Running Header: Lost and Found
Literature Based Reading Strategies for
Lost and Found by Anne Schraff
Veronica M. Johnson
Dr. Tadayuki Suzuki
Literacy 444
Spring 2008
Abstract
Lost and
Found by Anne Schraff is one in a series of fiction books for young adults. It
is the first of thirteen books from the Bluford Series that was specially designed to gain the interest young readers. Lost and Found has captivated many students
with its suspense, realism, and the message of being a survivor. When life goes wrong, Schraff’s main character, Darcy, takes action to save everyone she loves. None of the book in this series are hard to read because they all take place at the
fictitious Bluford High School
where the students are like family. I think this book gives a great message to
young adolescents who are struggling with family, self-identity, abuse, peer pressure, and friend issues. This book has a great main character that adolescents can relate to and admire, along with a few
supporting characters that help move the story along. There are many elements
that can be used in the content area of English, including Literature and vocabulary.
The plot of Lost
and Found revolves around shy, studious, sixteen-year-old Darcy Wills. She
has only one friend, Brisana Meeks and the tow girls spend their time criticizing other students. But Darcy can’t tell Brisana her most intimate secrets: that she has a crush on shy Hakeem Randall,
or that she still feels pain over her father’s desertion of the family five years before. Darcy is increasingly worried about her fourteen-year-old sister, Jamee, who adored their father. James is dating Bobby Wallace, an older and abusive boy. After Darcy confronts her
sister about Bobby, Jamee breaks up with him and he hits her. To add to her worried,
Darcy realizes that a mysterious man is following her. Darcy’s mother loves
her daughters, but she is too exhausted from her work as a nurse and from caring for Darcy’s grandmother to give the
girls the attention they need and to notice that trouble is brewing. Darcy’s
problems escalate when she is paired with a loud girl who Darcy considers low class, she is attacked by Bobby, her father
suddenly shows up, and Jamee runs away from home. But in the end, Jamee is rescued by Darcy and their father, the family is
reunited, and Darcy finds true friends which gives her optimism to look forward to life.
The main character of Lost and Found is Darcy
Wills. Darcy is a sixteen-year-old girl who is facing a lot of life struggles. Darcy struggles with fitting in at school because some of the girls call her a snob,
even though she is just shy. She also struggles with the fact that she likes
a boy in her school but he is also shy and she doesn’t know how to approach him. Other
struggles would include: dealing with never seeing her mother due to mom’s work schedule, and being a protective big
sister to Jamee.
Lost and Found is written in first person point
of view. The entire novel is told by Darcy and centers around how she deals
with all of the problems she faces while being a high school student. These dilemmas
are the same types that every teenager faces and can help them learn how to deal with them.
The setting of Lost and Found is Bluford High School, Darcy’s home, and
the wilderness when Darcy’s sister runs away from home. These settings
can be used to open discussions with my student and tie into content literacy. My
student, Joshua, is an ESL student; therefore, we will be able to discuss the differences in school and home settings between
his native Mexico, and his home here in Kentucky.
The theme of the book is one of survival. The main character, Darcy, is trying to learn how to survive peer pressure, being
considered a snob when she is actually just very shy; surviving the disappearance of her father; surviving living in a single-parent
home; surviving the disappearance of her sister when she runs away from home; and surviving the return of her father after
a five-year absence. Darcy’s sister, Jamee, also displays the theme of
survival when she is abused by her boyfriend and when she has to fend for herself when she runs away. Their mother is a survivor in that she works full-time and is raising two girls on her own.
The
tone for Lost and Found is one of suspense. Daily life is full of suspense and
this book personifies the tone in that it incorporates challenges to everyone involved.
The most suspenseful parts of the book would be when Jamee is abused by her boyfriend, Darcy is followed by a mysterious
man and she receives a threatening note, and wondering if Jamee will be found in time.
Literature-Based Instruction Lesson Plan 1
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Name :
Veronica Johnson |
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Date of Lesson: 3/3/08 |
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Title of Book: Lost and Found |
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Student Name :
Joshua Mora |
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Time started: 3:15
Time ended: 5:15 |
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Pages Read: From 1 to 28
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Curriculum Ties: I will use the first lesson to tie in my content area of English and
Allied Arts. Since I am working with an ESL student, we will begin by discussing
both the characters and setting of the novel. Through reading the first two chapters,
the reader finds out much about the main character, Darcy, as it pertains to her school and her home life, especially how
she feels about her fathers’ absence. This will provide us an opportunity
to discuss families and member roles so that we are better able to get to know one another.
