Taming the Text: Unleashing the Power to Think
Comprehension is the most important outcome of reading (Collins-Block, Gambrell, & Pressley, 2002; Collins-Block & Pressley, 2002; Keene & Zimmerman, 2007). If a student does not understand what is read, why read? Beginning with the landmark study by Durkin (1978), we know that teachers do not teach comprehension, or at least do not teach it well. In 1985, Pearson examined research, theory, and practice to make six recommendations to improve reading comprehension. His second recommendation: “We must change the kinds of questions we ask about selections children read (p. 726).” Collins-Block (1991) further explores the types of reading instruction that help students increase their thinking abilities. Frequently when teachers ask comprehension questions about a reading passage, they tend to focus on factual information (Bloom’s knowledge and comprehension levels). Students are more motivated to read and more engaged in the reading process when they are encouraged to think about their reading at higher levels (Bloom’s application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). “Questions that teachers ask can direct the students to the realization that reading has a greater and more diverse purpose than just the simple recall of facts. If this can be accomplished, it is likely that students will place a higher value on reading, continue to turn to it for pleasure and as a resource, and will establish it as a life-long habit” (Comprehension: Bloom’s Taxonomy, 2005, p. 5).
A seminal work by Scholes (1985) outlines a way to encourage higher-level student engagement with reading. Scholes names three levels of internalization, categories that
are probably more meaningful, thus useful, to students. Each level is progressive, requiring students to push their thinking to a higher level. •
Within the Text: This level of questioning poses factual questions, Bloom’s knowledge and comprehension levels. Students can easily find all of the answers within the text. It requires minimal thinking for students to answer the “within” questions. Sample questions might look like this: When does the story take place? Where does the story take place? Who is the main character? Who else is the story about? What is the story about? What happens in the story? How does it happen? (See Figure 1.)
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Upon the Text: This level of questioning poses questions that require students to think about the text and beyond the text, Bloom’s application, analysis, and synthesis levels. This level builds on the factual information gathered from the “within” level and requires students to think about personal connections they can make to the story and inter-textual connections they can make, such as drawing conclusions and inferring. These questions are primarily “why” and “how” questions. Sample questions might look like this: Why did the character do that? Why did that event happen? What is the author’s theme? How do the actions or events contribute to the story’s theme? (See Figure 1.)
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Against the Text: This level is the power level—students rise to a higher level of thinking that gives them power over the text, Bloom’ analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels. Students are able to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the text, the author’s message, and the quality of presentation through the writing. Questions need to help students dissect their reading and the author’s message.
They are encouraged to compare similar texts, either written by the same author or different authors using similar themes, genres, or topics. Sample questions should ask “how well.” How well did the author convince us the character needed to do that? How does the author involve us with the story? How does the author make the story stick with us? How has my thinking about the topic changed? (See Figure 1.)
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Using Text Sets Text sets are not a new idea, but they are an idea that has come of age. They are a set of books that are grouped around a common theme or topic. They can include books that are written on a variety of reading levels. They include books that present information around the common theme from a wide spectrum of viewpoints. The act of providing different viewpoints helps motivate students and gets them involved in thinking about their texts. Using text sets can certainly help teachers lead students into deeper thinking, especially on the “Against the Text” level of mental involvement.
We will illustrate how to use a text set to help students achieve higher levels of thinking and get them mentally involved with the theme. Our text set is centered around the theme of war (World War II specifically) and its impact on people. We have chosen three picture books that dramatically demonstrate the impact of war. These three picture books were also chosen because they discuss the atrocities and despair of war in a setting of
perpetual hope. Rose Blanche and Faithful Elephants are not appropriate for young children (under 5th grade). The Cats of Krasinski Square is appropriate for all ages. •
Hesse, K. (2004). The Cats of Krasinski Square. This book is set in the Ghetto of Warsaw, Poland. Some local citizens plot to take food to the starving Jews living in the Ghetto.
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Innocenti, R. (1985). Rose Blanche. Rose is a little Arian girl living in a German village who befriends some Jewish children living in a concentration camp.
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Tsuchiya, Y. (1951). Faithful Elephants. Japanese zookeepers are forced to starve their favorite performing elephants in order to prevent their possible escape due to the bombing of Tokyo, Japan.
Unlocking Personal Connections As students prepare to read, they need to see they already know something about war. Many different activities, such as a KWL or a Think-Pair-Share, will help students uncover previous knowledge. Having students share their personal connections collectively will enable the most benefit for the entire class. Make sure the class as a whole, or each student, keeps some written record of personal background knowledge.
