Activating Strategy Time: 11 minutes
Greet students at the door. Refer to Slide 1 of the RL5 PowerPoint
—-and project the AVID Story Arc (Modified).
As students enter, hand students the AVID Story Arc handout and stanza 1 of the poem “Oranges.”
Students will read the poem with a partner and identify the elements of plot using the questions on the handout:
1. How does the story (poem) begin?
2. What important details do we learn about the people and setting?
3. What’s the problem(conflict)? 4. What escalates the problem
*Instruct students to respond to the questions. As students read and respond, circle the room and monitor student responses.
—-After 10 minutes bring the class back together.
1.Turn and share the details of your story arc with your neighbor.
2.Check your work against your neighbor’s work.
3.Do you have the same placement of events?
*If not, engage in a one-minute discussion to arrive at a shared understanding based upon the evidence in the poem.
MODELED INSTRUCTION:
Modeled/Shared Reading: 15 minutes
Provide a mini lesson to model the strategy for analyzing how a line or stanza contributes to the development of the setting and plot.
Begin the model by stating the teaching point for today: I will model for you how to zoom in on a line or stanza and analyze how a line or stanza contributes or adds to the development of the setting or plot.
—We will practice this work while rereading “Oranges” by Gary Soto.
You will continue your practice with the poem “Oranges” and use the second stanza to demonstrate your mastery.
In order to analyze how a line or stanza contributes to the setting or plot, I am going to use the Zoom Out and Zoom In Strategy.
Zooming out and zooming in on a sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza is like zooming in and zooming out of a picture with your phone’s camera. Sometimes, to capture details we narrow in on an object. And, at other times, we zoom out to see how the details of that object relate to the whole picture. Before we begin, let’s view what it means to Zoom Out and Zoom In.
Guided Practice:
Refer to Slide 2 of the RL5 PowerPoint and play the Zoom video book by Istvan Banyai.
Teacher Note: After viewing the video Zoom, ask students to analyze the ways in which the illustrator Zoomed Out and Zoomed In on the details in the video book. The teacher should note that the illustrator zooms in to look at the details and then zooms out on the big picture.
Stamp students’ learning by asking students to analyze the illustrator’s purpose in zooming in and zooming out on the picture. Now that we have seen how an illustrator zooms in and zooms out, let’s look at how an author uses a similar technique.
There are three steps I follow to use the Zoom Out and Zoom In Strategy. Refer to Zoom Out and Zoom In Anchor Chart.
STEP 1
First, I Zoom Out. I answer the questions: · What is the setting of the chapter, scene, stanza? By setting, I mean the time of day or hour, season, and/or place/location. · What is the plot of the chapter, scene, stanza?
STEP 2
Second, I Zoom In on the details that precede and follow the setting or plot and bracket details that describe the setting or plot. Third, I Zoom Out again and I ask myself: · What do these details reveal about the setting? · What do these details reveal about the plot? · How do these details contribute or add to my understanding of the development of the setting or plot?
Teacher Note: The poem is two stanzas. For the purpose of the modeled and guided instruction, stanza one has been divided into two sections. The teacher will model lines 1-21, which focuses on a setting that takes place outside.
Lines 21-42, which is guided practice, signals a shift in the setting and focuses on a setting that takes place inside. The teacher and the students should note that December is the setting because Soto uses sensory language to describe the season. The teacher and students should also notice that the season is referenced at both the beginning and the end of the poem, completing an arc.
I am now going to model the strategy. As I model, I want you to read along with me silently and watch how I zoom out and zoom in on lines and stanzas. First, I am going to zoom out and ask myself what are the setting and plot of the poem “Oranges.” Teacher reads aloud lines 1-21.
When I zoom out, I see that the setting that stands out the most in these lines is the “cold” December. I know this because there are several details in lines 1-21 that describe this December day. I am thinking that the author added all of these details about December because he wants the reader to know that this setting is important. So, I am going to underline the word December to identify the setting in the poem. I know that I’m capturing the setting of the narrative poem because seasons are a type of setting.
Next, I need to zoom in on the lines that precede or follow the setting. In lines 1-21 I am focusing on the setting, December, and keeping in mind what is happening in the plot. As I read the lines that precede and follow the word December, I am looking for details in the lines that are directly related to that setting. I see in lines 5-7 the author provides sensory language about the season--the sound of the frozen ground, (“Frost cracking/Beneath my steps (lines 4-5) and the sight of “. . .my breath/before me, then gone” (lines 6-7). I know that authors use sensory language to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create word pictures or images for the reader.