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Supplementary Materials: I will use
the LINCs organizer, skills chapter quiz, and ORQ sheet to gauge how much Joshua understood through reading the first two
chapters. We will then discuss the questions and I can provide him with feedback
on questions that he missed or did not understand. I believe this will get him
further engaged in the book and provide cues as to what he needs to look for/remember.
I will also use a PowerPoint to work on critical vocabulary and power verbs. |
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Introduction to lesson: To start the
lesson we will look at our double entry journals. Since the book is mainly set
at home and at the high school, I will talk with Joshua about his home and school. This
will not only provide me with some background information about my student, but also allow him to open up to me about his
views on school. Through our conversations, I will be able to determine what
subjects he likes and is best at, where his strengths and weaknesses lie, and what I can do to help foster his learning. |
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Vocabulary Instruction: Lesson one vocabulary words are:
brassy, and testy. For today’s lesson we will use the Previewing
in Context strategy and build on prior knowledge, a strategy found in Ch. 6, page 179 of Content
Literacy for Today’s Adolescents. First, I will introduce the words
to Joshua and then I will have him tell me what he thinks they mean. We will then find them in the selected reading for today’s
lesson and see how they are used. We will then compare what Joshua knew about
the words and how the book uses the word. I will demonstrate how it is important
to know how the word is used in context. We will do this by looking at the clues of the context. |
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Comprehension Instruction: For each
lesson, I will ask Joshua to predict or hypothesis what he thinks will happen in the next chapter. This will help Joshua retain what he has read from the previous chapter and compare his prediction to what
he actually reads in the next chapter.
Content
Instruction: After discussing the setting of the book, I feel is important to introduce Joshua to the different
elements in a story or novel. To tie in to my content area of language arts,
I will introduce the terms of plot, characters, theme, setting, tone, point of view, protagonist, antagonist, climax, etc.
in Lost and Found. I will use the following chart so that he can track changes
throughout the book. I will also use Reading Specific Verbs and Writing Specific
Verbs, taken from Support Materials for Core Content for Assessment,
Version 4.1,List of Assessment Verbs provided by the Kentucky Department of
Education to help Joshua better understand what he is reading and why. I hope
to also use these words to tie into the plot, summary, etc.
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Plot |
Character |
Theme |
Setting |
Tone |
POV |
Protagonist |
Antagonist |
Theme |
Climax |
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8 |
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Reading Specific Verbs
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Verb |
Definition |
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Connect |
Link; to show or think of as related |
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Contrast |
To examine in order to note the differences |
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Critique |
A critical review or commentary |
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Distinguish |
To recognize as being different or distinct
or to pick out |
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Formulate |
To devise or invent |
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Generalize |
To formulate general principles or inferences
from particulars |
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Locate |
To find by searching, examining |
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Paraphrase |
A rewording for the purpose of making meaning
clearer |
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Predict |
To state, tell about, or make known beforehand
by special knowledge or inference |
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Select |
To choose or pick out from among others |
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Sequence |
The following of one thing after another in
chronological, causal, or logical order |
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Skim/Scan |
To look over rapidly but thoroughly by moving
from one point to another/to look through quickly |
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Summarize |
To state the general idea in brief form |
Writing Specific
Verbs
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Verb |
Definition |
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Apply |
To put into action; utilize; to be appropriate,
suitable or relevant |
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Approximate |
To be almost the same, estimate |
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Arrange |
To put in specific order |
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Capitalize |
To print or write in capital letters |
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Choose |
To pick out |
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Clarify |
To make clear |
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Combine |
To join together |
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Communicate |
To give information by writing |
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Correct |
To make right |
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Create |
To produce |
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Describe |
To picture in words |
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Develop |
To bring into being |
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Document |
To provide with supporting references |
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Eliminate |
To take out |
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Engage |
To hold the interest |
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Establish |
To set up |
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Evaluate |
To join or determine the worth |
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Guide |
To lead |
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Identify |
To recognize |
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Incorporate |
To include |
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Justify |
To supply reasons |
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Select |
To choose |
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Sustain |
To maintain |
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Use |
To put into action |
Comprehension Skill Questions
A. Vocabulary in Context
1. In the following excerpt, what does the word brassy mean?
Not Tarah!
Not that big, chunky girl with the brassy voice who squeezed
herself into tight skirts and wore lime green
or hot pink satin tops and
cheap jewelry.
a. soft and pleasant
c. loud and bold
b. having a foreign accent d. hard to understand
2.
In the following excerpt, what does the word testy mean?
[Darcy said,] “I didn’t
know you drew stuff.”