Within the Text The most basic level of comprehension is on the factual level, Bloom’s knowledge and comprehension levels. In order to help students grasp the basic plot of a story, the common prompts in Figure 1 can be posed. Here are the facts for each book.
The Cats in Krasinski Square Setting? First, the setting of the story needs to be understood. This story is set during World War II, and focuses on the lives of people divided by the Walls of the Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland. Who? The story is told through the eyes of a young girl, but, while her family and friends are free outside the Walls of the Ghetto, her friend Michael and his family are detained within the Ghetto. What? The young girl, her family, and friends feel the need to smuggle food to those held in the Ghetto who are provided little by their captors. How? By distracting the Gestapo dogs with a group of cats running through the cracks in the wall at the train station, the young girl’s group of free individuals are able to illegally transport food to Michael and his family on the other side of the Ghetto.
Faithful Elephants Setting? This story offers a setting far from Europe: at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan. Who? All the zookeepers and one trainer are forced to confront the mortality of their good friends, John, Tonky, and Wanly, who are three performing elephants. What? Because of the constant bombing endured by Tokyo during World War II, the army feared that dangerous animals could escape their zoo enclosures if damaged. As a result, the zookeepers and trainers were forced to kill via lethal injections all dangerous animals, including the elephants, but the trainer could not do this to his friends and their skins proved to be too thick. How? In spite of the trainer’s love for his elephants, he was forced to starve them to death, constantly hoping for the war to end first.
Rose Blanche Setting? The setting for this story is not as specific as the previous books. The story is set in a small German village during World War II. Who? The story is told by Rose, a young school girl of German descent who befriends some Jewish children held captive in a concentration camp. What? Rose is accidentally killed one day while bringing food to her new friends. How? While readers know her village is being liberated by the Allies (at the same time she is trying to visit her friends for the last time), Rose is shot and killed by an unidentified soldier in the confusion at the site of the concentration camp. Whether she was shot by friendly fire or enemy fire is never revealed.
A simple, reproducible graphic organizer can help students organize the “within the text” information they uncover as they read. Here we illustrate what our organizer looks like for these three texts. The five primary questions are “when,” “where,” “who,” “what,” and “how.”
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Upon the Text This level of thinking involves application, analysis, and synthesis according to Bloom’s levels. When guiding students towards comprehension upon the text, the theme also needs to be identified and discussed. The teacher needs to scaffold (Bruner, 1966) the discussion, without directly stating what the teacher believes is the theme, as a means of
helping students discover their “thinking.” Student ability will improve with each subsequent discussion of a given text’s or text set’s theme. Younger students would need more scaffolding then older students. Some guiding questions would include: •
How are the stories alike? (many possibilities) What is a commonality among the stories? (food?) How is food used in each story? (Food is the key to day to day survival)
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How are the stories different? (many possibilities) What does food mean in each story? (Food can provide hope to some characters; without it, hope, as well as life, is gone.)
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How does the use of food shape the theme of this text set? (Food provides hope). What is the theme of this text set? (Possible answers might include themes concerning the ideas of hope between groups of friends in distress)
Some examples of overall themes for this text set that might emerge from class or small group discussions are: (1)hope for survival on a daily basis, (2) food is hope, and (3) hope is always dependent on others; if you didn’t have human interactions, all hope would be lost. Many other possibilities for overall themes could emerge. Students may not agree on a common theme, but different opinions should be encouraged. These will elevate the level of student thinking.
The Cats of Krasinski Square
Why? The author wrote this story to show the hope available even in a very grave situation. How did the author do this? This author uses levity and fun to illustrate the inability of war to break the human spirit.
Rose Blanche Why? The author hoped to uncover the ways in which anyone, even a child, can have an impact on the hope for a better life in others. How did the author do this? The author used an innocent child who knew little about the realities of war to bring hope to other children without hope.
Faithful Elephants Why? In spite of depicting the impact of war on a daily basis, this author allowed the human characters to hope for the war’s end. How did the author do this? By using the strong bonds between the trainers and the elephants, the ways in which war impacts society can be seen. Even innocent animals become victims in war.
Again, a simple, reproducible graphic organizer can help students organize the “upon the text” information they uncover as they discuss the stories after reading. Here we illustrate what our organizer looks like for these three texts. The two primary questions are “why” and ‘how.”
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Against the Text The books in this text set are each powerful in their own unique way. Each offers a picture of the impact of war on people, but they also offer a glimmer of hope that the human spirit can rise above the atrocities of war. When beginning a discussion on this level of comprehension, here are some sample questions to help generate thoughts and ideas. •
Believability
How real and authentic do we find each of these characters, settings, and plots? Does each story convince readers that they are plausible, enabling us to believe the ideas pertaining to hope are actually possible?
