Scaffolding Literacy

    		
    
  

  
 
      
    
     
      
 
        
Transformations
As applied to The 27th Annual African Hippopotamus 
              Race, chapter 6, Sebastian 
INTRODUCTION

            Transformations is a teaching strategy which involves the writing 
            of text onto card so that specified segments of the text can be cut 
            apart, discussed, and, perhaps, re-arranged.
How to make Transformations Board: All the necessary components are available from hardware stores. The board is a sheet of light ply or particle board. The holders for the cardboard strips are wallboard panel joining strips. The glue is a panel fixing adhesive. We use superglue. The cardboard strips are cut about 1 metre long x 6-7 cm wide.
Transformations make language choices concrete and therefore very 
            understandable. 
They lead to both writing and spelling. They also provide extra scaffolding 
            for reading.
For writing, they provide knowledge of and practice in
- selecting word orders
- word choice
- punctuation.
For spelling, they provide 

            · certainty that teacher and child know the same things about the 
            word

            · opportunities for discussing spellings

            · word cards. 

            Note that in Scaffolding Literacy we only ask children to learn spellings 
            of words that they cannot recognise in isolation and whose meaning 
            they know. For some children, this means getting words from text they 
            can read and checking they can recognise those words apart from the 
            text. 
Transformations 
            also provide essential opportunity to build common knowledge through 
            scaffolded conversation.
By the time we get to Transformations in the sequence, the children 
            share much common knowledge with us that they have gained from the 
            Low Order and High Order book orientations. Scaffolded conversation 
            will now have more input from the children, and children will begin 
            to add to the responses of other children (take over the Reconceptualisation 
            task that was previously the teacher's). Note that we still follow 
            the questioning style of Preformulation, Question, Response, Reconceptualisation.
The cutting of the text is guided by the language choices we wish 
            to teach. 
EXAMPLE

            In book selection, we decided that children would pattern writing 
            on these sentences, 

             
            
 
              There came into view, travelling fast, a sleek, low, shiny, 
                bright red sports car, with flashing silver wheels, and behind 
                the steering wheel sat a huge hippopotamus. He was the biggest 
                hippopotamus Edward had ever seen, almost black in colour, with 
                bright white teeth fixed in a hard grin. 

             
          
and 
            would use these language choices in their writing:
1. How to introduce an important character in a dramatic way

            2. A way of making a smooth transition from one sentence to another

            3. Precise words

            4. A series of describing words

            5. Cohesion in the choice of describing words

            6. How describing words differ. Some are classifying words (sports), 
            and others are qualifying words (sleek)

            7. Punctuation

            8. The use of 'with' to add description after the thing being described 
            

            9. How to describe characters by 

            a. Telling what they do

            b. Telling what they own

            c. Telling what they look like, including what they wear

            d. Telling what other characters think of them 

            10. Action and reaction
So we highlight those language choices in the transformation. 
 
PROCEDURE

            These notes deal only with the first sentence.
  • Read the passage that the sentences came from - either volunteers 
            or class read
  • Show where the sentences you have written on the transformation 
            board come in the whole passage
  • Ask volunteer(s) to read the sentences
  • When cutting, begin with groups of words
  • Then move to single words whose meaning or function you want the 
            children to understand completely
  • You do not have to think of a question for every word. Single words 
            for spelling are cut at the end.
 

			How the conversation might go
  • Judge how much information to include in each session
  • Scaffolded conversation will increase the amount of available information in subsequent sessions
  • The following example assumes children's knowledge from what was in the book orientations
  • Possible child contributions appear in italics at first, then the text is in note form
  • Children read the boxed text, then the conversation continues
  • Always let as many children read and talk as volunteer.  The weaker readers learn how to answer.
Morris Lurie tells us a lot about this hippopotamus before he tells us what he looks like.  First he tells us that he can be seen now, but that he wasn't there before.  What words tell us that?
There came into view
Teacher:  Yes, 'There came into view' lets us know that the crowd could see something.  Can anybody tell us why Morris Lurie wrote those words first?
Child:  We find out about his car.
Child:  At the end we find out he is huge.
Teacher: Yes, that's right, Morris Lurie wants to make huge dramatic, so he tells us other things first.  The first thing he tells us is how he was moving
Travelling fast
Teacher:  Yes he was driving up to the platform fast.  Can anybody tell us more about that?
Child:   He was being a show-off to be travelling fast.
Teacher:  Yes that's right, and he was selfish as well, because he didn't drive slowly to make sure the crowd was safe.
Teacher:  Next we are told what came into view
a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car.  