“I do lots of things you don’t
know about,” Tarah said in a testy voice.
a. irritated
c. amused
b. sad
d. frightened
B. Supporting Details
3. The following words
were said by
a. Darcy Wills
c. Aunt Charlotte
b. Brisana Meeks
d. Tarah Carson
“You don’t have to say it, girl. It’s in your eyes. You think I’m a low-life
and you’re something special. Well, I got more friends than you got fingers
and toes together.
You got no friends, and everybody laughs at you behind
your back. Know
what the word on you is? Darcy Willis give you the chills.”
4.
The following words were said by
a. Darcy Wills
c. Aunt Charlotte
b. Brisana Meeks
d. Tarah Carson
“Ms. Reed stuck me with Lori
Samson. What a fool! And she has that
terrible case of zits too! I think Ms. Reed resents pretty girls because she’s so
plain-looking. Can you imagine what she looked like when she was a teenager?”
5.
The following words were said by
a. Bobby Wallace
c. Cooper Hodden
b. Hakeem Randall
d. Jamee Wills
“I got me a girl who’ll
do anything for me, you hear what I’m sayin’? She in the store and I say, ‘Grab me that,’ and she
will, ‘cause she do anything I ask, see? She crazy ‘bout me, you hear me?”
Short Answer Open-Response Questions
- What was Darcy’s and Jamee’s relationship like in the past? How has it changed?
- How does Darcy feel about Hakeem Randall?
- How did Jamee respond when her father first left the family? What did she do rather than believe that he had abandoned
them?
- From overhearing Bobby Wallace talking, what does Darcy learn that Jamee has been doing? What does Darcy worry that Jamee might become involved in later?
LINCS Vocabulary-**See attached
Literature-Based Instruction Lesson
Plan 2
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Name: Veronica Johnson |
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Date of Lesson: 3/4/08 |
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Title of Book: Lost and Found |
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Student Name: Joshua Mora |
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Time started: 3:15 Time ended: 5:15 |
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Pages Read: From 29 to 57
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Curriculum Ties: I will be using a skills test I designed to see if Joshua understood
the main idea for chapters 3 and 4, along with a writing assignment that requires him to give advice to a “Dear Abby”
type letter. Along with this lesson, we will also be discussing conflict and
what type of conflict Darcy and her family face. This will lead into a discussion
on the different types of conflict, conflicts Joshua has faced, and conflicts his family has faced due to being in a foreign
country. |
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Supplementary Materials: Today Show
article, “Kids Facing Peer Pressure-How to Battle Back”, from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5897077/. This article focuses on the types of peer pressure
children face and gives parents a guide on what to do and what not to do. I feel
that this is appropriate for Joshua to read so that we can discuss peer pressures that lead to family conflicts. |
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Introduction to lesson: Joshua and
I will once again begin by looking at our journal entries. My entry relates to
advice we get from others and give to others. This will set up a discussion about
friends, peer pressure, and how our moods affect those around us. |
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Vocabulary Instruction: Today’s vocabulary words are: sullen and lumber. Today I will have Joshua use the dictionary to define the words.
I will use the strategy in Ch. 6, pages 181-183 of Content Literacy for Today’s
Adolescents on using the dictionary. After I aid him in using the dictionary
we will then find the sentences where they are used in the book. I will then
help Joshua by demonstrating how to determine which definition is used in the sentence.
Often words have more than one definition and I will show Joshua how to use context clues to determine which definition
is being used. This is a continuation of the lesson we worked on yesterday |
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Comprehension Instruction: In this lesson I will use a comprehension skill question handout
to help Joshua understand conflict and supporting details of what we read. My
student and I will take turns generating questions and summarizing. This is when
we will discuss the strategies on peer pressure from the Today Show article. After
reading the article, I will summarize how our friends can influence our decisions and Joshua will summarize from the reading
of Lost and Found how Darcy’s decisions were influenced by her friends.
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Kid facing peer pressure? How to battle back
Being ‘cool’ is a temptation for many kids.
Dr. Gail Saltz has tactics to deal with kids’ desire to follow the crowd
By Dr. Gail Saltz
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 5:01 p.m. CT, Tues., Aug.
1, 2006
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Dr. Gail Saltz
TODAY Contributor
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Q: My 11-year-old
daughter wants to be one of the “cool” kids. “Cool” to me looks like rudeness and bad behavior. She’ll
be in class with them when school starts, and I fear they are a bad influence. How can I keep her away from them?
A: As you know,
peer pressure is a big influence at this stage, which is normal. Kids goad on other kids to engage in all sorts of behavior.
This can be dangerous or undesirable, like smoking, drinking, lying, shoplifting, skipping class and being mean to the uncool
kids. Or it can be positive, like joining a club or sports team, or trying out for the school play.
It’s hard for a preteen to turn down a chance to join the cool group.
