Module 1: Instructional Challenge

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.

1. What are the hocked gems?

I think of the hocked gems as being a valuable item that is far within his reach. I think that he has to go through a process to get to it.


2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table?

 I feel like this is talking about to process to get the valuable item. Think of it an egg because eggs can break easily where as a table is very hard to break. So think of this as an easy task and not a hard one.


 3. Who are the three sturdy sisters?

The three sturdy sisters to me indicate some kind of reassurance that he is on the right route and even if the times get hard things will be ok. The three sisters are the proof that the task can be done.


4. What kind of winged creatures appeared?


The wing creature that I believe appeared was a white dove because it said it signifies a monumental success. Just as doves were released at Hiroshima to represent the anniversary of America's nuclear attack in World II



If you were to use this passage with students, what schema would you need to activate with them first? I would have them look at the keywords in the passage and find synonyms of the words. Put them in a sentence format. Relate that sentence structure to the one that is portrayed above.





How can you help teach children whose schema and the text's content don't match? Try a different approach and give clues and hints that will help the children connect to their background knowledge.



How much time should children spend in texts that don't match their interests or schema? They should not spend a long time on texts that interest them. If they don't have interest in the topic then they will not comprehend or find any connection with the material being read.