AL3L4 mrs hurley DRTA

First, Mrs. Hurley stimulates students’ thinking before the reading begins by having them scan the title and any headings or illustrations. She asks open-ended questions based on the title, headings, or illustrations that encourage students to make and justify their predictions about the text (e.g., Based on the headings within this reading, what might this text be about?)

Direct

Other questions that Mrs. Hurley could ask: With a title like… what do you think you will learn from this text? What do you need to read to find out…? What do you think is going to happen? What makes you think so? What do we know about the author? What do we know about characters in the text? What do you want to know more about?

Mrs. Hurley writes down students’ responses and predictions on the front board, so that everyone can see them. She asks students to vote on which predictions they believe will occur, and invites them to discuss why they feel these predictions will come true.

Mrs. Hurley: “Before we begin reading the poem, I’d like you to take a moment and look at the title of the poem. What do you predict the text is about based on the title “Paul Revere’s Ride”? Why do you think he was riding? What do you think is going to happen?”

Then, Mrs. Hurley has students read a portion of a pre-selected section of text. Periodically, she stops and prompts students to discuss the accuracy of their predictions as the text develops and encourages students to adjust their predictions for what is yet to come in the text. Mrs. Hurley has planned various stopping points during the text to have students consider and check these predictions. She has decided to conduct these checks as a whole group, but she also knows that she can demarcate these stopping points on a page so that students or pairs can work at their own pace to respond and discuss at each check-in.

Reading

Mrs. Hurley: [reading the text] “...He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

Mrs. Hurley has pre-planned the points in the poem where she wants to stop at and prompt students to make and check predictions. She reads the text out loud to students, asking them to follow along with her as she reads.

Other questions that Mrs. Hurley could ask: What is the author’s central message? How does he convey that message in the text? Summarize the text. Describe the characters, setting and key details in the text. What motivates the characters? What problems do characters face? How does the plot unfold? How do the text's illustrations or graphics contribute to what the text is saying?

Mrs. Hurley: “So, what does the text tell us is the reason for Paul Revere’s ride? Whose predictions were correct? Who would like to adjust their predictions based on evidence from the text?”

Lastly, once students have finished the reading, Mrs. Hurley asks students to review the text and find textual evidence that supports the predictions that they had made or modified. She asks questions such as “How accurate were your predictions? What evidence from the text shows that your predictions were correct? What evidence from the text made you modify your predictions?”

Thinking

She approaches the front board that shows students’ responses and predictions from before the reading.

Mrs. Hurley: “Now that we have finished reading the poem, let’s think back to our original predictions and those that gained the most votes.”

Mrs. Hurley: “What do you think about the predictions you initially made? Which turned out to be true and why?”

Once Mrs. Hurley has finished reading the poem aloud, she discusses the events of the text with students. Her focus is to revisit students’ initial predictions and see how these helped students to build their comprehension of the text.

Other questions that Mrs. Hurley could ask: What do you think about your predictions now? What did you find in the text to prove your predictions? What did you read in the text that made you change your predictions?