Then again, some negative behaviors are worse than others. So prepare yourself, and your daughter, before school starts. Here
are some strategies:
Encourage your daughter to have lots of activities.
When kids
are idle, that’s when they hang out. Fill her time with productive activities, which gives her a social outlet and limits
unstructured time for getting into trouble.
Be a source of information.
Remind
your daughter that actions have consequences: bad grades, car accidents, interference by police. Tell her that you’re
worried about the long term, and open a dialog: “I’ve seen this happen; what do you think?” “In this
situation, what would you do?”
Don’t lecture or nag.
Too
many reprimands may well drive her into the crowd you are trying to avoid or incite her to be spiteful and rebellious.
Give her coping strategies.
In order to appear cool, your daughter might find it hard to get out of situations she’s uncomfortable with. “Just
say no” rarely works. Prepare her with ways of distancing herself from a tough situation while still saving face. Some
examples:
- Humor: “Beer tastes
like dishwater. I’d rather have a Diet Coke.”
- Flattery: “You are
so cool — let’s shop for clothes instead of hanging out. I’d love your advice.”
- Shifting the blame: “My
mom would kill me if I smelled of cigarette smoke. It’s not worth it.”
Decide on a code word.
If
your daughter can’t talk openly, the code word will signal she needs you. For example, if she calls and says, “Mother,
it’s me,” instead of, “Mom, it’s me,” you will know she can give only yes-no answers or needs
you to pick her up.
Bail her out.
No
matter what the circumstances, bail her out without punishing her. For example, let her know that no matter how late it is
or how busy you are, you will pick her up if she needs you. It will both save her from potentially difficult situations and
improve the bond between you. And don’t complain when she does it. This is what she should
be doing. Give her positive reinforcement — “I’m glad you called instead of riding with a drunk driver and
ending up in a ditch.”
Know her friends.
Maybe
the kids you are worrying about are actually terrific. Sometimes that green hair tops a very sweet person. But if they are
a fast crowd, you are on tougher ground. Make a point to meet their parents. If you aren't comfortable with their values,
be alert to subtle opportunities to point out long-term consequences:
“I see that Sally smokes, which isn’t surprising because her mom
smokes. And with that terrible cough, I’d be worried about lung cancer.” Or “Sally seems to drink a lot.
Her parents do, too, and it seems they are having trouble holding down jobs because of that.”
The idea is to plant the idea in her head that there are repercussions for
short-term choices.
Pick your battles.
If you fight over every hairstyle and piercing, your daughter will tune you out when it comes to the big stuff. Kids
this age need to express themselves and rebel, so if your daughter isn’t doing anything harmful in the long run, let
it go. If she dyes her hair blue but doesn’t take drugs, you are doing a pretty good job.
Dr. Gail’s Bottom Line: If your daughter does have less-than-desirable friends, there are ways to
minimize their negative influence.
Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist with
New York Presbyterian
Hospital and a regular contributor to “Today.” Her new book,
“Becoming Real: Overcoming the Stories We Tell Ourselves That Hold Us Back,” was recently published by Riverhead
Books. For more information, you can visit her Web site, www.drgailsaltz.com.
Main Idea
1. The main idea
of the excerpt below is that
a.
Darcy dreads the long bus trip
b.
The trip by car takes less than half an hour
c.
The trip involves changes buses.
Darcy dreaded the long bus trip home. By car, the trip took about twenty-five minutes.
But by the time she changed buses, the trip home would take an hour and a half.
2.
The main idea of the excerpt below is that
a. Darcy, Tarah, and Cooper have started
off on the wrong foot with each other.
b. Darcy has not been able to get enough
pictures and notes.
c. it has turned out to be an awful
day
What an awful day this had
turned out to be! She had tried to make the best of Tarah as a project partner. She had tried to be nice to her and Cooper.
Look what happened! She had planned to take home loads of pictures and
a notebook full of good information. All she had were a few pictures and hardly
any notes. Worse yet, that stranger seemed to threaten her.
Writing Assignment
Pretend you are an advice columnist, like
Dear Ay or Ann Landers. You’ve received the following letter. Write a reply to the letter, giving the best advice you can.
Dear Abby,
My best friend-really my only friend-is a girl named Brisana. We’ve known
each other for years. Mostly what we do together is laugh at other kids in our
school and talk about what
losers they are. This makes me feel uncomfortable.
Lately I’m becoming
friends with some of the kids who Brisana and I used to call
losers. When Brisana seems me talking with them, she tells
me I’m going to end
up a loser just like them. I don’t want to lose Brisana’s friendship, but I’d like to
get to know some other
people, too. What do you think I should do?
