Hocked gems financing him, our hero defied the scornful laughter. �Think of it as an egg, not a table,� he said. Then three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging over vast calmness, and sometimes over turbulent peaks and valleys, until at last welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying monumental success.
Answer these questions about the passage:
1. What are the hocked gems?
I think the hocked gems are something that is giving the character support or help with his task. Since these hocked gems are financing him, I know they are giving support for his task.
2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table?
Since an egg is fragile, we must think of the hocked gems as something fragile or of worth.
3. Who are the three sturdy sisters?
The three sturdy sisters must be extra support or help that the character receives while completing the task.
4. What kind of winged creatures appeared?
I think that some kind of bird appeared- my first thought was an eagle. Since eagles are thought of as strong birds and in many films or photographs I have seen eagles flying over mountains and trees, I automatically thought of an eagle.
If I were to use this passage with students, I would need to activate their schema. In order to activate their schema I would need to discuss key vocabulary that would be found within this passage. I may need to discuss the words hocked, financing, defied, scornful, forging, and turbulent. Through discussing of the vocabulary words, I would need to focus on the meaning of the words through the context of the passage or other examples where those words are found and not just give definitions of the words. I would also need to provide background knowledge that would help activate students' schema of the topic.
In order to help teach children whose schema's don't match the text's content, I would need to give visual examples such as pictures, videos, or if possible, provide them with a hands on experience that would help them to create schema for this passage. Allowing them to the chance to create meaning that matches the content is the only way they will truly learn anything from a lesson or a passage such as this one.
I believe students should spend a significant amount of time in texts that don't match their interests or schema but they shouldn't be sent out on their own with these texts. Students should be monitored through guided reading groups or one on one conferencing in order to keep them on track and have their learning monitored. The only way for students to get better at reading is to challenge them by exposing them to passages or texts that don't match their interests or schema. Students need to come across vocabulary or topics that don't match their interests or schema many times in order to truly understand them. The only way to do this to allow students to be exposed to them as much and as often as possible.
After I read this passage many times, I finally searched the internet to find out what the passage what actually referring to and if I correctly answered the questions based on my schema and understanding of the passage. It was truly driving me nuts that I had no background knowledge of this passage! I had no idea this was in reference to Christopher Columbus! Knowing this, helped me to better understand that the hocked gems was a reference to the money and support given to him and the three study sisters were the ships that he traveled with. The winged creatures are a description of the ships. Knowing just a piece of the background knowledge I was able to better comprehend the passage and analyze my original mistakes in answering the questions. This passage means more to me now that I know and understand the background.
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