Recipe 1: Story Maps

 

Resources:

• http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/story_maps

 

Main Food Group(s):

• Reading Comprehension Strategies

 

Curriculum Expectations:

• The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8 Language Arts, Reading

 

Specific Expectations: 

• 1.3 Identify a few reading comprehension strategies and use them before, during, and after reading to understand texts, initially with support and direction

• 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of a text by retelling the story or restating information from the text, including the main idea

• 1.7 Identify the main idea and a few elements of texts, initially with support and direction

 

Relevant Background Knowledge:

• Earlier in the year our students have had practice making character maps, they are therefore familiar with the concpet of character. 

• We have discussed setting in our class during readers theatre

• Students have learned to make Text-to-Self and Text-to-Text connections

 

Lesson Steps:

 

Day 1:

• Start with a read-aloud of a familiar text (We used "The Three Little Pigs"), this will make it easier for students to learn the new concepts.

• Demonstrate filling out a story map. Be explicit about your thought process.

  • E.g. "who are the characters? hmmm, who was the story about? I know that it was about the three little pigs, and there was a wolf..."

• Model comprehenison strategies, like looking back through the book to find information

  • ​"Did I miss any characters? Let me look through the book. Oh I forgot, at the beginning we meet the three little pigs mother, I'll add that to characters". 

• Follow the same proceedure for setting, problem, and solution. Problem and Solution should be discussed in depth as they are new concepts for some of the students. 

• This is a reading comprehension lesson, therefore the writing should be in point form. 

 

Day 2:

• Read a second story (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs), one idea is to use a different version of the same story, as students have been learning text-to-text connections. There are many examples of fractured fairy tales, some will be displayed in our "books we use" section. 

• Following the gradual release of responsiblity have students help fill out a story map for this second read-aloud. 

• Again prompting the students to use their comprehension strategies and to be explict about their own thinking when we fill out the organizer. 

 

Day 3 (or later on day 2 if you'd prefer): 

• Allow students the opportunity to create their own story maps with a partner using a book at their independent reading level. 

 

Day 4 (and on):

• This activity can now be added to our list of "purposefull reading activities" and completed during read-to-self in our literacy centres. 

 

Differentiated instruction:

• Give students question prompts to help them fill out the organizer (either in an anchor chart*, or on their own individual graphic organizers)

• Allow students to give pictorial representations to aid their writing- remember this is primarily reading comprehension, not writing.

• Have a variety of graphic organizers for your students to choose from, this could make it easier for some children to complete the activity. (See resources for some examples of organizers)

• Give students opportunities in class to orally re-tell the story elements with some active oral languge games/activities. (See below for examples)

 

Assessment:

• ​The teacher can informally assess students during the second shared activity (filling out the graphic organizer) and can observe the students working in pairs and independently- great to take anecdotal notes

• The oral language activities are also a way to informally assess comprehension

• The grapic organizers themselves can act as a form of assessment, as the teacher can use them to understand how well her students comprehend (both the concept of story elements and the books they are reading)