comprehension strategies

Using the Question and Answer Relationship (QAR) Strategy
to Teach this Narrative Passage.

The lesson will begin by writing the title Septimus on the board followed by three questions. : 'Who or what is Septimus?', 'What does the story suggest about the narrator's personality and her relationship with her family and community?' and ' why do you believe the author uses the technique of flashback in the story?'. Students are instructed to make predictions based on the title and the questions that were written. The topic of the lesson will be problem and solution.
The teacher will then introduce and discuss key concepts. Using Think Aloud to determine the source of the answer to the questions. The teacher will then guide students responses as they determine the source of answers for questions based on a snippet given from the short story; this helps students to think about the questions while they are reading and so provide them with a purpose for reading.
After students have read the text, the teacher will return to the questions. Students will answer questions out loud. Students must say how they arrive at answers and to provide supporting evidence from text or other sources. For example, the teacher will ask students to read the section of the story that helps them to arrive at the answer.
After answering the first set of questions, teacher will then ask; "give me the name of the lady who gave Septimus the apple.", "why do you think Septimus said "bless you Children?"and "did you think Septimus did the right thing when he sliced the apple? Give reasons for your answer." "Have you ever been in a situation like Septimus? If yes explain." "Do you believe sharing is important? Why?"


After the discussion students will be instructed to write a summary of the short story, presenting it in a poem or a song.
















Teaching Narrative Text using the DRTA strategy . (Directed Reading Thing Activity)
The lesson will begin with the teacher reading aloud the title of the short story. "Berry". Students will be asked to predict what they think the story will be about based on the title. In this lesson teacher will be looking at the character traits. The teacher will then give students a prediction sheet to write down predictions. For example teacher will say: what do you think this story will be about and the students respond A: about a type of fruit, like strawberry or blueberry. B: A person named berry. Etc. These responses will be recorded on their prediction paper. The teacher will divide the text into four chunks. The teacher will then tell students to listen for confirmation of the predictions.
The teacher then selects a student to read. After the first chunk of text has been read, teacher will return to the predictions and ask "now do you still agree with all the predictions?" students will pick out the ones that are close or accurate, confirm, refine or reject their initial predictions . they will record these in the columns provided on their prediction sheets. Teacher ask students why do they believe the prediction is correct or close to being correct. After the answers, the teacher will clear up any misconceptions and continue by asking "what do you think will happen next?" students will give their predictions once more and teacher will record them on the board as well as the students recording them on their paper.
The next chunk of text will be read by another student and the procedure is repeated throughout the rest of the story. As the students become more involved with the story (based, in part, on their predictions) the frequency of the 'stops' to predict or confirm are lessened until the students read enthusiastically to complete the story. Then ask these questions: "How did the story end? How many of your predictions were right/ wrong?" , "what kind of person was Berry?", "What Characteristics do you say Berry has from the other characters?"



Once the story is finished learners must revisit their initial predictions and compare them to actual findings in the text and a small discussion will follow. Students will then write a summary of the text on what they have learned.


















Teaching expository text using the KWl Strategy. (What you know, what you want to know, what have you learnt?)
Using the KWL strategy to teach the students expository, the teacher will first explain what the strategy is. The teacher then Draws a graphic organizer for the KWL strategy on the board. The lesson will begin with a brain storming activity. What do you know about elephants? All responses will be written in the 'What I know Coloumn' of the graphic organizer. The topic of the lesson will be The writer's use of sensory detail.
After brain storming about elephants, the teacher will ask students, 'what they want to know about elephants', the responses will be recorded as questions in the 'what I want to know' column of the graphic organizer. This will guide the purpose for reading.
Students will then be selected to read the passage. During the reading students will seek to find answers to the ' what I want to know' questions.
After the reading is completed, the passage will be discussed with students. Teacher will probe students if they had found any answers for the questions in the what do you want to know column. teacher will question students about what they learned using questions from the literal, inferential and critical levels. Example of literal questions: 'Where are the two main species of elephants from?' And 'How much does a baby elephant way?'



