| Story
Impressions |
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Reading Skills
- Establishing a purpose
for reading
- Forming an overall impression
of the text through predictions
Overview of the "Story
Impressions" Strategy
The teacher chooses key words,
phrases, or concepts from several chapters and lists
them in the order in which they appear in the chapters.
The list will normally consist of 10 to 15 items. Students
should be given enough words to form an impression of
the chapters but not so many that they are able to create
entire episodes that they will encounter in reading.
Activity for the "Story
Impressions" Strategy
- Make a list of words similar
to the following found in chapters 1 and 2 of Wish
You Well:
- Lou Cardinal
- notebook
- Oz Cardinal
- story-teller
- California
- choice
- family
- Virginia
- Grandmother
- mountains
- fatal picnic
- Amanda's eyes closed
- Now present the words in
a linked order by displaying the words in a vertical
line with arrows connecting one word to the next.
The students should see that the words must be used
in a particular order. This strategy will help them
when they encounter words or terms that are unfamiliar.
- After the initial discussion,
have each student write a paragraph, using all the
words in the given order and summarizing what he or
she thinks the chapters will be about, thus creating
a Story Impression.
- Place the students in groups
of 4 to 5, and allow the group members time to share
their Story Impressions so they can compare their
predictions.
Important Tips to Remember
- Students need to write down
all their Story Impressions so that they will have
something to reference once they read the text.
- Have students discuss the
key words so they are given the opportunity to figure
out words that they do not know before they begin
reading.
- In order to prevent giving
away the ending, give the students only words that
suggest the main idea. Finalizing your list with an
event found earlier in the selection rather than at
its conclusion will solve this problem.
- Once the students have written
their Story Impressions, have them immediately begin
reading the chapters. You should decide how much discussion
your students need prior to reading. Some students
can complete this assignment at home and return to
the next class meeting prepared to read the next chapters.
- While the "Story Impressions"
strategy is similar to the "Probable Passage"
strategy, it is less structured.
Assessment
Students may be assessed on
the quality of their participation in their groups and
receive a class-work grade according to the following
rubric:
- EXCELLENT participation
(Score 4)
- ABOVE AVERAGE participation
(Score 3)
- ADEQUATE participation (Score
2)
- BELOW AVERAGE participation
(Score 1)
- NO participation (Score
0)
Below are some specific features
for evaluating the paragraph.
| |
Revise |
Accept |
Superior |
| Topic sentence
is clear and correctly placed. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Mechanics
are correct. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Vocabulary
and word choices are interesting. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Sentences
are clear and related to topic. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Sentences
vary in length (8 to 15 words). |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Agreement
is correct. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Typing is
neat with no mark-outs or whiteout. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Paragraph
focuses on a single, unified idea. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Paragraph
achieves its intended purpose. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
| Paragraph
is interesting and appealing. |
1
2 3 4 |
5
6 7 |
8
9 10 |
|
