young literary scholars
DESCRIPTION
The "say something" technique used with This Quiet LadyTRANSCRIPT
Young Literary Scholars at Work:
Interpreting Picture Storybooks
Dr. Lea M. McGee
University of Alabama
Today we will
1. Use the “I notice, I wonder” strategy to interpret a picture book during an interactive read aloud to practice “critical thinking”
2. Recognize interpretation (“critical thinking”) in children’s Grand Conversations
3. Consider HOW teachers can support children’s interpretation (“critical thinking”)
Nothing in a picture storybook is merely “for decoration”.
Everything, everything in a picture book contributes to meaning.
Interactive Read Alouds
“ I notice” “I wonder”
A strategy for saying something that will lead to interpretation
(critical thinking)
I notice
This reminds
me of
I wonder
I’m going to
catch that
spark
**I’m thinking that**
What is interpretation?
Interpretation emerges from our considerations of
Points to Notice
Good readers of literature intuitively find points to notice.
Good teachers of literature make explicit how to find points to notice.
Points to Notice in This Quiet Lady
Repetition: The same words, images, or events seen more than once
A “woman and little girl in a garden”
A photograph frame.
More repetition
Looking at photographs.
Patterns: Elements repeated in an order
Smaller and larger sized illustrations
Shades and hues in illustrations
Mother ages in years in each illustration
while girl does not age at all
Ruptures: where patterns are broken
We see the girl’s face.
The shaded illustration becomes hued.
The pattern of words is broken.
The UnexpectedIllustrations of “today” in shades, NOT hues
The backs of heads, NOT faces
Mother is only in photographs, NOT in illustrations with
little girl
Children’s Interpretation
Children’s Interpretation
Grand Conversation about Rosie’s WalkA first grade class in South Boston
No instruction in points to notice
Grand Conversation
Interpretive Questioncannot be answered directly from text
requires inferences and logical reasoning
more than one answer can be justified
****
During this Grand Conversation,Children
Talk about events reference to a single event
Talk about the story statements that summarize several events
Attempt to interpret statements that explore “why”
Three Interpretations of Rosie’s Walk
1. Really dumb hen and an accident- prone fox
2. Scared hen and a fox who can’t get it done
3. A really, really tricky hen who makes sure the fox gets his due
Children’s Interpretation continued
Children’s Interpretation continued
Grand Conversation about Wreck of the Zephyr
Fourth grade in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Early instruction in literary devices as points to notice
***
During this Grand Conversation,
We see something new in Children’s Talk
They notice literary devices
They attempt to analyze and interpret literary devices
Points to Notice
Provide “paths” for getting inside a story.
Engage children in higher level thinking.
Help children move beyond
comprehension into interpretation.
To Support Interpretation, Teachers
Help children pause and notice Help children articulate what they notice Help children “wonder” why Help children interpret (“I’m thinking”) a
meaning about what they notice
What is interpretation?Interpretation is
discovering the essence of a story
by
delving deeper, and peeling away the layers
to uncover what lies beneath.