SESSION SIX: MAIN EVENTS AND SEQUENCING
Many readers become "bogged down" in trying to remember
stories. They have difficulty distinguishing between main events,
important details and extraneous information. They try to memorize
everything. This session addresses this problem. Specific
Objectives:
- to stress that in story telling only the main events and
important details need to be remembered.
- to introduce the concept of main events as a cueing strategy for
plot retention.
- to highlight that the sequence of events cues what is and is not
important.
- to differentiate among main events, important details and
extraneous information.
- to foster efficient reading by emphasizing that monitoring the
main events:
a) guides the construction of meaning DURING reading and
b) cues memory AFTER reading
Procedure
NOTE: More than one session may be required
to accommodate all of the suggested lesson steps. The instructor may
elect to divide the session into two. The first session may consist of
reading the story and listing the main events, and the second, the
creation of a combined chart (see Guided Activity). I.
Introduction
The instructor:
- States the purpose of the activity:
Sometimes when we are sharing or retelling a
story to other people, we try to repeat it word for word and then
forget when we are only part way through. There is too much to
remember.
What we need to do when we are reading is to note in our head what
the important steps in the plot are. We call these the main events.
Then when we are trying to tell the story to other people, we think
of the author's main events First this happened, then ...) and then
just fill in the important details. The rest we leave out. This
helps us: 1) make sense when we are reading and 2) remember - without
memorizing the author's exact words.
- Indicates the tasks for the session:
a) to read The Closet, which is one of the stories in
Stories from Grandpa's Rocking Chair, by S. Kaetler,
published in 1984 by Kindred Press.
b) to list the main events
Note: Any family story with distinct main events plus
extraneous material may be substituted. The reason The Closet was
chosen is because it contains a story within a story and an obviously
extraneous introduction.
II. Guided Activity
The instructor:
- Distributes copies of the story and directs participants and volunteers
to read the story and, on rough paper, list the main events
(either individually on their own, or in their working groups of one
volunteer to two participants) then
- After this task has been completed, circulates activity sheets (Box
11, Appendix E) and combines 2 working groups together to:
a) discuss the main events and
b) create a common list of main events on chart paper,
using item #1 on the distributed activity sheet as a guide.
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