Improving Comprehension of Complex Fictional Texts

Improving Comprehension of Complex Fictional Texts Kathleen L. Davidson Michigan State University

Improving Comprehension of Complex Fictional Texts

Section I: Brief Background and Reason for Project Focus For this project I will be focusing on a student from my Reading for Enjoyment class, Brennen. I chose to work with this student because she is very unique when it comes to her reading background and skills. Brennen is motivated to read, which is apparent from her participation in my Reading for Enjoyment class, but she still struggles with comprehension and inference skills. One of the main components of students comprehending texts is their motivation with texts. I know she has internal motivation as well as external motivation when reading complex texts, so I need to look at what else she needs in order to be successful with her comprehension of fictional complex texts. Section II: Home and Family Brennen is a 16 year old female and is currently a junior at our high school. Harper Creek is a rural fringe school that is public. The school district is 92% white with the next highest ethnicity being Hispanics at 3%. Many of the parents of students who attend Harper Creek work in the Battle Creek area at either Kellogg or Post. This means we have a range of social classes within the school district. The average reading score for our school district is a 17 for the ACT. One of our school districts goals is to improve reading comprehension scores; this means that our school has put different reading initiatives into place, like reading apprenticeship, to try to help students be more successful. Last year, as a sophomore, she took English three, which is a junior level English class. The focus of English three is to prepare students for the upcoming ACT reading, writing, and grammar tests. When taking practice ACT reading tests for the class, Brennen was on average

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with our district reading levels. Brennen does not receive any supplementary or special education services or supports from the school district. Brennen, both her parents, stepfather, stepbrother, and half brother were all born in Battle Creek, Michigan. They are all Caucasian native English speakers and none of them speak another language. Brennens parents are divorced and she lives with her mother, stepfather, stepbrother, and half brother. She visits her father on weekends. At home, Brennen is an active reader much like her mother. Both she and her mother read fiction books at home as a leisure activity. Some of Brennens favorite books are 13 Reasons Why and The Lovely Bones. Her mother reads mostly fictional texts as well. As a child, Brennens mother read to her before she went to sleep and Brennen can remember how much she loved reading with her mother when she was younger. Today they still share books. For the Reading for Enjoyment class she is taking with me, she did a project where her mother and her read the same book and wrote reviews for that book. Brennens mothers love for reading has definitely been passed down to her. Her father also reads, but usually just informative texts, like newspapers. Brennens stepfather is not a big reader. She explained that she doesnt see him reading very often at all. When he does read, he reads magazines. This is very similar to her step-brother and half-brother. She commented that her brothers are very different from her when it comes to reading. She loves to read and they struggle to get through books for school. Section III: Emotional Climate As stated above, Brennen is currently taking the English elective course Reading for Enjoyment. Reading for Enjoyment is a class where students pick the novels they would like to

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read, keep book logs, write reviews, do mini assignments related to the books their reading, and complete projects for most of the books they read. This class is set up as a workshop type class. Instead of lessons being taught every day, the students use most of the time in class reading and working on assignments and projects. This class is set up for students to work independently and motivate themselves when they are completing the reading, book logs, and reviews. There are also several projects where students are required to work on their own like the writing activities. For this project, students work independently to complete writing assignments to go along with their books. The students choose different writing activities that are worth different point values based on difficulty. For example, a writing activity where they discuss how a character is similar to someone they know is only worth twenty points while a writing activity where they pretend they are a character and write what they think about all the other characters from the book is worth thirty points. There are also writing assignments where students will need to write even more, three to five pages, which are worth fifty points. This type of assignment allows students to push themselves to try harder assignments or complete easier assignments if they are not as comfortable with writing. While there are many assignments where the students can work alone, there are also many times during the class where students are pushed to collaborate with other students from the class. For example, one of the projects students can choose to complete for a novel they have read is the book club project. For this project, a group of four students will work together to form a book club. They will assign a reading schedule and hold meetings to discuss the book. After finishing the book, they will work together to present the book to the class. It is important that the reading for enjoyment class be set up in a way where students feel comfortable not only working alone, but also within groups. John Guthrie writes that, when

