I was driving home from lunch when this came in my email box.
We worked on Plot this week in 6th grade. Most of my
students know the definitions of climax, falling action, etc. They can put
those words on the correct spot on the plot line. They can also take events
from a book and put them on the correct spot of the plot line.
When they are given a STAAR style question about plot, they
miss it! What's the deal?
I voice texted back "Because the questions are not about naming the elements."
Good thing I know this person well, or she would have thought I was being snotty. When I got back to my desk, I started digging for a better answer.
Here is is:
I LOVE YOUR QUESTION!
Here’s a sample. Notice that students are SUMMARIZING about
the plot element of either rising action. In addition the story for this
questions doesn’t really have a classical climax, as we usually define it.
Note that some of these questions can also be paired with figure
19. In that case students would be asked to make INFERENCES by using their
knowledge of plot.
To be successful, students have to find the paragraph where
the first instance of a changed attitude exists. They have to find the SHIFT –
the turning point/climax. Look at all the evidence and where Patrick's attitude shifts.
Notice also that 24 percent of the state chose the wrong
answer choice D. The answer to your question about why kids are getting the
wrong answer for the PLOT question on STAAR lies also in identifying the logical flaws involved in choosing answer choice D.
The key here is navigating through the plot to notice
WHEN the change occurred. The change in his attitude was the turning point
when he started acting differently and resolving his problem. STAAR asks
students to USE plot elements to comprehend. It’s not enough to know
what they are and where they happen in a story. We talk about plot elements
because they help us create a schema to hold meaning and interpret the texts.
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