Darcy
Discussion Question
Brisana and Darcy rated their classmates
on a scale of one to ten. Think about this two-part question:
1.
In what ways do students classify each other at your school?
Do students rank
each other according to interests,
looks, activities, grades, family income, way of dressing, or something else?
2.
Why do high school students tend to classify one another at all?
What purpose does such classification serve?
Vocabulary Words
Sullen-Your
definition:
Dictionary definition:
How was it used in the novel?
Write your own sentence using the word:
Lumber-Your
definition:
Dictionary definition:
How was it used in the novel?
Write your own sentence using the word:
Literature-Based Instruction Lesson
Plan 3
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Name: Veronica Johnson |
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Date of Lesson: 03/5/08 |
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Title of Book: Lost and Found |
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Student Name: Joshua Mora |
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Time started: 3:15 Time ended:
5:15 |
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Pages Read: From 58 to 84 |
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Curriculum Ties: The topic for today’s discussion will be on the plot of the
novel. Joshua and I will discuss what a plot is and I will look for an understanding
that the plot is a sequence of events that move the story and give a reason why things happen throughout the book. |
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Supplementary Materials: The handout
provided will help Joshua understand how every novel has a plot, and what a plot consists of.
We will discuss the plot of other stories he has read and how plots move the story.
Joshua should be able to pick out the main idea of each chapter and how this ties into the plot. |
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Introduction to lesson: For today’s
lesson, my student and I will start by discussing our journal entries. I will use several quotes for Joshua to contemplate. I want him to see how they pertain to the reading for Chapters 5 and 6, and tie into
the plot of the story, as well as provide critical thinking on my students’ behalf.
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Vocabulary Instruction: The vocabulary words for this lesson are as follows: agitated and dazed. I will use the possible sentence strategy from Chapter 6, pages 180-181 of Content Literacy for Today’s Adolescents with my student. I
will have Joshua write a possible sentence for each word. We will then look at the passage in the book and discuss how it
was used. Joshua will write new sentence with each word and we will discuss the
how he used the word, making sure he has a clear understanding of how certain words can mean a variety of things, when to
use each word, and how to correctly use each word. Since Joshua is an ESL student, he has a hard time understanding how one word can mean different things. This exercise will hopefully help Joshua understand this concept and be able to expand
his vocabulary. |
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Comprehension Instruction: Vocabulary is hard for Joshua to learn; therefore, I will use a LINCS Vocabulary chart to help his vocabulary retention. This chart provides the word, a reminding word, how it LINCS to the story, a LINCing
picture, and a definition. We will also go back and insert our previous vocabulary
words into this chart. |
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Content Instruction: In this lesson I will use information from Chapter
10, pages 348-349 of Content Literacy for Today’s Adolescents to look at
different pictures that will tie into the plot, setting, and tone/mood of the book.
This will help my student gain more insight on what authors and artists are trying to convey through their work. In an effort to determine whether my student understands the material that I am covering,
I will provide a flashcard activity by holding up different pictures and asking Joshua the suggested mood, or tone, for the
particular picture. All of the pictures were found on the internet at http://pictures.ask.com . |
Vocabulary
Write two sentences using
the vocabulary words agitated and dazed.
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
Plot-Discuss how the following questions help move the plot along.
How does Jamee say her face got bruised? What
does Darcy think really happened?
Who is the man in the silver Toyota? When Darcy finds out how it is, what does she tell the police to tell him?
What do Cooper and his friends do when they see
Bobby attacking Darcy?
Literature-Based Instruction Lesson
Plan 4
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Name: Veronica Johnson |
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Date of Lesson: 03/6/08 |
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Title of Book: Lost and Found |
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Student Name: Joshua Mora |
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Time started: 3:15 Time ended: 5:15 |
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Pages Read: From 85 to 112 |
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Curriculum Ties: Lost and Found finds Darcy struggling with her fathers’ reappearance
in her life after a five-year absence, her sister being abused by her boyfriend when she breaks up with him, and subsequently
her sister running away from home. We will work on the theme of the story, survival,
and how it relates to our everyday lives. |
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Supplementary Materials: I will use
a handout with a variety of questions used to determine Joshua’s comprehension of what we have read thus far. This will prepare him for the final two chapters of our book and how we he has comprehended the materials. The questions on the handout will allow Joshua to predict possible conclusions for
the novel. |
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Introduction to lesson: As with each
lesson Joshua and I will begin instruction with our journals. From my quote in
my journal the student and I should be able to see how things that we all go through can affect others around us. |
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Vocabulary Instruction: The vocabulary words for this lesson are: squirm and ecstatic. I will once again teach these words in context as our
text suggest, but this time I will only do one word with Joshua and I will observe him and facilitate as he uses the
context to decipher the meaning of the words. Previewing in context is a strategy
from Chapter 6, page 179-180 of Content Literacy for Today’s Adolescents,
which I used in an earlier lesson. This will show me if he is more familiar and
confident with this strategy. |
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Comprehension Instruction: For comprehension
instruction, I will use a process called, What, So What, Now What. This process will help my student make predictions and inferences as to what he has read thus far and
what he thinks the outcome will be. After reading the material, I will give my student the handout and ask him to complete
it, and then we will go over it together in great detail. |
Vocabulary
Ecstatic: My sentence-I am ecstatic
at the thought of graduating from college. My definition: happy, elated
Squirm: Student sentence- _______________________________________
Student definition:
Theme
We have determined that the theme of our novel
is survival. From what we have read, thus far, fill in the blanks for the following:
Observing and Recalling
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What do you remember about
how Jamee felt when her father left?