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teachers emphasize positive interpersonal relationships, student motivation increases (Guthrie, 2011, p.181). If the Reading for Enjoyment class was not set up in this way, students would not feel comfortable sharing their books with others and therefore the class would be a failure. So far Brennen has showed her motivation with reading through her participation in the Reading for Enjoyment class. Brennen currently has a ninety percent in the class. She works hard on the book reviews and book logs that she turns in for every book and has never scored less than an eighty-five percent on any of these activities. She turns in quality work and is often excited to discuss the books she is reading with classmates and me. For example, Brennen participated in the book club project for the novel, The Kite Runner. She worked with three other people from class and had great discussions of the novel where they provided great insight into the book for the rest of the class. When evaluated by her peers, Brennen received a grade of an A for participation. She stands out as a hard-working, self-motivated student within the Reading for Enjoyment class. Section IV: Literacy History Brennen is currently in her junior year at Harper Creek High School. She currently has a 2.28 GPA and is ranked 134 out of 202 students in her class. She is planning to attend a community college out of high school and then transferring to Western Michigan University, where she will study special education. Brennens parents both graduated from high school and got average grades much like Brennen. Neither of her parents attended college right out of high school. Instead, they both went into the workforce. Her father now owns a gym. Her mother attended Everest University last year and attained an associates degree. She now works in property management.

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When looking strictly at Brennens grades in English classes, she averages a grade of a B-. She explained that the hardest part of English class, for her, is reading the required texts on her own. When she reads she is easily overwhelmed by the text and once she feels overwhelmed, she feels she cant understand any of the reading. She also stated that when a text is read in class and discussed, she is much more comfortable with the reading. When asked about her past reading, she explained that she has not always enjoyed reading. She enjoyed reading books with her mother but did not enjoy reading alone in elementary school. In middle school she began enjoying reading because she felt she choose the books she wanted to read. She enjoys books that she chooses because she doesnt struggle when reading them. Brennen currently lives with her mother and she explained that most of the support she gets for school is from her mother. Her mother will work with her after she gets home from work if she needs help on homework from school. Paratore and Edwards writes that, students of involved parents have high rates of school attendance, better social skills and behavior, higher grades and test scores, lower rates of retention, and higher rates of high school graduation and postsecondary education (Paratore, Edwards, 2011, p.437). Her mothers involvement in her education has and will continue to have a positive effect on her schooling. She also explained that her mother attends conferences for her and her siblings whenever she can. If she cannot attend conferences, she will contact the teachers to get more insight on her kids education. Brennen knows that her mother believes education is very important and that she needs to do well in school.

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Section V: Tests Given and Summary of Test Results In order to get an understanding of Brennens strengths and weaknesses when it comes to reading, I gave Brennen an ACT fiction and non-fiction reading tests. I chose to use the ACT reading tests because Brennen is focused on studying for the ACT and improving her reading skills so she can excel on this test in the spring. I chose to give both the fiction and non-fiction because these tests require the students to use very different skills. I wanted to see which skills and format Brennen needed the most help with. For the reading pre-test, I gave Brennen an ACT prose fiction passage entitled The Egg (Appendix C). I also gave her an ACT social studies passage entitled Defining the Poverty Line: A Political Question (Appendix B). On the social studies passage, Brennen answered seven out of ten questions correctly. Two of the questions that Brennen answered incorrectly were comprehension questions and the other question was an inference question. On the prose fiction passage, Brennen only answered two out of ten questions correctly. Four of the questions she answered incorrectly were comprehension questions and four were inference questions. Based on these results, I could see that Brennen was above average for our district when answering questions on non-fiction passages. One of the reasons that she may have done well on this because of her participation in my English three class last year. In English three, students are exposed to ACT reading practice tests. The reading tests for the ACT consist of four passages, three of which are non-fiction passages. As a result, most of the practice that Brennen was exposed to was non-fiction. Duke, Pearson, Strachan, and Billman found that the volume of experiences students have interacting with texts both in and out of the classroom significantly correlates with their overall reading success (Duke, Pearson, Strachan, Billman, 2011, p. 58).

