Essential Lesson Structures: Tea Party/Open House/Speed Dating

Kylene Beers taught us a strategy called Tea Party a long time ago in a session on the San Antonio Riverwalk. (It's also in her book, When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do?) And there was a spelling session in the evening with lovely wine and cheese pairings, but I digress with such gustatory delights. Time and time again, Tea Party becomes a structure that I can use easily to engage kids with text and set the stage for repeated readings. Try adding this strategy to your Essential Lesson Structures menu! Aimee Coates, a teacher at XIT in Dalhart, helped me develop this lesson for her EOC review. We used a passage from Measuring Up (see masteryeudcation.com to purchase a copy).

Preparing the Materials: 

1. First, Aimee and I cut up the passage into sections. We tried to divide the text into enough pieces for each child, including the teacher, to have a section to read. In preparing the text, we decided to leave the paragraph numbers next to the text. But we left a space, so we could cut them off if we didn't want the kids to have the additional support of knowing the order of the text. Since we were working on plot and how isolated scenes contribute to the plot, we thought giving away the order of the text would give up too much information up front. This text divided nicely into 9 sections. Her class had about 12 kids, so we decided to make two copies. (Some kids would have duplicate sections of text.)

2. Then we prepared the note-taking guide for the students. We simply folded a blank piece of paper and labeled the sections. (The note-taking guide usually matches the text structure of the article. This one uses the plot elements, but the sections really could be anything you choose for your TEKS focus.) We also adapted questions from the sidebars of the text passage that we would use later to help students reflect on how the story elements compared to influence the plot development. We didn't have kids write these at first. They were added later - but we needed to plan our our questions.

3. Next, we prepared the teacher model. We decided to model the first four paragraphs of the text. We wanted to have a concrete model of what the student work needed to look like. And we needed to have specific ideas to reference when we did our think aloud.

Exploration and Gathering of Information: 

1. Choose a metaphor that will work with your class. Then talk with them about what happens at these events. Basically, all of them are about gathering data, meeting people, and exchanging information and ideas. I found these neat open house tours of college dorms that give a visual for the ideas.  https://plus.google.com/+universityofkentuckyofficial/posts/jZLUPU7baSf 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdGU0LVJ-Qg  Basically, this activity will allow you to do the same thing for the text you are about to read. You'll visit with others to gather information about the text and begin to form some ideas about the text before you "move in" to the text and read the whole thing.

2. Model the process, using a Think Aloud and Modeled Writing Approach to show what students will complete individually first. Read the text aloud, record the salient details on the chart and explain your thinking.

3. Have the kids make the note-taking guide. Tip: I usually number the passages so students can make sure they are talking to everyone. I have the kids record the number of the sections they need to collect information from. They circle the passages as they meet with others to make sure they get information from each person. Distribute sections of the text to the class. Allow them time to read the section silently or in partners. Students fill out the information that comes from their portion of the text.

Consolidation and Collaboration: 

4. Students mix and mingle with others in the class to collect as much information about the text. They should listen to the person talk about what their section of the text includes and then record the information they gathered from that person. Note: When I have done this activity, students try to just hand each other their papers and copy. Don't let them do that. We need them to discuss, reflect, and write in their own words.

5. When students return to their home groups, they can review and compare the information they have collected. They should make changes and additions.

Refining and Reflecting: 

6. Now students are ready to focus on diving deeper into the text to apply the TEK focus/objective for the lesson. The teacher models how to use the information and questions to focus their purpose for reading.

7. Model the process for paragraphs 1-5. In this case, the details in the setting intensify the problems that will continue in the rest of the passage. Note: use bullet points and cite text evidence. Be specific about highlighting the text as well as labeling the parts in your notes.

Show students this text to model how the notes can turn into an analytic paragraph. By combining all the notes, students will have a complete essay planned by the end of class. Now you have a model of what the notes look like and how they turn into a paragraph.

 "In the first paragraph, we realize that Marilla finds out about what Anne did almost a week after it happened. Most people don't like finding out things after the fact. The dialogue in the setting introduces the two characters and shows the disconnect between how each of them think about proper behavior. At first, Anne thinks she is in trouble for wearing the wrong colors. But she soon realizes that her aunt was more upset that Anne put flowers in her hat. Anne couldn't see that this would be a problem because people have flowers on their dresses. Already, the author has established that Anne and her aunt have very different perspectives that we, as proficient readers, should expect to cause more problems. It also establishes that the time period in this story must not be contemporary, as most people wouldn't use words like "called Anne to account" or be bothered with flowers on a hat at church." 

8. Have students return to the text to read independently. Students should mark the places where the scene changes and then be ready to discuss the impact or changes in the plot at those times. (Note - in this passage, the students should mark paragraphs 15, 23, and 25.)

9. This independent reading time gives the teacher a chance to conference with individual students  or pull small groups for additional support or extension.

10. Using a shared/interactive approach, pull the class together. Identify scene changes that can be the focus of discussions. Using the note-taking guide, have students record the details that could be discussed about the scene in paragraph 15. Have a student record the bullet points of the discussion on the chart displayed for all to see. Next, have students work in small groups to transform the notes into a paragraph that explains the scene changes and the impact on the plot.

11. Using a collaborative approach, have students work in small groups to complete this same task for 23. They should create notes together, but then compose individual paragraphs to share and compare with group members.

12. Independently, have students complete the same note-taking and composing process to analyze the scene in paragraph 25. Have students put all the paragraphs together as a complete essay.

Whole Class Debrief: 

13. Bring the class together and debrief. You can also have students compose a thesis, introduction, and conclusion to finish the essay. Be sure to discuss how examining the details of setting and character reveal important parts of the plot that we might miss without that careful comparison. It deepens our understanding.