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Engagement
Do we find the stories compelling? Why? How well did the author convey the theme? How willing were you to become involved in each story? Which story did this more effectively?
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Emotional Impact
How are the themes developed or portrayed differently in each story? How do these differences influence your reactions or emotional responses? How does the level and extent of suffering affect your emotions? How does the manner of death provoke emotions?
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Challenge Conventional Thinking
By evaluating previous thoughts, in terms of the analysis of new information from the stories, students will be able to synthesize old and new beliefs into a new way of thinking. Some final questions might be: How did these stories alter your thoughts about war? Which story changed the way you think about war the most? Why?
“Against the text” thinking levels and subsequent discussions are primarily on the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. This simple, reproducible graphic organizer can help students organize their thoughts to prepare for discussion. We have intentionally left the sections blank because we do not wish to inhibit creative thinking. The discussion questions above may be good starter prompts to stimulate independent thinking.
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Closing Thoughts When students become engaged with higher level thinking about texts, they get excited about learning, they get excited about thinking, and they begin a process of internalization. From the construction of connections through the evaluation of textual messages, students are led on a journey to higher level thought processes. When students can read a piece of quality literature and internalize it to the point where it can challenge their previous thoughts, they have not only unleashed the power of the text, but they have unleashed their own power over the text.
References
Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc. Brunner, J.S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Collins-Block, C. (1991). Reading instruction that increases thinking abilities. Journal of Reading, 34, 510-515. Collins-Block, C., Gambrell, L.B., & Pressley, M. (2003). Improving comprehension instruction: Advances in research, theory, and classroom practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Collins-Block, C., & Pressley, M. (2002). Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices. New York: Guilford Press. Comprehension: Bloom’s Taxonomy (2005). Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http://www.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.html Durkin, D. (1978). What classroom observations reveal about reading comprehension instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 14, (4), 481-533. Keene, F.O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Pearson, P.D. (1985). Changing the face of reading comprehension instruction. The Reading Teacher, 38, 724-738. Scholes, R. (1985). Textual power: Literary theory and the teaching of English. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Figure 1: This figure defines the three types of connections and offers common prompts for helping students comprehend. Bloom’s levels are in parentheses. Type of Connection Within (Bloom’s levels: knowledge, comprehension) Upon (Bloom’s levels: application, analysis, synthesis) Against (Bloom’s levels: analysis, synthesis, evaluation)
Definition Reading text, developing a literal understanding of the text, submitting to the power of the text Interpreting, inferring, drawing conclusions, applying personal and external textual connections, sharing the power of the text Critiquing, evaluating, judging, reader’s degree of acceptance/ rejection, assertion of reader’s power over the text
Prompts for understanding Where, when, who, what, how (relating to action) Why (theme), how (relating to theme) How well was the “why” and “how (relating to theme)” done
Figure 2: Within the Text: Here is a simple graphic organizer that will help readers collect factual information across all of the stories in the text set. These question prompts help readers discover the knowledge and comprehension levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Rose Blanche
Faithful Elephants
When?
The Cats of Krasinski Square WWII
WWII
WWII
Where?
Warsaw, Poland
Village in Germany
Tokyo, Japan
Who?
Told by a young girl
Rose
Trainer
What?
Friends outside the Ghetto plot a way to help others still in the Ghetto by smuggling in food.
Japanese zookeepers are forced by authorities to kill their trained/pet elephants.
How?
They resort to a creative solution to avoid being discovered.
A young Arian girl discovers an area prison camp and shares her food with children behind the barbed wire. While her village is being liberated, she is killed by a stray bullet.
WITHIN THE TEXT
They finally resort to starving two of the elephants.
Figure 3: Upon the Text: this graphic organizer can help readers explore the theme of a book or text set and answer higher level questions from Bloom’s levels: application, analysis, and synthesis. Upon the Text: THEME: Hope in times of War Why? How?
The Cats of Krasinski Square
Rose Blanche
Faithful Elephants
The human spirit finds hope in all situations. Levity and surprises show the triumph of hope over war.
Even a young child can be a source of hope for others. Innocence allows hope to thrive in spite of tragedy.
The desire to save “friends” stays alive in spite of war. War influences everyone, even innocent animals.
Figure 4: Against the Text: Readers reach the highest levels of thinking when they analyze, synthesize, and evaluate according to Bloom. This graphic organizer will help students organize their thoughts. This organizer has been left blank so as not to limit the many possible answers readers may discover. AGAINST THE TEXT
Believability
Engagement
Emotional Impact
Challenge Conventional Thinking
The Cats of Krasinski Square
Rose Blanche
Faithful Elephants