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Because of the all the exposure Brennen got to non-fiction work during English three, she is more likely to do better at comprehending non-fiction passages. I also found that, for Brennen, I needed to focus on working with fiction comprehension skills. Brennen struggled to identify main ideas and details from the passage when she took the test. She also struggled to look beyond what the text was saying directly. I think that in order to help Brennen be able to answer those inference questions, she first has to be able to identify main ideas and supporting details. In order to help her, I need to teach her the reading strategies for comprehending these texts. I need to provide her with a repertoire of strategies from which to draw during independent readings tasks so that she can be successful, not just when working with me, but also when she is working independently on the ACT test (Duke, Pearson, Strachan, Billman, 2011, p. 63). For the post test, I gave Brennen another prose fiction ACT passage to read, Football Failures, and had her answer the questions after the reading (Appendix S). I was hoping to see that she would take effective notes on her own to be able to answer the on the lines and between the lines questions on the ACT passage. When looking just at the passage, Brennens note taking skills have improved. She took notes of characters and who they were, the problem the characters needed to solve, the conflict, and the resolution. These notes are much different than the notes she took on the pre-test. One thing I noticed also about her notes is that she underlined many things throughout the text, but she did not write down why she underlined them. One thing we discussed during our lesson was that she needed to make note of why she was underlining something so that it would be easier to answer the questions that follow the reading. This is an area where Brennen can still improve.

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When looking at the test Brennen took, I saw that she improved from the pre-test but she still has work to do. On this post-test, Brennen answered four out of ten questions correctly. This shows that she improved by answering two more questions correctly. While these are not the gains I was hoping she would have, I can still say that I saw improvement. When looking at the questions that she answered incorrectly, I noticed that most of those questions were inference, or between the lines, questions. That tells me that the second lesson was not as successful as I would have liked. When looking at the questions she answered correctly, I noticed that most of the questions were on the line questions and that her notes could have helped her when answering these questions. This tells me that the note taking activity did help her improve her reading comprehension when reading complex texts. I also believe that if I allowed her to use the graphic organizers given to her for both activities, it may have helped her. When she completed the readings and questions on her own for both lessons and used the graphic organizers, she performed much better when answer the questions seven out of ten questions correct. The next step to improving Brennens reading comprehension scores would be to teach her how to apply the skills she learned without using the graphic organizers. VI. Lesson Plan Matrix
Lesson Foci/Date Objectives (include including performance, conditions, and criterion. State the Common Core State Standard at the end of each objective. Instructional materials (what will use to deliver the main objectives of the lesson) On-going assessment (to measure attainment of objectives)

Note-taking strategies (2 day lesson)

Students will be able to take effective notes to improve comprehension of complex fiction

Pre-test prose fiction passage The Egg Prose fiction passage #1 The Summer Sandwich

Students will be assessed through their graphic organizers, the response to questions after reading, discussion

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texts. (CCSS Reading Literature 11.10) Students will be able to identify plot elements of complex fictional texts. (CCSS Reading Literature 11.1

Going beyond the surface level with reading to start making inferences within complex texts Students will be able to improve comprehension of complex fictional texts (CCSS Reading Literature 11.10) Students will be able to make inferences when reading complex texts (CCSS Reading Literature 11.1, CCSS Reading Literature 11. -

Club Questions in response to Prose fiction passage #1 Prose fiction passage #2 The Story of a Bad Boy Questions in response to Prose fiction passage #2 Two note taking graphic organizers Prose fiction passage #1 Extreme Dad Questions in response to prose fiction passage #1 Prose fiction passage #2 Moving Day Questions in response to prose fiction passage #2 Two graphic organizers that work students from looking at surface level details to going deeper with the text

during the activity, and also through the final ACT assessment.

Students will be assessed through their graphic organizers, the response to questions after reading, discussion during the activity, and also through the final ACT assessment.

VII. Reflections on Your Differentiated Literacy Lesson Plans When thinking about a way to help build Brennens knowledge for working with fictional texts, I consulted Donna Ogle and Laura Langs chapter Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction. They explained that one way to build knowledge is to take notes. When looking at the notes that Brennen took during the pre-test on fictional texts, I saw that her notes were not

