What's the Problem? 15 Imagine that you are reading a story about a girl named Quinn. One day, Quinn wakes up, eats breakfast, and goes to school. She goes to her classes, takes a test, goes home, eats a snack, and plays with her friends. What is the problem with this story? The problem is . . . there’s no problem! What is missing is conflict. Conflict is the problem or struggle in a story. Excitement in a story occurs when the main character tries to overcome an obstacle. There are different kinds of conflict 1. Person vs. Person One character in a story has a problem with one or more of the other characters. (A bully threatens to hurt Quinn if she doesn't let him cheat off of her during a test.) 2. Person vs. Society A character has a problem with something in society—school, the law, or the accepted way of doing things. (Quinn protests a school clothing rule she feels is unfair.) 3. Person vs. Nature A character has a problem with the natural environment—a snowstorm, a drought, or any element in nature. (Quinn gets caught in a blizzard while walking home from school.) 4. Person vs. Self A character has a problem deciding what to do in a particular situation (After studying hard, Quinn fails her test and suspects she may have a learning disability.) Activity: Write the number of the type of conflict experienced by the characters in these narratives. a. Litfle Red Riding Hood confronts a wolf dressed in Grandma's clothing. b. Laura Ingalls wishes she were blond-haired and blue-eyed like her older sister. c. Robinson Crusoe must survive on a deserted island. d. Anne Frank hides from the Nazis, who are killing Jews Student Assignment: Think about your favorite book. What conflict(s) did the main character face? Write a paragraph describing the conflict and tell which type of conflict it is TNO. 10238 COPYRIGHT 2001, HAYES SCHOOL PUBLISHING CO, INC, PTTSBURGH, PA10 Character Web The reason readers care about and remember characters is due to the writer's descriptions. The information the writer chooses to give can be about the character's appearance, personality, feelings, and thoughts Aclivity: Fill in the character web with descriptive details of a favorite character of a narrative you have read. age: interests/hobbies: sitive Falls. personality: eye color: negative ei appearance pet peeves (things that CoS lannoy him/her): clothes unusual or outstanding features: | Student Assignment: Draw a picture of your favorite character. Paste it next to the character web and post it on your class bulletin board NNO 10298:© COPYRIGHT 2001, HAYES SCHOOL PUBLISHING CO, INC, FTISBURGH, Pa1 STUDY SKILLS 338 * ust 133 List 133. Usine ComruTer-BASED GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Most teachers use graphic organizers to help students organize information, see patterns, present findings, and visualize and understand relationships. Software applications make these uses even more powerful teaching and learning tools. For example, Inspiration™ makes creating story maps easy and—with a mouse click—can turn a traditional outline into a concept map. Whether you are using a specialized concept development visualiza- tion application, the drawing tools in your word processing program, or markers and Paper, the uses of graphic organizers are plentiful. Here are 50 ideas to get you started. 1. Make a class book of each student's photo, nickname, favorites, birthday. 2. Compare the characteristics of two animals. 3. Show prior knowledge using a concept map. 4, Brainstorm ideas. 5. Organize information students already have. 6. Organize information as students collect it doing research. 7, Make a KWL chart. 8. Show a plan for doing an interdisciplinary theme unit. 9: Show similarities and differences for two things. 10. Give directions for a complex activity. 11. Mlustrate “what we learned about _ 12, Create worksheets for matching words and definitions. 13: Create worksheets for matching pictures and words or definitions. 14, Compare and contrast characters in a play. 15, Show cycles of growth, 16. Create Venn or tree diagrams. 17. Outline a persuasive essay showing the main point and supporting details. 18. Show organization of school. 19, Illustrate parts of a plant. 20. Develop study guides for test reviews, 21, Create a student’s family tree. 22. Assess student learning by having the class fill in a graphic organizer. 23. Create a zoo book: templates with pictures of animal, name, habitat, food, geographic location, size, name of young 24. Overview the curriculum plan for a semester showing the interconnectedness of topics. 25. Provide structure for the writing process 26. Organize ideas before starting to write. 27. Show work flow for a project. 28. Mustrate steps in an experiment. 29. Create story boards for presentations or Web sites ‘Te Reading Teacher's Book f Liss, Pith Aiton, © 2006 by John Wiley. Sons,‘The Reading Trsher' ok f Liss, ¥ilth BAsion, © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ine. us Oycle sed to sow how a series of events interact Use oduce a set of results again and again fepether phenomena, cycles of achievement Cor fadlure, the life eycle). Key frame anes angie: What are the critical events in the tile? How. are they related? In what ways gre they self-reinforcing? 337, 10 STUDY SKILLS. Semantic Mapping ‘There are a number of ways to make some of the ideas in stories or expository text graphically visible. These are sometimes called Semantic Maps or Cognitive Maps, Webbing, or a number of other terms. They are also excellent for developing or enrich- ing vocabulary. ‘A simpie Semantic Map might have a term, title, or vocabulary word in the middie and four clusters or areas of related terms. Or this map could show causes (left side) and effects (right side). This map could also be called a Multi-Flow Map. Semantic Map | Key Term and Four Categories | Interactions and Contrast ‘This is similar to the Compare/Contrast Matrix. Useful in analyzing stories and plays, it can also be used for many science or social science topics. Characters [Mother10 sTuDy SKILLS. 