Examples of inferential questions: 'why do you think a lesser extent of elephants are found in the arid deserts of Namibia and Mali?' And 'what is the most active part of an elephants body, why?'
Examples of critical questions: 'What can be done to help these endangered animals?' And 'what are the uses of ivory?"
Questions to be asked after probing questions: How did the passage make you feel? Why do you think this is the case? How did it appeal to you?
The teacher will go on to show students how the writer used sensory detail to play on their emotions. Students are then asked to write a letter to a friend in the United States of America telling them about elephants and the ways in which they can help in preserving them.









Elephants (Loxodonta Africana (African elephant) and Elephas maximus (Asian Elephant)
The elephant is the largest land animal on Earth. The African species stands about 8.2 to 13 feet (2.5 to 4 meters) tall and weighs 5,000 to 14,000 pounds (2,268 – 6,350 kilograms). Slightly smaller, the Asian elephant stands about 6.6 to 9.8 feet (2 to 3 m) tall and weighs 4,960 – 12,125 pounds (2,041 to 4,990 kg). Elephants don't start out small like some mammals. Instead, a baby elephant typically stands about 3 feet (1 m) tall and weighs about 200 pounds (91 kg) .Having a baby elephant is a serious commitment. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal—almost 22 months. Cows (female elephants) usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. The most distinguishing features of the elephant are its long nose (or trunk) and large, floppy ears. The elephant's trunk does more than smelling and breathing like a normal nose it's also used for drinking, snagging food and sending out loud trumpeting noises. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles .
Elephants' floppy ears also do more than hear. With loads of tiny veins transecting their surfaces, carrying blood to the rest of the body, elephant ears act like a cooling system. As they flap their wet ears the blood in these veins is cooled, and the cooled blood is circulated around the elephant's body. The average lifespan of an elephant in the wild is 60 to 70 years. As herbivores, elephants eat bark, grasses, fruits and roots. An adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds (136 kg) of food in one day. The African elephant can be found in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They typically occupy dense forest, open and closed savanna, and grasslands, and to a lesser extent the arid deserts of Namibia and Mali. The Asian elephant can be found in scrub forest and the rainforest edge in India, Nepal and other places in Southeast Asia.
Asian (Endangered); African (Vulnerable). The conservation status of elephants varies across species and location, but these animals do face threats from hunters, who kill elephants for their ivory tusks, habitat loss and human encroachment. The African elephant species has been listed on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Animals as vulnerable for West Africa and Eastern Africa; least concern for Southern Africa; and endangered for Central Africa. The Asian elephant is considered endangered on the Red List. Its population is believed to be on a downward trend. This elephant lives in regions of the world with the densest human population. Because of their size, the elephant is one of the first animals to feel the impact of growing human population. 
The largest elephant on record weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kg) with a height of 13 feet (3.96 m).The elephant has such sensitive skin that it can feel a fly landing on it. Elephants can hear one another's trumpeting calls up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) away.



The Human Digestive Process
The human digestive system is a complex series of organs and glands that processes food. In order to use the food we eat, our body has to break the food down into smaller molecules that it can process; it also has to excrete waste.
Most of the digestive organs (like the stomach and intestines) are tube-like and contain the food as it makes its way through the body. The digestive system is essentially a long, twisting tube that runs from the mouth to the anus, plus a few other organs (like the liver and pancreas) that produce or store digestive chemicals. The digestive process begins in the mouth. Food is partly broken down by the process of chewing and by the chemical action of salivary enzymes (these enzymes are produced by the salivary glands and break down starches into smaller molecules). After being chewed and swallowed, the food enters the esophagus. The esophagus is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach. It uses rhythmic, wave-like muscle movements (called peristalsis) to force food from the throat into the stomach, while the swallowing is taking place the epiglottis covers the area where wind goes into lungs so that no food will go inside. That is why if you talk while eating, you will probably choke. This muscle movement gives us the ability to eat or drink even when we're upside-down.
The stomach is a large, sack-like organ that churns the food and bathes it in a very strong acid (gastric acid). Food in the stomach that is partly digested and mixed with stomach acids is called chyme. After being in the stomach, food enters the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. It then enters the jejunum and then the ileum (the final part of the small intestine). In the small intestine, bile (produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder), pancreatic enzymes, and other digestive enzymes produced by the inner wall of the small intestine help in the breakdown of food.
After passing through the small intestine, food passes into the large intestine. In the large intestine, some of the water and electrolytes (chemicals like sodium) are removed from the food. Many microbes (bacteria like Bacteroides, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella) in the large intestine help in the digestion process. The first part of the large intestine is called the cecum (the appendix is connected to the cecum). Food then travels upward in the ascending colon. The food travels across the abdomen in the transverse colon, goes back down the other side of the body in the descending colon, and then through the sigmoid colon. Solid waste is then stored in the rectum until it is excreted via the anus.