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helping her answer the questions that followed. In order to help her understand I developed the note taking handout for her to use. I knew that I needed to work with her on this reading strategy because students exposed to reading strategy instruction performed better than their peers who had not learned strategies (Learned, Stockdill, Moje, 2011, p.172). I believed that if I taught Brennen the strategy of effective note taking, she would improve her reading comprehension. To open up the first lesson with Brennen, I showed her the pre-test she took on the fiction text The Egg. I asked her to look through the notes she took on the text and then report back to me what she did when taking notes. She explained that she would read the first sentence of each of the paragraphs. She would then make a note on the side of the paragraph writing down what it meant to her in her own words. I then asked her how the note-taking strategy helped her. She stated that her notes really didnt help her answer the questions after she read. This was evident through the twenty percent she got correct on the fiction pre-test. Her notes were very vague and when comparing them to what the questions were about, they would not help. When moving into the lesson, I knew I wanted to open the lesson with Brennen doing a think aloud about the notes she took. I knew that Brennen struggled and that her notes were a weakness but I wanted to get more insight into her thought process but I also wanted her to look closer and what she was doing when taking notes. Students need to engage in self assessment to be able to monitor their own work, set appropriate goals, develop needed skills and strategies, and improve learning (Valencia, 2011, p.389). By having Brennen look closer at her notes, she was able to evaluate whether or not her notes worked for her and also look at how to improve her note taking ability.

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I then told her that today we would be working on taking notes that would help her look closer at the text and hopefully be able to answer those questions a little more easily. I first gave her the graphic organizer where she would take some notes over the text (Appendix E). The graphic organizer is a chart that contains six different elements of structure to look for when reading a fictional text. The graphic organizer was made based off of the table 3.3 from Duke, Pearson, Strachan, and Billmans chapter of What Research has to Say about Reading Instruction. They write that direct instruction around the structures commonly found in different genres also benefits students, especially those who struggle with reading (Duke, Pearson, Srachan, Billman, 2011, p.68). By teaching her to look for these structures within the text, she would have an easier time pulling out key information from the text to answer the ACT questions. Before we moved into the reading, I asked Brennen to go through and explain to me what each of these elements is. She easily filled out the chart to identify what all the elements are but struggled once she reached theme. She told me that theme was, what is conveyed through the story. From that I asked her what she meant and she went on to explain that it was what the author was trying to tell us through his story. In other words, theme is why the author was writing his story. After finding out that she understood the elements of the text we were reading, I had her read the text and helped her with the note taking process. I wanted to make sure to work through the text and strategy with her before moving on to her working alone because I knew that the gradual release of responsibility model is what is recommended when teaching any comprehension strategy (Duke, Pearson, Strachan, Billman, 2011, p.64). When going through the reading, I would stop Brennen in the beginning to think through what we were doing together but as we moved through the text, I let her take more responsibility with the note taking strategy.

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I told Brennen, before reading, that while reading, she should look for the elements she just defined. She will be taking notes on those elements. When then began reading the prose fiction ACT piece The Summer Sandwich Club (Appendix F). Brennen read the short story aloud while we read together. After reading the first paragraph, I stopped her. I asked her if she needed to take any notes. She asked me, Do you want me to highlight Maxwell? I asked her why she would highlight it and she explained that it was a character. She then highlighted his name. Once she highlighted it, I told her that to make her notes easier to understand when returning to the reading later, I would also write down why you highlight it. She then wrote down that Maxwell was a main character. She then moved on to highlight Katherine and circled mother so she would remember why she highlighted it. After making some notes on the paragraph, I told Brennen to return to the taking notes handout I had her fill out before. She began by filling in the characters she met during the first paragraph. She wanted to move on after doing that. I then asked her if there was anything else on that note taking sheet that she could fill in. She then went on to fill in the setting. After taking notes on the first paragraph, Brennen continued to read. After reading the second paragraph, I stopped her again. She went back to her notes sheet and filled in the narrators name, Jake. At this point she also added to the plot part of her note-taking sheet. We then returned to the reading. This time, instead of stopping Brennen during the reading, she stopped reading after few short paragraphs. She highlighted another character, the babysitter, and noted that it was a minor character. She also returned to her notes sheet again because she said she could add a lot mot to it now. She went on to add information about the character she identified, plot points, the goal, and the problem. She went on to read the rest of the short story and every time she ended reading a paragraph, she would stop to take notes. Sometimes the notes