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What did their mother do to
provide for her family?
Relationships, Summarizing, Organizing, and
Retelling
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Tell me in your own words how
Darcy and Brisana treated others.
·
What happened to cause Darcy
to rethink her views about her classmates?
·
What things/events lead up
to her change of mind?
Predicting, Inferring, and Anticipating
·
What do you think are some
of the reasons/causes that their dad returned?
·
What feeling do you think made
Jamee act as she did after her boyfriend abused her and her father returned?
·
Judging from the first 8 chapters,
what do you think is going to happen? How will the book end?
What have I learned?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So What?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now What?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
Literature-Based Instruction Lesson
Plan 5
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Name: Veronica Johnson |
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Date of Lesson: 03/10/08 |
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Title of Book: Lost and Found |
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Student Name: Joshua Mora |
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Time started: 3:15 Time ended: 5:15 |
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Pages Read: From 113 to 133 (end of book) |
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Curriculum Ties: Today I will use writing strategies to connect my language arts content.
It is important that Joshua know how to summarize the importance of the overall theme of this book. I will ask Joshua to use his entry journal today so that he can write down any final questions that he
may have about the novel. We will go over any of the questions in an oral discussion.
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Supplementary Materials: Today’s
final lesson, I will go over the previous handouts, worksheets, our double-entry journals, etc. that we have been using and
conclude with a final worksheet on conclusions to gauge Joshua’s comprehension and retention of the novel. |
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Introduction to lesson: I will begin
this final lesson with an activity to check for prior knowledge, or learning. We
will begin by going over the study guide that he completed in the last session. We
will then look at our double entry journal and I will ask Joshua to predict what he believes will be the outcome of the story. After finishing the novel, we will see if his prediction is correct and then complete
the handouts I have provided. |
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Vocabulary Instruction: The words
for today’s reading are: anguished and manic. To help Joshua better understand the vocabulary words, I will use the contextual analysis technique that
I used in a previous lesson, to help him better understand the meanings of these unfamiliar words. We will read the pages and when we come across a key word, we will pause, write the word down, and then
determine an alternative meaning for the word. I will also inform Joshua that
he is to write down any other words in which he does not understand and we will discuss them as they appear in the text. |
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Comprehension Instruction: I will
fulfill this aspect of the lesson through the use of a handout. It will consist
of questions about the events which led up to the climax of the story. Joshua
is to determine both the events and the climax, writing down the conclusion of the story in his own words. All of this will take place after the reading is complete. While
discussing the events that take place in the story, we will also be able to discuss different aspects of the story such as
self-image, abuse, peer pressure, etc. We will also use the process guide and
question-answer techniques to further understand the novel. |
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Content Instruction: I am going to
have Joshua complete a follow-up activity that will allow him to work on his writing skills by discussing three of Darcy’s
friends and adding supporting details on what makes them a good friend. The Guided Paragraph assignment will allow Joshua
to review the book and draw his own conclusions. |
Vocabulary
Anguished
Student definition:
Dictionary definition:
Synonyms:
Student sentence:
Manic
Student definition:
Dictionary definition:
Synonyms:
Student sentence:
Conclusions
You can conclude from the following excerpt
that
a. Darcy’s
father has fallen on hard times
b. Darcy’s
father left his family because he wanted to live in his car
c. Darcy’s father has
piled all this stuff in his car in order to make Darcy feel sorry for him
[Darcy] and Hakeem squeezed into the front
seat of her father’s car. Judging by the clutter on the back seat, he had
been living there. Shirts and pants were piled next to stuffed bags and boxes.
What can you conclude from the fact that
Jamee might “go to the last place where she felt truly happy”?
a.
someone would surely look for her there
b.
she might feel happy again there
c.