Teacher;  Yes, you couldn't help noticing a car like that.
Child:  It's shiny so people will notice it.
Child:  It's sleek so it will go fast.
Child:  Sports cars are low so they will go fast.
Child:  He thinks he's special - a movie star or something.  
Teacher:  Yes, that's right.  We can tell he thinks he's special by the kind of car he owns.
Teacher:  Then 'with' lets us know that Morris Lurie is going to tell us even more about the car.  What is the extra thing we are told about the car?
with flashing silver wheels
Child: You can see the lines in the picture to show that the wheels are flashing.
Child: Yes, and it makes the car look more special.
Teacher:  Yes, you're both right.  The flashing silver wheels make the car look more special.  We've learnt a lot about the special car, that it's sleek, low, shiny and bight red and what it's wheels look like, but we don't know what the driver looks like yet.
Next Morris Lurie uses the word 'and' to let us know that there will be more information and then tells us where the person sat.
and behind the steering wheel sat
Teacher:  Can anyone tell us more about that?
Child:  We know he's the driver because he's sitting behind the steering wheel.  
Child:  He's driving fast
Teacher:  Yes, you're both right.  He is the driver and he is the one who is driving fast.  Now we're going to learn who has come into view.
a huge hippopotamus
Teacher.  Yes, at the end of the sentence we are told something about what the driver looks like, that he is huge.  Who can tell us more about 'huge'?
Child:  He's huge, so he might win the race.
Child:  Sometimes good swimmers are big.
Child:  We notice 'huge' because it comes at the end of the sentence.  You read it like this…
Teacher:  Yes, so this is someone who might beat Edward in the race.  Morris Lurie has left it right to the end of the sentence to tell us he's huge, and that makes us notice those words better, it makes it very dramatic.
Add that this is the end of the sentence, ask how we know that and cut off the fullstop.
What the children have remembered:
That Morris Lurie makes us wait.
That it was showing off to travel fast.
That someone like a movie star would own such a car.
That Sebastian is a show-off.
That if the person is behind the steering wheel he is the driver. 
That being huge means he might win the race.
That we notice 'huge' because it's at the end of the sentence.
New information that the teacher has imparted:
That Sebastian is selfish, not keeping the crowd safe.
That we can tell he thinks he's special by the kind of car he owns.
The sentence now looks like this
 
There came into view,   
 
travelling fast,
 
a sleek,
 
low, shiny,bright red sports car,
 
with flashing silver wheels,
 
and behind the steering wheel
 
sat
 
a huge hippopotamus

   .
 
You might begin your next session by asking what we know about this hippopotamus.
You could then add the information that we can work out what a character is like by being told what they own, what they do.
 
 
TURNING OVER SOME PHRASES TO DETERMINE THEIR FUNCTION


            Indicate:

             
            
 
              travelling fast

             
          
Encourage conversation about what that lets us know.

            The conversation will include how he was travelling, that he was 
            showing off, that he wasn't being careful of the safety of others, 
            that it keeps us waiting to find out what came into view.

            Turn the phrase over and have a volunteer read the new sentence.

             
            
 
              There came into view, a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car,

             
          

             
            
 
              with flashing silver wheels,and behind the steering wheel

             
          
sat

             
            
 
              a huge hippopotamus 
                
.

             
          
Ask does the sentence make sense.

            Children may say it doesn't because they think the question means, 
            is this sentence right? Ask, can you understand the new sentence? 
          
End up with the conclusion that we can understand the new sentence 
            but we no longer know how the car was travelling, and that the driver 
            didn't care about the safety of others, and that we're not kept so 
            long to know what came into view.
Reinstate

             
            
 
              travelling fast

             
          
in the sentence.
Commas

            Add that

             
            
 
              travelling fast

             
          
is a separate part of the sentence, that we can understand the sentence 
            without it, that Lurie added those words to tell us special things, 
            and that that is why there are commas in front of and after those 
            words. 
Cut off those two commas.
The sentence will now look like this:-

             
            
 
               
                
There came into view
 
                
,
 
                
travelling fast
 
                
,
 
                

             
          
a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car,

             
            
 
               
                
with flashing silver wheels, 
 
                
and behind the steering wheel
 
                
sat

             
          

             
            
 
               
                
a huge hippopotamus
 
                
.

             
          
Another example
Treat 

             
            
 
               
                
with flashing silver wheels,

             
          
in similar fashion.
The sentence will now look like this:-

             
            
 
               
                
There came into view
 
                
,
 
                
travelling fast
 
                
,

             
          

             
            
 
               
                
a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car
 
                
,

             
          
with flashing silver wheels

             
            
 
               
                
,
 
                
and behind the steering wheel
 
                
sat

             
          

             
            
 
               
                
a huge hippopotamus
 
                
.