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would be on the actual reading, and other times the notes were taken simply on the note taking sheet. When looking at what Brennen wrote down on the notes sheet, it was evident that she understood the story because all of the information she put onto her notes sheet was correct. After she finished taking notes, I asked her how she felt about the reading. From having Brennen in class, I know that she can get overwhelmed with readings sometimes. When she gets overwhelmed, she struggles to pick out important details from the text and which was evident from her reading test scores from last year. Today, after taking notes, when I asked Brennen about her understanding of the reading, she said she felt good about what she read. To see how much of an effect the note-taking had on her understanding of the reading, I had Brennen complete the questions that are associated with the passage (Appendix G). Brennen answered nine out of ten questions correct on the reading. The question that Brennen answered wrong was a question about characterization. When going through the answers, I discussed with Brennen a strategy for answering the question. I told her with questions that are answered with dialogue, it is important to go back through the reading to look at the text surrounding the dialogue. After working through this technique with Brennen, I wanted her to try using it on her own. The second part of the lesson required Brennen to take what she learned and apply it to a new reading. She read the article and took notes on the note taking sheet on her own (Appendix H-I). After taking notes, she answered the questions that went along with the reading (Appendix J). When working on her own, she was able to answer seven out of ten questions correctly. When looking at the second lesson, I wanted to help Brennen move from being able to identify surface level elements to making deeper connections with the text. Jim Burke writes that Surface questions address literal aspects of the story for example, Where are they now?

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and basic details such as vocabulary. Deep questions help establish and reveal the depths of essential events (Burke, 2008, p.101). To help Brennen be able to answer inference questions on the ACT, I need to help her answer the deep questions that help her understand the essential events of the text. In order to do that, I found a graphic organizer that moved from surface level questions on the text, to denser questions where students needed to make connections with the text. When looking for a graphic organizer, I knew I needed to have one that moved gradually from surface questions to deep questions. I needed to look for questions that Jeffrey Wilhelm defines as on the lines questions and between the lines questions. On the lines questions are factual, requiring students to find the spot right there in the text where the question is answered (Wilhelm, 2007, p.120). Between the lines questions are interpretive questions that require the reader to search for the various details in the text and think about the nature of the connection between the details (Wilhelm, 2007, p. 120). The graphic organizer I used contained both of these types of questions. The organizer has the students answer easier on the lines questions first, before moving on the harder on the lines questions. It then has students make connections to the text and finally has them answer between the lines questions. I began the lesson by giving Brennen the text. I showed her the title, Moving Day and had her begin by writing about moving (Appendix L). I did this activity because it would help Brennen make easier text to self connections when doing the reading. Text to self connections require the reader to bring her own knowledge and experiences to bear on a text (Wilhelm, 2007, p.122). In order for students to be able to make these connections, students must be able to combine what they know and have experienced with whats in the text (Wilhelm, 2007, p.122). To make this process easier, I used this activity as an opening to the lesson.

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After finishing the writing, we moved on to the reading, Moving Day (Appendix M). Brennen read the text aloud while I was beside her. While reading, Brennen stopped, on her own, to take notes. While this lesson is focused on moving from surface questions and deeper questions, I was happy to see that she was applying the knowledge she gained from the previous lesson we completed together to this text. After reading the text, I gave her the graphic organizer (Appendix N). She moved through the first level of questions, on the lines questions, with ease; she answered every question without hesitation. When moving on to the next level of questions, harder on the lines questions, she answered almost all easily. One question, How does she feel about moving to the Midwest? was a little difficult for Brennen. She returned to the text, and then was able to answer the question. She then moved on to the third level of questions. These questions asked for Brennens opinion on the choice the main character made in the story. Brennen was able to easily come up with support for both agreeing and disagreeing, but when it came to adding a second reason, she struggled. She told me that she felt like any other reason she would give would really just be additional support for the first reason. I explained to her that, that would be ok because it is adding to her response. Brennen then moved on to the fourth level of questions which are between the lines questions. These questions required Brennen to take different aspects of the text and analyze them to see how they work together. Brennen was able to answer all the questions but for two out of four she needed to return to the text to get help. The final level of questions is when Brennen was able to make text to self connections. She could easily answer these questions and used the opening activity when doing the questions. After finishing the graphic organizer, I had Brennen answer the questions that went along with the passage to identify if she understood the passage (Appendix O). Brennen was able to answer nine out of ten questions correctly. She was able to answer both the on the lines questions