Teaching Expository using Anticipation Guide

The teacher will begin her class by grouping students into pairs after which she hands them an anticipation guide entitled the Digestion process. Instruct students to read instructions carefully then, discuss the statements on the guide between themselves and complete it, keeping in mind that they should be prepared to discuss and debate their reactions to the statements.
After the students have finished the guide, the teacher will encourage a class discussion of students' reactions to the statements. In order to get students to think critically, 'why' questions will be asked so that students can explain and justify their answers.
After the discussion, teacher will have students read the text with their anticipation guide responses fresh in their minds so they can react to the text as they read. The teacher will encourage students to mark or write down where the text supports their initial reaction to statements, or causes them to rethink those reactions.
Lastly the teacher will have another class discussion after reading. Students will be asked if any of them changed their position on any of the statements. The teacher will then encourage students to share how they reacted to the text, given their initial responses captured in the anticipation guide. The teacher will instruct students to share examples from the text where their initial responses were either supported or challenged.
After this discussion Students will write a summary of what they have learned.

KWL STRATEGY SHEET

What I know (K)
What I want to know (W)
What I have learned (L)









Comprehension assessment tools
Narrative: QAR strategy, using 'Septimus' as the story of choice and Online Discussion as an assessment tool.

Online Discussions are tools used to extend classroom conversations and learning by getting students to engage with class material online. Teacher will create a facebook account, giving it the name of the class. For example: 9 Brown Literature lessons. After the reading and use of QAR strategy the teacher will extend the classroom conversations. The teacher will take students to the computer room of the school, and have all students logged into their facebook account in order to go on the page. When they have all accessed the page, teacher will write a statement in the status box. What do you think of the story Septimus? All the students are required to respond to the statement. The teacher will know because all students would have been signed into their individual accounts giving them more freedom of speech and the number of responses should match the amount of students in the class. The teacher will then write' "what do you think the author's purpose was when writing the story?" students are instructed to discuss the statement and talk to each other via responses on the facebook wall. Students will enjoy this activity since they will get a chance to be and express themselves, facebook is a medium in which all students take advantage. So using it to facilitate online discussions is a good way in order to grab and keep student's attention and interest while learning.


Narrative: DRTA strategy, the short story 'Berry', using Blogs as assessment tool.
Blogs are personal websites on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, and other fundamental things that the creator finds necessary on a regular basis.
The teacher will create a friendly blog for her Language class. In her blog she will have different chat options in order to facilitate student's discussions. In the Blog the teacher will have links to pages about Racism and Inequality at the time where the story "Berry" was written. They are to write their own opinions on the story, putting themselves in the shoes of Berry. They will also be asked to critique what their classmates have said, giving only positive points to enhance his or her opinion of the man. Each student in the class is required to post something in the blog and to critique one of their classmate's opinion. This will allow students to have a view on what is going on while adding to their knowledge by seeing and enhancing what their classmates have written. The teacher will monitor comments and provide feedback via blog and thus evaluate the level students are at and see whether they are understanding or not.






Expository: Using the KWl strategy, the passage Elephantsand Emails as Assessment tools.