1 1. What are the hocked gems?
To be
honest, I am having trouble defining “hocked gems”. After rereading the passage
numerous times, I determined I was having the most difficulty understanding
those first two words, compared to any other part of the passage. I decided to
research what “hock” meant, and found several definitions. The definition that
I believe fits in this sentence means to “pawn” or “trade”. So I believe there
is a man surrounded by many found, stolen, or traded gemstones.
2 2. What should we think of as an egg and not
a table?
I cannot
determine if he is trying to convince someone to think of something that is
soft or delicate like an egg, instead of being sturdy or tough like a table. Or
thinking of something as an egg because of its oval, round shape rather than a
flat surface like a table. I am not sure if the man is saying this statement
about the “hocked gems” or possibly about the ocean they are traveling, relating
to the shape of Earth.
3 3. Who are the
three sturdy sisters?
I believe the three sturdy sisters are
not people, but possibly ships, boats, or some type of transportation device. I
believe it is more likely ships or boats because of the way to discusses them
“forging over vast calmness”, which can be much like an ocean. The passage also
discusses how the ships are moving through “peaks and valleys”, which reminds
me of the opposite of a calm ocean, an ocean filled with waves from a storm.
4 4. What kind of winged creatures appeared?
I am
having difficulty with this part of the passage as well. I believe the “winged
creatures” may mean land being visible, thus having a flock of birds fly above
their ship in the ocean. I think it is land appearing because the passage seems
like they are traveling, and finally they are greeted with “monumental
success”, which means they have possibly reached their destination.
If I were
to use this passage with students, I would need to activate their comprehensive
approach to reading. This approach would be needed because it is guaranteed
that students will not know the meanings of all the words in the passage. They
must use context clues and comprehension of what they do understand to
construct meaning in this passage. I, myself, had trouble determining the
meaning of the passage, and I still may not be correct, but I did use context
clues to determine meaning to what I did understand.
I believe it may be difficult to teach
children how to use a different schema when reading a passage that requires a
certain approach, like this passage. I think students should be prepared and
asked to view the text in a certain way before reading the passage. This allows
them to prepare to use context clues, determine meanings of unfamiliar words,
and have an open mind to reading a difficult passage.
I think it is healthy to challenge
students to read outside of their comfort zone and the normal “schema” because
it makes them think on a deeper level. On the other hand, I don’t think that
students should be reading texts outside of their schemas when trying to build
fluency and comprehension. These passages will make it more difficult for them
to progress in those important reading processes.
Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI too had difficulty answering the four questions associated with the passage. I was unable to answer the questions comfortably until after I did some research and found that the passage was associated with Christopher Columbus. I am impressed by your ability to use the context clues in the passage to answer many of the questions. I like what you mentioned about how you think it is sometimes good for students to read things that may be out of there schemas because it will challenge them. Even though I found this passage to be challenging, after researching and figuring out what schema needed to be activated for understanding, I was able to make sense out of the questions and the passage. I appreciate your desire to push your students outside of their comfort zones to facilitate their learning.
Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that I had to use some context clues too. However, it looks like you had more schema than I did when answering your questions. You did a great job on really diving deep for understanding on this difficult passage. I also think it is healthy to challenge students in reading. However, I feel like we have to build their schema a little bit before we give them a text that is completely unfamiliar to them or else they might not fully comprehend it.
Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is healthy to challenge students to read outside of their normal schema, but not when reading for fluency. I also like how you said that students should be asked to view the text in a certain way before reading the text. A student should not have to blindly look at the text and just know what it is referring to. I am also impressed with your interpretation to the passage without researching what it meant. I think you did a great job at attaching meaning to what the author was trying to portray. I, on the other hand, had to actually look up with the passage meant because my schema was not being activated, clearly. Enjoyed your thoughts!
I like your reference to context clues; that skill really is essential both to understanding this passage and to being a strong reader in general. For my 9th Lit small-group class, I always give them vocab quizzes that utilize context clues instead of just definitions, synonyms, and antonyms. I pull sentences using Google News, so the context for the vocab word is always based on a current issue. I find that it really allows me to teach vocab and context clues as a skill set, not just an act of memorization. Also, for IEPs and data collection, it's very helpful to use the quiz scores because they truly reflect reading skills.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I like your point about not pushing students out of their "schema comfort zones" if the purpose of the reading is building fluency...sometimes we need to focus on just one skill at a time.