Contrasts/Contradictions and Aha Moments: NOTICE AND NOTE

Last summer, an eclectic group of teachers from my school district came together for a book study on Kylene Beers and Robert Probst's book, Notice and Note:  Strategies for Close Reading.  This group's dynamic struck a chord of pure joy for teaching; they were energized by what they were reading, discussing possible implementations, "signposts" that they were thinking about in their favorite literary texts, and ways that these signposts might be translated as we assist students with comprehending at all ages.

We also wondered which of these could be used with nonfiction, whether there were some different signposts for nonfiction, and what those might be.  (It turns out that Beers and Probst are working on that very topic right now!)

By sheer luck (okay--and hard work), I was blessed to see Kylene and Bob present at the NCTE national conference in Boston in November.  Then, by a miracle arrangement orchestrated by our "All Write!!!" Consortium's Director, six of us made the snowy drive to Nappanee, Indiana, in February to spend a whole day learning from these reading specialists.  What a treat it was!

We were energized, and one teacher (who had not participated in the book study), borrowed my copy and polished it off within a few days.  She immediately said, "Can we work on this together?  I want to do it!  Kylene and Bob think the same way I do!"  Sweeter words were never spoken to a literacy coach.

We are now immersed in introducing the signposts to 10-year-olds.  We want them to understand that these are not just something fun, but they are designed to help us read closely, to relate to and learn from the literature we read.  This makes us socially smarter and our reading lives enriched.

We started with "Contrasts and Contradictions", as these occur most often in literary texts.  We created a class poster as the children followed along, creating their own in their readers' notebooks.  We decided to introduce each signpost by using video clips from movies made from literary texts.  We used Hermione from HARRY POTTER, and showed her as a studious person who cares about school with these clips:

Hermione meets Ron and Harry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs7SIiRHQfs

Hermione practices a spell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAQBzjE-kvI


Then we discussed what a contrast or contradiction would look like--Hermione comes to class, dressed in jeans and t-shirt, slouches, forgets her books, can't answer questions.  We then asked the kids to describe how we (the teachers) normally relate to each other (we are friendly, smiling, sharing ideas).  Then we acted out one of us being upset/mad.  We discussed how this is a contrast to what they normally see.

Texts we used to practice "Contrasts and Contradictions" included:

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson  



and


The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg  


By now, we were getting a feel for how these introductory lessons might go and started to notice (and note) the literary signposts more widely.

We moved on to "Aha Moments", beginning with the explanation and poster as before.  We acted out having a realization and how that changes a character's actions.  We used the following video clips from "The Wizard of Oz":

The "Aha Moments" of each character as the wizard explains each token ("Words of the Wiser") he gives to them to provide the character trait for which he wishes (brains, heart, courage) AND how Dorothy has her "Aha Moment" when she realizes that the wizard, an ordinary man, really has nothing to help her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky7DMCHQJZY


And Dorothy's "Aha Moment" when Glinda and the Scarecrow ask her what she's learned ("Tough Question") to teach her that she always had the power to go home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvj85cOWD54

Texts we used to review "Contrasts and Contradictions" and practice "Aha Moments" included:


 the short story of "The New Kid" from Scholastic's Read-Aloud Anthology 




and the graveyard and "Christmas morning" scenes from an abridged edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  


We discussed how Scrooge's character changed as a result of his "Aha Moments" and why the spirits took him into "Memory Moments" before showing him the future.  As they watched the movie clip (after reading), we paused to note Scrooge's "Tough Questions" for Spirit #3 (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4XPIy2yPvI



Coming soon:  "Tough Questions" and "Words of the Wiser"---and later on:  "Again and Again" and "Memory Moments".