Alcatraz, The Rock
Escaping the Prison of Reading Poorly
by Jerry Stemach, M.S. CCC-SLP
Beginning with this issue, this column will feature a hands-on intervention strategy. Today, we offer you a passage of text paired with an audio file that you and your students can read, listen to and discuss. In addition, we offer practical ways you can use these materials to support all learners.
What the Experts Say:
When building background knowledge and teaching vocabulary it is important that we always link the new to the known. It makes good sense... New to known, that's how we all catalog new information in a way that we can retrieve it at a new time. We're constantly comparing the new information we gather to what we already know finding the ways that it is the same and different from what we already know. Without these connections, every new piece of information is put into the stack of information we know without the benefit of tabs and folders to help us retrieve it when needed.
— Karen Erickson, Ph.D., Center for Literacy and Disability Study,
University of North Carolina
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Alcatraz Island
Getting Your Attention
You know something about Alcatraz already, don’t you? And what you know intrigues you enough to begin reading this column. Maybe you have been to Alcatraz on a vacation to San Francisco. Or maybe you remember seeing Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage in The Rock.
In literacy circles, we say you have prior knowledge about Alcatraz: you have a carefully constructed mental model that got called into action in the nano second it took you to read the word Alcatraz. Your wheels are turning. All of your stored knowledge — your factoids about Alcatraz — its purpose, its history, its most famous inmates, its geography — along with all of the vocabulary and language you may need to comprehend some new fact about Alcatraz are activated, ready to seize upon something new and add to what you already know. More than that! You will analyze the plausibility of something new and decide whether you should hold on to it or reject it as false and inconsistent with what you know.
Lucky you. Struggling learners aren’t so lucky.
But help is on the way.
Linking the New to the Known
Like you, most students in grades 4 and higher also know something about Alcatraz. They can be counted upon to participate in a discussion on the subject, read or write about it and add to what they already know. We say they are “anchored” in the topic and can, in the words of Dr. Karen Erickson, “link the new to the known.”
Struggling learners often don’t have reliable background knowledge for topics that will make them successful in school. If they do have prior knowledge, it may be insufficient, incomplete, or wrong, with the sorry result that they will not — they cannot — accurately connect what you’re teaching or what they’re reading with anything they know.
Breaking the Cycle of Failure
In school, background knowledge and vocabulary are byproducts of home experiences, field trips, classroom interaction, reading and writing. So how do we help all students, and especially those students who are behind in reading, vocabulary development and the background knowledge they need in order to meet grade level standards? How do we break down the prison walls of struggling learners and find ways for them to break out of the cycles of failure?
To help you answer that question, look below at a sample lesson I created using a chapter from the Start-to-Finish Gold Library book, Alcatraz, the Rock. Everything you need to use the lesson in your classroom is provided.
A Mystery Book
Here are links to the first chapter of Alcatraz, The Rock, a mystery I wrote for older students who are reading at a 2-3 grade level. Sound interesting? Then, here’s what you need to do:
Download and Print the chapter from the PDF file (2 sided so it matches the audio).
Download the MP3 audio file to an MP3 player such as an iPod®. Here's how:
On a PC,RIGHT CLICK on the MP3 link and choose SAVE TARGET AS... On a Mac, press the CTRL key and click the MP3 link, then SAVE LINK AS....
Browse to the location where you want the file saved.Click OK.
If you prefer, play the MP3 from here over your computer speakers.
If you want to make the entire paperback book available, call 800.999.4660, option 2 and request Code F03MWB. The book is published in 3 formats: print book, audio CD, and computer book (Mac or PC).*
The lesson
Before you read: Activate background knowledge. Ask your student(s): “Has anyone ever heard of Alcatraz? What, where, who, why, how?” This is your chance to help students add to, construct or correct their mental models.
On a flip chart or board, write down vocabulary words as the students use them. They will likely meet these same words in print in the story. As you comment on the discussion, include key vocabulary that you use as well.
Set a purpose for reading: you will only be reading the first chapter of the book. When the chapter is finished, students will predict what will happen next.
After you read: have the students work in groups to write about their predictions. Pair struggling readers and writers with more capable peers. Share the prediction with the rest of the class.
*Get more information on this Start-to-Finish Gold Library book at www.donjohnston.com/stflibrary. To read about other titles in the Nick Ford Series, type NICK FORD in the search box at the top of this window.
When building background knowledge and teaching vocabulary it is important that we always link the new to the known. It makes good sense... New to known, that's how we all catalog new information in a way that we can retrieve it at a new time. We're constantly comparing the new information we gather to what we already know finding the ways that it is the same and different from what we already know. Without these connections, every new piece of information is put into the stack of information we know without the benefit of tabs and folders to help us retrieve it when needed.