336 List 132 GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ConTINUED Class/Example Map Another more formal Class/Example Map can show hierarchy relationship plus related features or properties. These Class/Example Maps are useful for teach- ing vocabulary, “thinking skills,” and com- plex relationships in many subjects Coordinate Class Example Map A Coordinate Class Example Map not only shows a hierarchy relationship buit contrasts two similar or different terms, both of which belong to the same class and have some fea- tures or properties in common and some features that are different. Both contrasted terms have different examples. Coordinate Ciass Example Map Properties Ciusutxarple& Proportion ap operas rroparies e Properties term a aes) LO | aie (subel ‘ail or | [oer | [ wee] Tramp) & Sons, Iu ‘The Reading Teacher's Book of Lite, Filth Edition, © 2006 by Joho,‘he Reading Teacher's Book of Lists, Fifth Ration, © 2006 by Jols Wiley Soi, tne, “The Reading Teacher's Book of iss, Pitt Enon, © 2006.09 John Wie & Sons, te Problem/Solution Outline whe Gormany - ‘pa Starid Wortd Wari Probie | ny Gain tnitory 5 sotuion | 4. attack France wen | 2. Atack Russia 2 Lost Liss —— Used to-represent a problem, attempted solutions, and results (the national debt) Key frame questions: What was the prob- Jem? Who had the problem? What attempts were made to solve the problem? Did those attempts succeed? ‘This is similar to a Flowchart or Chain of Events. Network Tree (dendrogram) Used to show causal information (causes of poverty), a hierarchy (types of insects), or branching procedures (the circulatory system). Key frame questions: What is the superordinate category? What are the sub: ordiriate categories? How are they related? How many levels are there? This is similar to the Structured Overview. 335 10 sTuDY SKILLS Human Interaction Outline Person [= | N 7 “A intergction <~ wee SF peaction 2 ——_—__—— fo Action ——— ‘Acton ‘Ouicomes Outcomes Person 1 ] Person 2 Group 1 coup 2 Used to show the nature of an interaction between persons or groups (European set- tlers and Native Americans). Key frame questions: Who are the persons or groups? ‘What were their goals? Did they conflict or cooperate? What was the outcome for person ot group? ‘This chart compares interactions of two persons, groups, or processes. Fishbone Diagram Used to show the causal interaction of a complex event (an election, a nuclear explosion) or complex phenomenon (juvenile delinquency, learning disabili- ties). Key frame questions: What are the factors that cause X? How do they inter- relate? Are the factors that cause X the same as those that cause X to persist?10 sTUDY SKILLS 334 - - ust 132 GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS ConTINUED things are being compared? How are they similar? How are they different? Spread- sheets can be enlarged to contain many rows and columns. Semiaritic Feature Analysis A Semantic Feature Analysis or grid can also be used to show which features or classes have things in common with a plus sign or not in common with a minus sign This is similar to the Compare/Contrast Matrix: both are basically a spreadsheet They can easily be cteated in software pro- grams like Microsoft Excel. ‘Semantic Foature Analysis (Matrix) Fill squares with + or = Features Term a Zomie)| OBS ooo [+4] * cat + [+/+ snake [+] -|- Zz Structured Overview A Structured Overview is another type of map similar to the first simple Semantic Map that shows clusters of ideas, terms, or features Structured Overview ae Venn Diagram A Venn Diagram is often used in mathe. matics, but can easily be used with words and ideas to show features in common between two different concepts. Venn Diagram cat dog ‘ee Reading Teacher's Book f Lists, Fb Baton, © 2006 by John Wiky & Sons, Ine333 to ruby sKiLis ust 132 = ser see List 132. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Goaphic onganizers 8F° called Semantic Mapping or Webbing, You can often Smpeoe® stu- ie mnprehension of 2 story or a subieet by having the student draw a graphical rep vston, This list of story graphs contélne only suggestions; most of them can be inde lncger and sore Complex. These graphs can be used in many ofher subjects, such rims cience or history. They can tbe used by writers in planning stories or expository arti: ae. They are also excellent for note-taking and studying. Spider Map linear procedure (how to neutralize an acid); ‘a sequence of events (how feudalism led to the Desai formation of nation states); or the goals, wy actions, and outcomes of a historical figure or _—— s-— Character in a novel (the rise and fall of ow Napoleon), Key frame questions: What is the Pate object, procedure, or initiating event? What cooee pt \ fare the stages or steps? How do they lead to ‘Theme / one another? What is the final outcome? \ Continuum Scale (Time Line) OS \ 1950 1960-1970 «19801990 . Born, Moved to NY, Wrote book Used to describe a central idea: a thing (a geographic’ region), process (meiosis), Few =" 9°" 7” ce Mid 2-525 --72= + Hight sevtept (altruism), or proposition with 2 234 5 6 7 8 o support (experimental drugs should be gvailable to AIDS victims). Key frame questions: What is the central idea? What are its attributes? What are its function? ‘Used for time lines showing historical events or ages (grade levels in school), degrees of something (weight), shades of meaning (Likert scales), or ratings scales (achiove: ment in school). Key frame questions: What Chain of Events ie being sealed? What are the endpoints? sive Reading Teachers Book of Lis, Fit Baton, © 2006 by Johns Wily de Sos: oe (Flowchart) ‘ " c » Multiple time lines can show relationship of . Initiating Event ‘two or more simultaneous events, Tike one Tine for Presidents and one line for Wars. Brent T Bomb exploded Compare/Contrast — ne Matrix (Spreadsheet) Maria Sally a Byent 2 Attnbate 1 crecpbody | ket only Tire Dept. came Friendliness Liked everybody | few people J Attribute 2 Missed school Dependabiity | Abvays.on time often Final Outcome frent3 Atubute 3 Many saved {oe ‘Used to show similarities and differences Used to deseribe the stages of something between two things (people, places, events, (the life eycle of a primate); the steps ina ideas, ttc). Key frame questions: What