She could find a cabin there to stay in
“…Grandma was talking about
the mountains just now and how Jamee was so happy there. I think maybe she’d
go to the last place where she felt truly happy,” Darcy explained.
Guided Paragraph Assignment
Write a paragraph in which you provide
supporting evidence to back up the following.
1.
Decide on which three characters show themselves to be Darcy’s friends.
Write their names: _________________, __________________, ___________________
2.
Freewrite for five minutes about each friend. Use the book to gain more
information to support your details.
3. Write a rough draft of your paragraph. Use the information below to organize your paragraph.
Three Good Friends
In the course
of the book, three people prove themselves to be Darcy’s friends. One character
who behaves as a good friend is _____________. (Add supporting details)
A second person
who acts as a friend for Darcy is _________________. (Add supporting details)
A final character
who turns out to be a good friend for Darcy is __________________. (Add supporting
details)
Hint: Be sure to use transitions to help organize your paragraph. Transitions include such words such as one,
second, next, and finally. Transitions are word signals that make clear to
the reader each new part of your paragraph.
Journal Entry #1
Date: 3/3/08
Time: 3:15-5:15
Place: Russellville High School Library
Chapters 1-2
Darcy Wills winded
at the loud rap music coming from her sister’s room.
My rhymes were rockin’
MC’s were droppin’
People shoutin’ and hip-hoppin’
Step to me and you’ll be inferior
‘Cause I’m your lyrical superior. (pg.1)
Darcy went to Grandma’s
room. The darkened room smelled of lilac perfume, Grandma’s favorite…
Darcy headed down the
street toward Bluford High School. It was not a terrible neighborhood they lived in; it just was not good. Many front yards were not cared for. Debris-fast food wrappers,
plastic bags, old newspapers-blew around and piled against fences and curbs. Darcy
hated that. Sometimes she and other kids from school spent Saturday mornings
cleaning up, but it seemed a losing battle. Now, as she walked, she tried to
focus on small spots of beauty along the way. Mrs. Walker’s pink and white
roses bobbed proudly in the morning breeze. The Hustons’ rock garden was
carefully designed around a wooden windmill. (p.4)
Since the book begins in the family apartment
and then moves from the neighborhood to the high school, I used these quotes to demonstrate and show the setting, as well
as the atmosphere.
Darcy felt as if her
teeth were glued to her tongue. She fumbled in her bag for her outline of the
project. It all seemed like a horrible joke now.
She and Tarah Carson standing knee-deep in the muck of a tidal pool! (p.8)
I believe the student will read and
question what a tidal pool is and this will peak his interest to learn. I think
my student, Joshua, will also wonder about the science project and what kinds of things live in the tidal pools.
Journal Entry #2
Date:
3/4/08
Time:
3:15-5:15
Place:
Russellville High School
Library
Chapters 3-4
“Give me a break, Darcy! Don’t tell me you like them? I mean, it’s just
like my father says, ‘If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.’
Those two are low class. I don’t know what my parents would even
do if I brought home trash like Tarah Carson.” (p. 53)
When first reading this passage I
figured that Joshua would ask what the quote ‘If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas’ means. With the language and cultural barrier, there are a lot of words and sayings that
he doesn’t understand. This was an excellent chapter to discuss friends,
peer pressure, advice, and how our moods affect others. This was the perfect
time to bring in the report from TodayShow.com pertaining to talking to your children about peer pressure.
Journal Entry #3
Date: 3/5/08
Time:
3:15-5:12
Place: Russellville High School Library
Chapters 5-6
“Let bygones be bygones,” Grandma
always used to say. “Carrying grudges is like carrying an open flame in
your pocket. It’s gonna burn you before it burns anybody else.” (p. 59)
From reading the leading passages,
Joshua and I were able to discuss “old sayings” and what they really meant.
By doing this, Joshua is learning not to take everything that is said to his so literally. With the language barrier, he would normally read this passage, take it literally, and then he would be
confused throughout the remainder of the book.
Journal Entry #4
Date:
3/6/08
Time:
3:15-5:15
Place: Russellville High School Library
Chapters 7-8
Darcy had been ashamed to talk about her
vanished father. Nothing truly awful ever happened in Brisana’s life. It happened only among the “low-life” people. In their world, fathers ran away, people drank too much, there was poverty.
Darcy had hidden her pain from Brisana, so Brisana would not think she was a “low-life” too. But Darcy ached to talk, really talk with a friend about how bad she felt (p. 89)
From this passage Joshua and I are
better able to learn how our actions, and the actions of those around us, can affect a lot of lives.
