Pyramid Reading - Master Plan Pyramid Reading is founded upon
the idea that scaffolding is the key. Just like grammar and
writing, reading skills should be learned in a logical, sequential
order. The purpose of Pyramid Reading is to make this process
completely clear.Beginning with, LITERARY ANALYSIS: Foundational
Skills, this unit pyramid represents the ten complete reading units
that make up an English course. Each unit in Pyramid Reading builds
upon the next. Within these units, the reading skills required for
mastery are built upon each other as well. Finally, for every skill
in every pyramid there are multiple teaching resources available
which are themselves scaffolded. When all of this comes together,
the complete picture of a comprehensive and effective English class
becomes clear.Implementation Guide So now that we know what to
teach and when, how do we do it? Underneath each unit pyramid there
are graphic organizers that address each skill in each pyramid.
Follow the simple steps below to put these tools to use in your
classroom! 1. Choose reading materials that are age-appropriate and
ability-appropriate.2. Start with the first skill at the bottom of
the first unit pyramid and locate the graphic organizers under the
unit pyramid that address this skill. 3. Make double-sided copies
of the graphic organizer. Yes, you can print and make copies of
these - as long as you don't try to sell them or tell people that
you made them.4. Introduce the reading skill. Model for the
students how to complete the graphic organizer by using real-world,
relevant, appropriate topics. It will help to have a document
camera or overhead transparency so that the students can see how
this is done. 5. Read the literature in whatever method you prefer.
Stop strategically to fill out sections of the graphic organizer as
a whole class, in small groups or in pairs. Make sure everyone is
on target. 6. After reading, ask the students to complete the
graphic organizer on the back independently. This is your
assessment for learning. 7. Check their work. If they got it, move
on to the next skill. If they didn't, go back and try again using a
new graphic organizer or reading materials. 8. Many skills can and
should be re-taught strategically throughout the school-year.
Primarily, these include the literary analysis skills found in unit
one. Unit 1: Literary Analysis: Foundational Skills It is essential
to begin by addressing the foundational literary analysis skills
that will be used throughout the course. This pyramid begins where
research shows is most effective, summarizing, and scaffolds up to
evaluation. As with every skill in every unit, do not move up the
pyramid until mastery of the previous skills are achieved. The key
to this unit is to re-teach these skills often throughout the
school-year using more and more complex reading materials. Unit 2:
Elements of Literature: Introduction The journey towards fully
comprehending grade-level reading materials begins by asking and
answering the questions: who, what, when, where and why? This
pyramid begins that process. Unit 3: Character Development We now
dig deeper into the question: who?In doing so, we also begin to
answer the question: why? Unit 4: Plot Studying plot is essentially
a way to make sense out of a complete literary work. The best
method for doing so is to read the story first while stopping along
the way to summarize, make predictions, draw conclusions, etc.
Afterwards, by teaching and utilizing the elements of plot,
students can thoroughly analyze the work by breaking it down into
its component parts. In doing so, they can examine how these
elements make up the over-all structure of the story. Unit 5:
Elements of Literature This pyramid begins by examining how
different characters and the reader can experience similar events
in different ways. It ends with making connections between literary
works and life. Once again, it is essential that each skill is
mastered prior to moving on - even if it requires more than a week
to adequately teach and learn. Unit 6: Author's Purpose The truly
powerful aspect to the 'author's purpose' unit is that when it is
complete, students will be able to recognize how authors,
politicians, advertisers and the media in general are able to
manipulate them. As such, they become more empowered readers and
thinkers. Unit 7: Informational Text Informational Text includes
history textbooks, newspaper articles, flyers and brochures. The
key to the process is to remember that few of these resources are
entirely factual. History, as someone said, is written by the
victors. Therefore, to fully explore informational text, a student
needs to employ the critical reading skills learned in the
'Author's Purpose' unit along with many of the literary analysis
skills mastered in units 1-5. Unit 8: Theme Just like main ideas,
themes are seldom directly stated. In order to accurately determine
a theme, students need to be able to employ every reading skill
learned up until this point. Theme represents the highest purpose
of literature. It is that often intangible feeling inside us that
we take away from a great novel or film. How do we find that and
put it into words? The answer is through deep analysis and higher
order thinking. Unit 9: Figurative Language It's hard enough to
teach students to make sense of the literal words on the page.
Figurative language requires students to take those words and
re-interpret them in a new way. At this point, we are very deep
into an English/Language Arts course. However, if every skill has
been thoroughly taught and learned up until this point, students
are now ready to begin this unit. Unit 10: Elements of Poetry It
has all been leading to this. Poetry is saved for last because it
is the most difficult genre of literature to comprehend. Further,
many of the reading skills that students have mastered up until
this point - tone, theme, figurative language, etc. - all come back
into play in analyzing and making sense of poetry. This is where
the scaffolded journey ends.