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and the between the lines questions which made me believe that the lesson today helped. The one question she answered incorrectly was a question that required knowledge of a particular phrase and Brennen looked at the phrase in a straight forward manner rather in a metaphorical manner. After finishing the lesson together, I once again had Brennen try doing the technique on her own. She read the passage Extreme Dad (Appendix P), answered the questions on the graphic organizer (Appendix Q), and answered the questions that went along with the passage (Appendix R). From her graphic organizer and the questions that she answered to go along with the passage, I could tell that Brennen understood the text. When looking at the graphic organizer, Brennen was able to answer the questions correctly. She answered both the on the lines and the between the lines questions correctly. She was also able to make text to self connections on the organizer. The only thing Brennen did not answer on her own was the question over theme. She had a hard time seeing the lesson that the son learned from his father. Brennen also performed well on the questions; she answered seven out of ten questions correctly. One of the questions that Brennen answered incorrectly was about the structure of the passage, which was not something we covered. Another question that she answered incorrectly was an inference question about his fathers reputation. While she could identify how the narrator felt about his fathers reputation on the graphic organizer in her own words, she struggled to answer the question when they were in someone elses words. Finally, she answered a question about characterization incorrectly. This question was not brought up on the graphic organizer, which could be one of the reasons that she struggled with it.

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VIII. Recommendations to Teachers and Parents/Caregivers Dear Ms. Pourchez-Grey, I am writing to you to inform you of Brennens performance in reading and to help you help her with her reading comprehension. Brennen is a very hardworking student who loves reading but also could use help with her comprehension of complex texts. Through ACT fiction reading tests, I found that Brennen was performing below where she would like to be performing for the ACT. She would like to score a twenty on the ACT and she is currently scoring between a 17 and 18. When working with her I noticed that Brennen learned how to take effective notes when reading through using a handout that she needed to take the notes on. When she answered questions using the handout, she scored over what she would like to on the reading. When she took a reading test without the handout, she did not perform as well. I believe that the best way to work with Brennen would be to look at transferring the ideas from the note taking handout onto the actual reading. If she could take notes like she did on the note taking handout just on the reading, she would be performing very well. In order to practice this skill, I would begin by having her use the handouts when doing the reading. As she continues to practice the readings, have her put more of the information on the actual reading than on the handout. When she becomes more and more comfortable taking notes on the reading, have her practice without the handout. At first she may need help remembering what to take notes of, but keep working with her and eventually she will remember on her own. I think that if you follow this process, she will be able to comprehend the text better and therefore perform better on that section of the ACT.

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If you have any further questions about how to help her, please feel free to contact me at school. I am always here to help.

Sincerely, Kathleen Davidson

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IX. Appendices of work

Appendix A

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Appendix B

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Appendix B

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Appendix C

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Appendix C

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Daily Lesson Plan #1 Date: October 19-20, 2012 Objectives for todays lesson: Students will be able to understand how they take notes to better understand what they can do to improve their note taking ability Students will be able to take effective notes to improve comprehension of complex fiction texts. Students will be able to identify plot elements of complex fictional texts. Rationale: Over the next two days the students will work to identify elements of a fictional text through taking effective notes. When reading complex texts it is important for students to be able to identify what is important to take note of and what is not as important. If students make note of this and can identify these elements, they will be able to comprehend the text with more ease. Materials & supplies needed: Pre-test fiction passage The Egg Prose fiction passage #1 The Summer Sandwich Club Questions in response to Prose fiction passage #1 Prose fiction passage #2 The Story of a Bad Boy Questions in response to Prose fiction passage #2 Two note taking graphic organizers Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event Introduction to the lesson The lesson on note-taking will begin with Brennen reflecting on the notes that she took on the fiction text she read for her pretest. She will explain why she took the notes she did and why they were important. I will then explain that taking effective notes while reading will help her better comprehend the text and therefore be able to answer the follow up questions easier. (15-20 minutes) Outline of key events during the lesson 1. Brennen will then receive the note-taking graphic organizer. We will begin using the sheet by identifying what each of the elements of a text is. 2. Once the graphic organizer is filled in, we will begin reading the passage. I will stop Brennen after each paragraph for the first two paragraphs. When we stop she will take notes on both the reading and the handout. Once she begins reading the third paragraph, I will allow her to decide when we stop to take notes. 3. After taking notes on the first reading and filling in the taking notes graphic organizer, I will have Brennen answer the questions that correspond to the reading. 4. After she finishes, we will go through the questions and answers together to identify what information she knew and where she could still use help. I will also give her tips to answering certain types of questions if she needs it. 5. The next day, I will have Brennen try reading and filling in the note taking sheet on her own. 6. When she finishes, she will once again answer the questions that follow the passage. 7. We will go through the answers to the questions together and identify where she can

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improve for next time. Closing summary for the lesson Brennen and I will go over what went well when she took notes on her own and what she can improve on. Transition to next learning activity Brennen will continue to use these note taking techniques when reading future ACT texts.

