It is vitally important for students to have opportunities where they can hear stories from expert readers, talk about elements of the stories with their peers, and have a chance to retell stories in their own words. To become a great reader, it is essential for a reader to understand character development, plot, setting and theme so that they can properly organize and sequence the events taking place in a story.
Character development is all about understanding and analyzing character. This can be especially tricky for younger readers and it could be beneficial to ask them if they think the author is like the main character, why or why not? Authors rarely tell readers something along the lines of "Marty is an extremely smart boy," or that, "Harry is a courageous wizard". We must challenge our students to tell us exactly HOW and WHY Marty is smart and Harry courageous.
Young readers learn about the plot and setting in an simplified, linear way. There's the beginning, middle, and end. As students age, they become capable of understanding more complex explanations of plot. And although still linear, technical terms like climax, or resolution are coined and the teacher places a stronger emphasis on how characters influence the plot. A good question to ask in order to make sure that your students are understanding the plot/setting is: Why is the setting/plot essential to the story?
When educating students on themes it's important to instill in your students mind that it's the message of the story, not the plot. When teaching this, remember to use universal theme examples, like the ever popular "don't judge a book by its cover". Using this as a theme and then relating it to multiple stories and help students distinguish differences between themes and plots.
Ideally, you'd want all your students to become great readers. You'd want them to be able to visit places that they'd otherwise never be able to go and meet people that they'd otherwise never get to meet. Using literacy as a window to peer into the lives of others and to get a better understanding of stories, that in turn, will help readers better understand themselves and the world around them.
When I was reading, distinguishing the plot always helped me to remember the story longer. I think pointing out things like Beginning, Middle, and End for younger students and Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution for older students, makes the story stick in their minds. It allows them to pinpoint the most important aspects that propelled the story forward and it lasts with them longer than merely reading the story.
ReplyDeleteI also like the point about using universal themes as examples. By constantly reminding students about a list of themes, it can help propel their thinking. It's not enough for a students to just say "the theme of this story is never judge a book by its cover." The point is for them to explain WHY this is a good theme for the story. This means that teachers can give students lists of universal themes because the most important part is explaining why it works.