             
          
Now turn over both those phrases, including the commas.

             
            
 
               
                
There came into view
 
                
  a sleek, low, shiny. bright red sports 
                car  

             
          

             
            
 
               
                
 and behind the steering wheelsata huge hippopotamus 

             
          
Ask volunteers to read.
Talk about the information omitted.
End by saying that when we don't have to wait so long to find out 
            what came into view, it is not so dramatic.
Turn all the cards right way round.
 
LOOKING AT WORD ORDER

            This is another way we can show children that Lurie has made the entrance 
            dramatic, because the final position in the sentence emphasises the 
            last two words. 
This is easier to do while the sentence still appears in groups of 
            words rather than as single words.

             
            
 
               
                
There came into view
 
                
,
travelling fast 
                
 
                
,

             
          
a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car,
with flashing silver wheels
.
and behind the steering wheel

             
            
 
              
sat
 
                
,
a huge hippopotamus 
                
.

             
          
Pick up 

             
            
 
              There came into view

             
          
and say you are going to cut off 'there'. Do this, and put 'there' 
            at the bottom of the board. 
Now move 

             
            
 
              a huge hippoppotamus

             
          
to the beginning of the sentence. 
The sentence will now read:-
 

             
            
 
              a huge hippopotamuscame into view 
                
,
travelling fast 
                
,

             
          
a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car

             
            
 
               
                
,
with flashing silver wheels 
                
,
and behind the steering wheelsat 
                
.

             
          
 
Cut off 'a' and replace with 'A'.
Juggle the phrases to see if you can make a sensible sentence starting 
            with 

             
            
 
              A huge hippopotamus

             
          
and still retaining all the original information. 
You may need to add or change words. When you do this, write the 
            new words on different colour card. 
The following example also divides the original sentence into two. 
            Put the new fullstop on different colour card.
One new possibility is 

             
            
 
              A huge hippopotamussatbehind the steering wheelofa sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car 
                
.

             
          

             
            
 
              Hecame into viewtravelling fast.

             
          
Let children experiment with as many different word orders as they 
            like.
Read the sentence before, then the new sentence, then the sentence 
            after.
Talk about whether the new sentence makes the new entrance sound 
            so dramatic.
You might like to have something mysteriously come into view in your 
            classroom and build up tension about what is inside it by meticulously 
            first describing the wrapping.
Remake the original sentence. Talk about the fact that the word order 
            in the sentence puts the emphasis on 'a huge hippopotamus'.
LOOKING AT PRECISE WORDS


            
We can now be more exact about 

             
            
 
              travelling fast

             
          
Show that 'travelling' tells what the car was doing, and 'fast' 
            tells how it was travelling.
We spent a lot of time on

             
            
 
              a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car 

             
          
First we established that 'sports' tells us what kind of car 
            this is. Show pictures of different kinds of cars eg sports, racing, 
            sedan, family. This is a classifying word.
Then we looked at the exact meaning of sleek, low, shiny and how 
            each of these tells something different about what the car looked 
            like. We call such words describing words.
We noted which words had a comma separating them and talked about 
            the reason - separating describing words.
Then we looked at bright red. We noticed that there is no comma between 
            bright and red. We worked out that bright is a word telling what kind 
            of red, that bright is a classifying word.
If there are any words still uncut, we cut them separately now.
We turned over words, eg 'sleek', one at a time, asked volunteers 
            to read the new sentence, then asked - 'Does the sentence still make 
            sense?' 'What information has been left out?' 'How is that information 
            important?' 'Why do you think Lurie put that word in his story?'
LOOKING AT JOINING WORDS

             
            
 
              a sleek, low, shiny, bright red sports car 

             
          
and

             
            
 
              behind the steering wheel

             
          
After we had talked about these phrases (one at a time), we picked 
            up the joining word, and explained that it is a way of signalling 
            that more information coming. 'With' lets us know that the 
            car comes 'with' something else - that there is more to be 
            added to a description. 'And' lets us know that there is more 
            information in the sentence. We have found that joining words are 
            easiest to talk about after the meaning of each phrase is firmly established.
MOVING TO SPELLING


            You now have word cards for spelling.
Make sure everyone can read these words out of context before you 
            proceed.
HOW TO PROCEED FROM HERE

            After learning how to spell many words from these sentences, you move 
            to 'Easy spelling' where children practise spelling in context. 
From there you make a writing plan, using keywords, and proceed to 
            reconstructed writing. 
 
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