselves in a variety of ways.
The book which took place on a small farm outside of a small town, was about a boy named Quentin who rescued a leprechaun named Flan from a well. Quentin was granted his wish of having all the money in the world by Flan, and before long, huge piles of money appeared on Quentin’s father’s farm. When the U.S. Army heard about this they came and loaded the money into their trucks, but as they drove away, the money vanished from the trucks and reappeared on the farm. It was then that Quentin and his family realized that the money could not leave the farm and not even Quentin could spend it because then he wouldn’t have all the money in the world.
As people found out their life savings had disappeared and banks, businesses, and even the government could no longer run, they began to panic. Quentin knew he had to do something about all the suffering taking place, but the Law of the Leprechauns would not allow him to take back his wish. Then the President of the United States invited Quentin and Flan to the White House and urged them to somehow reverse the wish and return the money because the other countries were threatening war. Quentin didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he had to do something.
Luckily, the next day, Flan got stuck in a broken step and was again rescued by Quentin. This time when Quentin was granted a wish, he wished for all the money to go back where it came from. The President was so pleased with Quentin that he bought him the bike that Quentin had always wanted. Everyone was happy to have their money back in their pockets, and Quentin was glad to have his normal life back.
Summary
FIGURE 2J
A sixth grader’s summary of All the Money in the World, based on a Story Grammar
Teaching Comprehension: A Systematic and Practical Framework © ThinkingWorks®, Scholastic Teaching Resources
To have a complete lesson that encourages students to apply or extend their learning, select a strategy that has them use the cognitive processes of analysis, synthesis, evaluation/justification, and creation/invention. Since an understanding of character development is a very important objective of understanding narrative texts, we have chosen to showcase the Literary Report Card in this lesson.
The Literary Report Card (Johnson & Louis, 1987) is a versatile strategy that extends students’ learning by inviting them to analyze text and evaluate characters’ actions and traits. Based on the format of a school report card, the Literary Report Card asks students to select character traits, such as intelligence or courage; to grade the story character on those traits; and to support the grade with comments or evidence drawn from the story. The grades given by the students involve them in evaluation, and their supporting comments involve them in justifying the evaluation.
Using an overhead, list the subjects to be graded or the traits of the major character. Figure 2K is an example of a Literary Report Card completed by a first-grade class on Natasha from Babushka’s Doll. After sufficient practice, the students themselves can come up with the subjects by reviewing characters’ actions and formulating a list of qualities to be judged.
Before the Lesson
• Prepare a Literary Report Card template on chart paper or an overhead; also make copies for all students. (There are four Literary Report Card templates included
e recommend focusing on one character when intro- tegy and limiting the traits to two at first.
Teaching the Strategy
• After students have read the story, distribute the Literary Report Card templates and display a copy on the overhead or chart paper.
• Discuss with your students the characters’ actions and traits that they observed from the story.
• Help students select a character from the story and write down the name of the character on the overhead. Students can choose the main character or another character that is interesting to them.You can guide students to select strong characters with a range of traits.
• Help students decide which of the character’s traits will be evaluated and write the traits under the subject heading on the overhead. Be sure to use traits that are both positive and negative and will engender good discussion. For example, in Figure 2K, students selected thoughtfulness and naughtiness for Natasha. Many schools have “Character Counts” or similar citizenship programs. When possible, add one or more of the traits from your school’s program to the Literary Report Card.
Teaching Comprehension: A Systematic and Practical Framework © ThinkingWorks®, Scholastic Teaching Resources
in the Companion Folder.) W ducing the stra
• Divide your students into small groups and assign them the task of discussing the character’s actions and awarding grades on each subject; have them record a letter grade for each trait on the report card.
• Have students write comments to support each grade. If students are going to write about a trait, make sure they have three justifications for their grade.
You can use this strategy at all grade levels. In primary grades, students can evaluate the characters in a story based on their actions. In the upper grades, students can compare characters from different stories on a number of character traits; see the example in Figure 2L. The strategy also can be adapted so that students can evaluate characters from their reading in content areas such as history or social studies. After sufficient practice, the students will be able to apply the Literary Report Card strategy independently.