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Comprehension of Complex Texts through Characterization “Comprehension of Shakespearean Literature through Characterization”. Monica Unhold University of California, Davis, Spring (2013) Under supervision of: Steven Athanases. Context of Inquiry: Community.
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Comprehension of Complex Texts through Characterization“Comprehension of Shakespearean Literature through Characterization” Monica Unhold University of California, Davis, Spring (2013) Under supervision of: Steven Athanases
Context of Inquiry: Community • Students from entire Sacramento City Unified School District • Diverse student body • 71 percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged • Approximately 1/3 of students are ELs • The school is in program improvement
Context of Study: School • Small charter school – 256 students • Support from Gates Foundation • 1:1 computers • Character values: • Trust • Respect • Responsibility • Project-based learning • Summative inquiry project basis of instruction • Projects are interdisciplinary
Context of Study: Focal Class • 9th grade iWorld – interdisciplinary English/Social Science • Course is not tracked • Class of 36 includes: • 3 ELs • 11 reclassified ELs • 2 IEPs, 1 504 • Classroom inquiry took place during a PBL unit on Romeo and Juliet
Four focal students • Apple • High achieving re-designated EL • Melon • Current EL • Newcomer from Mexico • Pear • Redesignated EL • Exhibits first language interference in writing • Peach • Native English speaker • High skills but middle of the pack grades
Apple: Early performance • High achieving student • Below grade level in all subjects according to CST scores • Excellent work ethic • Re-designated English learner • Subject-verb agreement often not seen in writing • Struggles to support opinions with textual evidence
Melon: Early performance • English Language Learner • Newcomer from Mexico • Quiet/Introverted • Highly motivated • Struggles with subject/verb agreement
Pear: Early performance • Re-designated English Learner • Very creative and outgoing • Participates in class discussions • Organization strong in writing • Subject/verb agreement problems
Peach: Early performance • B student • Native English speaker • Very creative • Extroverted • Enrolled in the school’s leadership class • Does not submit a lot of assignments • CST indicates below grade level
Baseline full-class observations • Students are struggle to find and cite evidence to support an opinion • Students have superficial views of characters • Students do not look deeply into character motivation • When student do not relate to characters in a text, it seems to reduce student engagement
Instructional Design • Through a variety of activities students will be asked to expand their thinking about the text using both direct and indirect characterization processes • Student responses will be measured based on student ability to: • Infer character motivation • Consider alternative points of view • Predict future actions of characters based upon observed actions and inferred motivation
Data Sources • Facebook profiles • Point of view • Slang translations • Character journals • Point of view • Reflect plot • Private reflection • Gossip columns • Point of View • Reflect plot • Reflect language
Focal student 1: Key: Yellow = Shakespearean vocabulary Green = Figurative language ! = plot details
Focal student 4: Key: Orange = Modern slang ! = plot details
Focal student 5: Key: Yellow = Point of View ✔ = plot details Green = Complexity
Focal student 2: Key: Yellow = Point of View ✔ = plot details Green = Complexity
Student 2 Key: Yellow = Language ✔ = plot details Orange = Point of View
Student 1 Key: Yellow = Language ✔ = plot details Orange = Point of View
Gossip Column Assignment Analysis *** Note: Focal student 3 did not submit this assignment.
Themes from student surveys • Performance activities were ranked most useful by students in understanding characterization • Most students ranked the writing activities least helpful, despite data which indicates they expanded students’ comprehension • Students’ metacognition about process of developing character understanding appears limited
Synthesis • Student engagement in characterization was evidenced in use of: • Point of view • Language (figurative and vocabulary) • Inclusion of plot details • A focus on characterization created high level of engagement in the reading of a difficult text • Ability to consider different character points of views enhanced overall comprehension