"Stepped-Up" Small Group Lesson: Using Text Clues to Find the Setting

"Stepped-Up" Small Group: Finding the Setting from Ms. Scarborough on Vimeo.

Knowing where the characters are helps us to envision the scene, so that we can follow the story and make us feel like we are right there with the characters.  This is important work that grounds us at the beginning of the story and helps us revise what we know about a character as we read on.  The students read three excerpts from Nate the Great, Amber Brown Sees Red and Judy Moody Was in a Mood.  We "stepped-up" our thinking each time and carried what we learned from each piece.  We went from finding the setting from one detail to using multiple details that led us to the setting as we revised what we knew.  The work of "stepped-up" lessons can be found in the book, What Readers Really Do by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicky Vinton.