So, as I read these lines, I see that the author is zooming in using sensory language to show me how the setting sounds and feels. I am going to bracket these lines. I also see that the setting, “December” is tied to the memory of “the first time” the speaker “walked/With a girl,” (lines 1- 2). I can now imagine how anxious or excited the speaker is feeling about going to see a girl that he likes. I am going to bracket these lines as well.
Last, I need to zoom back out and ask myself, what do the lines or sentences reveal about the plot or setting? In the first bracketed set of lines 1-2, I see that the speaker is sharing a memory about going to visit a girl he likes. Because I know that he liked the girl, this is probably a happy memory, one that makes him smile as he tells the story.
So, next to lines 1-2 in my margin, I am going to write “fond, warm memory.” In the second bracketed set of lines 5-7, I see that the author has included sensory language such as, “Frost cracking/Beneath my steps” (lines 4-5) and the sight of “. . .my breath/before me, then gone” that describe how cold and bitter the weather is outside. In my margin I am going to write cold and bitter weather. I now ask myself, how do the details in the lines that I bracketed contribute or add to my understanding of the development of the setting or plot.
To do this, I look at the bracketed lines and make connections between the details in them. When I analyze or look closely at these two marginal notes side-by-side, I see that the speaker is “sharing a fond, warm memory” and “the winter day is cold and bitter.” So, I’m going to reference my Charting Verbs (Modified) to determine the verb that best describes what the author is doing. Okay. So, I’m choosing juxtaposing because Soto is placing the ideas side-by-side for the purpose of comparison. When I put these ideas together, I see that the author is juxtaposing the cold bitter weather outside to the fond, warm memory the speaker seems to be feeling inside.
GUIDED PRACTICE CONT':
Teacher Note: Students will participate in a shared reading of lines 21-42 of “Oranges” so that
students hear modeled fluency and so that they are zooming out and zooming in with scaffolded
supports. The teacher should refer to slides 3 and 4 of the RL5 PowerPoint.
Transition to Work Period: 5 minutes
Issue students the Zoom Out and Zoom In Graphic Organizer. Have students highlight words
and phrases from lines 21-42. Inform students that you will read the lines that are not
highlighted and that they will read the highlighted lines:
“narrow isle of goods,” “ask what she wanted,” “a smile,” “mouth,” “when she lifted a chocolate,” “set them quietly on/the
counter,” “The lady's eyes met mine,/ And held them, knowing / Very well what it was all/About.”
Time: 20 minutes
Now, we’re going to read lines 21-42 together. Highlight the following words and phrases… Refer
students to the board. Have the above-mentioned words, phrases, and lines projected for
students. Give students 2 minutes to highlight the words, phrases, and lines from lines 21-
42.
I’m going to read aloud the words and phrases that are not highlighted, and you will read aloud
in unison the highlighted words and phrases.
Beginning at the word “We” in line 21, read the poem as a class.
Now that we have read the poem, I want you to use the Zoom Out and Zoom In Strategy. First, we
Zoom Out and answer the question, “What is the setting or plot of the chapter, scene, or stanza?”
Remember, by setting, we mean time as in time of day or hour, season, and/or place/location.
Second, we Zoom In on the details that precede and follow the setting or plot. I am bracketing
details that describe the setting or plot.
Third, Zoom Out again and ask, “What do these details reveal about the setting? What do these
details reveal about the plot?” and “How do these details contribute to the development of the
setting or plot?
Okay, let’s use the strategy together. This time let’s look at plot. Let’s zoom out: What is the major
plot element in these lines? Turn and talk with your elbow partner for 1 minute and identify the major plot element (crises, turning point). Hint, you may want to refer to your AVID Story Arc from the opening of today’s lesson.
Circle the room listening to student conversation. Have a pair who has identified the turning point to share out the major plot element in lines 21-42. Possible Response: “When I looked up,/ The lady's eyes met mine,/ And held them, knowing/ Very well what it was all About” (lines 38-42). Great. The turning point occurs when he attempts to purchase a piece of candy that he knows he does not have enough money to buy. The problem escalates here as the speaker places a nickel and an orange on the counter as payment for the chocolate candy, hoping that the salesclerk accepts the orange in exchange for the additional nickel he owes.
Stop here if you have a 50-minute block/period.