The Five Half-Truths About Happiness
Student B is an honors student in all classes but English. He loves reading nonfiction and has scored high on standardized tests for reading (His composite ACT score is a 27). He does, however, not enjoy reading or like reading fiction. While he does not read for pleasure, he does want to be successful in class. He claims that reading fiction frustrates him because he forgets characters, plot, and it takes him a long time to read. To understand Student B as a reader, I have included a reader’s response to Gretchen Rubin’s TED Talk “The Five Half-Truths about Happiness,” and his independent book assignment, which he selected based on his interest. Student B read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. As a reader, Student B’s instructional goals that align with Common Core State Standards include 1. Citing strong textual evidence to support analysis (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1), 2. Evaluating information presented in multiple types of formats to draw a conclusion (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7), and 3. Determining a central theme in a text and analyzing that theme (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.9). The reflection assignment that followed the TED talk encouraged Student
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B to evaluate information presented in multiple formats. Reading Unbroken, while a nonfiction text, is written as a narrative, which helped Student B develop his fiction reading strategies. Reading this text also encouraged Student B to cite strong textual evidence and determining a central theme in the text. These goals were crafted based on the student’s self-assessment at the beginning of the semester, the course curriculum map, and Common Core State Standards for Reading. To help Student B practice citing strong textual evidence from a text, Student B had to keep a reading log in which he wrote down key quotes and explained their significance while reading his independent book. He then had to incorporate five quotes that supported the main idea of the text and explain their importance in a synthesis essay. Being able to identify main ideas and use them to prove a claim is a critical reading skill that shows comprehension of the text and also an ability to apply gained knowledge from reading. Student B demonstrated his ability to integrate evidence from the text to support a central theme when he stated, “In the book, Louie would always try and make his goal to face the ‘hardships and seeing different perceptions so that it will help him survive’ (Hillenbrand 283)”. Another reading goal for Student B was to be able to evaluate information presented in multiple types of formats to draw a conclusion.
In addition to being able to use textual support from a book, Student B was challenged to practice pulling evidence from a nonprint text. When analyzing the message in Gretchen Rubin’s TED Talk “The Five Half-Truths About Happiness,” Student B was given a graphic organizer to help him record main ideas and then draw conclusions about the overall message of the piece using evidence. He then was asked to share his finds with a small group and in a whole classroom discussion. After the discussion, Student B completed a writing response in which, he used evidence to identify that having strong relationships and supporting others are two ways in which a person can achieve
happiness. The final reading goal for Student B was to be able to determine a central theme and analyze this theme. He practiced doing this in many ways throughout the semester. To help Student B to become more adept at finding the main idea, especially in narrative writing, essential annotating skills were demonstrated for him, he was given graphic organizers to help him record main ideas and important pieces of evidence while he read, and main ideas were discussed in small and whole group discussion. Student B was able to demonstrate growth in this area by completing writing assignments in which he had to paraphrase and use direct quotes from multiple types of readings. He was able to use evidence to determine a central theme and analyze the meaning of that theme.
When completing assigned readings, Student B was assessed in multiple ways and received a variety of formal and informal feedback to help support his growth based on specific goals. Student B completed graphic organizers to identify main ideas, wrote extended responses to analyze various types of texts, and engaged in discussion. He received formal written feedback on his extended responses and received informal feedback from his peers and me during class discussion, which reinforced his understanding of main ideas and encouraged recognition of strong evidence from a text. He also received direct feedback from me when he completed graphic organizers, which helped him to understand how to find main ideas from the text and how to analyze that evidence to explain the author’s meaning. As a reader of a variety of media, the feedback Student B received helped him to understand how to cite strong textual evidence, how to evaluate information from a variety of texts, and how to determine the central theme. Providing him with a choice in the text also increased the level of his engagement and made finding the main idea clearer because he was interested in the content and able to make connections to the text more easily, thus achieving one of his instructional goals.
B to evaluate information presented in multiple formats. Reading Unbroken, while a nonfiction text, is written as a narrative, which helped Student B develop his fiction reading strategies. Reading this text also encouraged Student B to cite strong textual evidence and determining a central theme in the text. These goals were crafted based on the student’s self-assessment at the beginning of the semester, the course curriculum map, and Common Core State Standards for Reading. To help Student B practice citing strong textual evidence from a text, Student B had to keep a reading log in which he wrote down key quotes and explained their significance while reading his independent book. He then had to incorporate five quotes that supported the main idea of the text and explain their importance in a synthesis essay. Being able to identify main ideas and use them to prove a claim is a critical reading skill that shows comprehension of the text and also an ability to apply gained knowledge from reading. Student B demonstrated his ability to integrate evidence from the text to support a central theme when he stated, “In the book, Louie would always try and make his goal to face the ‘hardships and seeing different perceptions so that it will help him survive’ (Hillenbrand 283)”. Another reading goal for Student B was to be able to evaluate information presented in multiple types of formats to draw a conclusion.
In addition to being able to use textual support from a book, Student B was challenged to practice pulling evidence from a nonprint text. When analyzing the message in Gretchen Rubin’s TED Talk “The Five Half-Truths About Happiness,” Student B was given a graphic organizer to help him record main ideas and then draw conclusions about the overall message of the piece using evidence. He then was asked to share his finds with a small group and in a whole classroom discussion. After the discussion, Student B completed a writing response in which, he used evidence to identify that having strong relationships and supporting others are two ways in which a person can achieve
happiness. The final reading goal for Student B was to be able to determine a central theme and analyze this theme. He practiced doing this in many ways throughout the semester. To help Student B to become more adept at finding the main idea, especially in narrative writing, essential annotating skills were demonstrated for him, he was given graphic organizers to help him record main ideas and important pieces of evidence while he read, and main ideas were discussed in small and whole group discussion. Student B was able to demonstrate growth in this area by completing writing assignments in which he had to paraphrase and use direct quotes from multiple types of readings. He was able to use evidence to determine a central theme and analyze the meaning of that theme.
When completing assigned readings, Student B was assessed in multiple ways and received a variety of formal and informal feedback to help support his growth based on specific goals. Student B completed graphic organizers to identify main ideas, wrote extended responses to analyze various types of texts, and engaged in discussion. He received formal written feedback on his extended responses and received informal feedback from his peers and me during class discussion, which reinforced his understanding of main ideas and encouraged recognition of strong evidence from a text. He also received direct feedback from me when he completed graphic organizers, which helped him to understand how to find main ideas from the text and how to analyze that evidence to explain the author’s meaning. As a reader of a variety of media, the feedback Student B received helped him to understand how to cite strong textual evidence, how to evaluate information from a variety of texts, and how to determine the central theme. Providing him with a choice in the text also increased the level of his engagement and made finding the main idea clearer because he was interested in the content and able to make connections to the text more easily, thus achieving one of his instructional goals.