Assessment Brennen will be assessed through the sets of questions that follow each reading passage and also through the final post test.

Appendix D

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Appendix E

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Appendix F

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Appendix G

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Appendix H

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Appendix I

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Appendix J

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Daily Lesson Plan #2 Date: October 26-27, 2012 Objectives for todays lesson: - Students will be able to improve comprehension of complex fictional texts - Students will be able to make inferences when reading complex texts Rationale: In order for students to do well on the ACT reading test (and to be able to make real connections with a text) they must be able to go beyond surface level when answering questions and look deeper at what is happening in a text. Materials & supplies needed: - Prose fiction passage #1 Extreme Dad - Questions in response to prose fiction passage #1 - Prose fiction passage #2 Moving Day - Questions in response to prose fiction passage #2 - Two graphic organizers that work students from looking at surface level details to going deeper with the text Procedures and approximate time allocated for each event Introduction to the lesson The lesson will open with Brennen doing a written response to the idea of moving. Outline of key events during the lesson

1. After writing about moving, Brennen and I will read the prose fiction passage Moving Day together. 2. Once she finishes reading the passage, we will go though and answer the questions on the graphic organizer. The questions are organized in a way that will move Brennen from easier on the lines questions to more difficult between the lines questions. 3. After she answers all the questions on the handout, she will move on to answer the questions that go along with the passage. 4. When she finishes, we will go through the questions and her answers together. If she had any problems with questions, we will go through and look at how she could have answered those questions correctly. 5. Brennen will now practice the technique on her own. She will read the second fiction passage, Extreme Dad on her own and complete the graphic organizer on her own. 6. When she finishes, she will complete the questions that go along with the passage. 7. We will again go through the questions and her answers together to see where she can improve. Closing summary for the lesson Brennen and I will discuss how the movement from on the lines to the between the lines questions went for her. If she had issues, we will look at how to work through those questions together. Assessment Brennen will be assessed through the questions she answered on the graphic

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organizer, the questions in response to the passage, and the post test.

Appendix K

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Appendix L

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Appendix M

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Appendix N

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Appendix O

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Appendix P

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Appendix Q

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Appendix R

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Appendix S

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Appendix S

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X. Bibliography ACT. Defining the poverty line: a political question. 2008. ACT. The Egg. 2008ACT. Extreme dad. 2008. ACT. Football failures.2008. ACT. Moving day. 2008. ACT. The Story of a Bad Boy. 2008. ACT. Summer Sandwich Club. 2008. Burke, Jim. The English teachers' companion: a complete guide to classroom, curriculum, and the profession. Third ed. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2008. Print. Duke, Neil, P. David Pearson, Stephanie Strachan, and Alison Billman. "Essential elements of fostering and teaching reading comprehension." What research has to say about reading instruction. Fourth ed. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2011. 51-93. Print. Guthrie, John. "Best practices in motivating students to read." Best practices in literacy instruction. Fourth ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 2011. 177-198. Print. Learned, Julie, Darin Stockdill, and Elizabeth Moje. "Integrating reading strategies and knowledge building in adolescent literacy instruction." What research has to say about reading instruction. Fourth ed. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2011. 159-185. Print.

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Ogle, Donna, and Laura Lang. "Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction." Best practices in literacy instruction. Fourth ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 2011. 138-173. Print. Paratore, Jeanne, and Patricia Edwards. "Parent-teacher partnerships that make a difference in children's literacy achievement." Best practices in literacy instruction. Fourth ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 2011. 436-454. Print. Valencia, Sheila. "Using assessment to improve teaching and learning." What research has to say about reading instruction. Fourth ed. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2011. 379-405. Print. Wilhelm, Jeffrey. Engaging readers & writers with inquiry. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2007. Print.