Journal Enry#5
Date: 3/10/08
Time: 3:15-5:15
Place: Russellville High School Library
Chapters 9-10
Sunday was rainy and cold. The chilly wind from the night before brought in a thick dark blanket of clouds. By midday, the sky looked like doom, as if it had never been blue and would never be blue again. Darcy could not remember a time in her life when she had ever been so depressed, except for when her father
had left. But even then there was anger mixed with grief. Now there was only sorrow and relentless fear. She could not
find it within herself to blame Jamee for what she had done. Jamee was hurt,
and in her own mind it must have seemed there was nothing to do but try to outrun the pain. (p.125)
This quote pertains to the multiple
dilemmas Darcy has faced and continues to face. Joshua and I will discuss what
has happened so far and he will predict what he believes the outcome of the book will be. We will read surrounding passages
to help us as we conclude this book.
References
Brozo, W.G., & Simpson, M.L. (2007). Content literacy for today’s adolescents: Honoring diversity and
building competence (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-228671-8
Allen, J. (2004). Tools for teaching for content literacy. Portland, Maine:
Stenhouse Publishers. ISBN-10: 1571103805, ISBN-13: 978-1571103802
Strong, Richard W. (2007). Lessons from the Thoughtful Classroom. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from Lessons from the
Thoughtful Classroom Web site: http://www.thoughtfulclassroom.com/index.php
Saltz, Dr. Gail (August 1, 2006). Kids facing peer pressure? How to battle back. TodayShow.com, Retrieved February
15, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5897077/.
Reflection on Field Experience Using Lost and Found by Anne Schraff
My student, Joshua, and I met the following dates
and times: March 3, 3:15-5:15, March 4, 3:15-5:15, March 5, 3:15-5:15, March
6, 3:15-5:15, and March 10, 3:15-5:15, which totals ten hours of field experience.
Joshua is a fourteen-year-old freshman at Russellville High School. He has been attending public school in the United States
for the past four years, with the first three being at an elementary school in Springfield,
TN. Before that, Joshua attended
school in his native Mexico. Joshua stated that when he graduates high school he would like to return to Mexico for college.
Joshua’s
number one strength in literacy is that he enjoys the English language and has a willingness and desire to learn. As is evident in the attached copies of his double-entry journal, his English, especially in writing, is
still not as developed as most students his age. In addition to this, his vocabulary
is limited because English is a second language for him and he has a hard time understanding how some of our words can have
several different meanings. Slang has also been very hard for him to comprehend. Even though I incorporated two vocabulary words for each lesson, there were a lot
of times the Joshua would stop and ask me about a particular word. This led to
some wonderful discussions about words, old sayings that are passed on from generation to generation, and slang because he
did not understand words used in our book, such as “ain’t”. Joshua
doesn’t mind reading out loud, when asked, but will not volunteer to do so because he is a slow reader and still struggles
with pronunciation. I think that Joshua, through our field experience, began
to open up to me while discussing Lost and Found because we were able to talk about my extensive study of Spanish in middle
school, high school, and college. We talked about how both languages are difficult
to understand and even harder to learn. We both commented on the fact that the
other talks very fast; therefore, that makes it even harder for us to understand each other.
Joshua stated that sometimes his teachers speak to fast and that is why he feels his grades are not as good as they
could be. This fact made me learn to slow down how fast I read, and to have more
patience when he was reading. Due to this, I believe that he enjoyed our lessons
and feels a little more comfortable with his reading abilities. I believe he
is below average on his reading level for his age range due to the language barrier, but he likes to be challenged so that
he can learn; therefore, I tried to incorporate lessons that would challenge his thinking.
A teacher of Joshua’s would need to be understanding of the language barrier and willing to give further explanations
for every lesson. This may pose a problem but there are resources in most schools
for ESL students.
Lost and Found was a wonderful book to teach
comprehension strategies and content material in Language Arts. Peer pressure
and race are a big part of this book; therefore, giving a wide variety of vocabulary words to work with, in addition to the
slang.
As for instructional changes while using this
book again for teaching, I would probably incorporate even more of the vocabulary words, provide a wider range of worksheets
to show how the vocabulary words can be used in a sentence, synonyms, definitions, etc., and use more activities to involve
students in group discussions.
I feel that I met the needs of my student by
keeping the lessons interesting, adding supplemental literature to the lesson plans, and keeping him engaged in thought-provoking
discussions about nationalities, race, peer pressure, and real-life situations. I
believe Joshua became more confident in his responses to the comprehension activities by being able to talk them out first. I hope that he will be able to use the lessons he has learned to help him be more
tolerant with people that are different and will someday take these lessons back with him to Mexico.
JOURNAL ENTRY #4
3/6/08
