Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15-20 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Read this sentence from an 1892 detective story one time: 'There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.' Write what you understood. Then write what you would do to understand the rest if there were no teacher, no dictionary and no phone."

   Collect a few answers. Most students understand part of the sentence on one read (something about mud and a driver) and are stopped by save and dog-cart. List on the board what they said they would do. Point out that every good answer is something a reader can do alone: read it again, read on, look at the words around it, or decide it can wait. Tell students that by the end of grade 8 the standard expects them to read texts this hard on their own, and that today they learn a routine that makes that possible: three reads and four fix-up moves.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Three reads (Diagram 1). A hard text rarely gives up everything on the first pass, so read it three times, each time with one question. Read 1: What happens? Find who is there, where they are and what happens, and write a one-sentence gist (the main point, in your own words). Read 2: How is it built? Notice how the writer put the text together: who tells a story, and in what order; who speaks in a play, how long, and what the stage directions add; how a poem's lines, stanzas, rhymes and repetitions are arranged. Mark the place where the text turns. Read 3: What does it mean? Say one idea the text suggests beyond its words, and find two quotations that support it. Fix-up moves (Diagram 2): when you are stuck, reread, then read on, then use the words around it, and if you are still stuck, mark it with a question mark and keep going. Much of a hard text makes sense by Read 2.

   Context note (all the setup a reader of this story needs): London, 1883. Dr. Watson, who tells the story, shares rooms in Baker Street with his friend Sherlock Holmes, a private detective. Early one morning Holmes wakes Watson: a young woman is waiting to see them. Read the passage aloud once. Then think aloud through the three reads and one fix-up move, as in the worked examples.

   1“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes, cheerily. “My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot coffee, for I observe that you are shivering.”

   2“It is not cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman, in a low voice, changing her seat as requested.

   3“What, then?”

   4“It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She raised her veil as she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and gray, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray, and her expression was weary and haggard. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, all-comprehensive glances.

   5“You must not fear,” said he, soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. “We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see.”

   6“You know me, then?”

   7“No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the station.”

   8The lady gave a violent start, and stared in bewilderment at my companion.

   9“There is no mystery, my dear madam,” said he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.”

   10“Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct,” said she. “I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. [...]”

   • Read 1: What happens?

     After one read of all ten paragraphs, write a one-sentence gist.

     Result: A frightened woman comes to Holmes early in the morning, and before she tells him anything, he surprises her by working out how she traveled from the ticket in her glove and the mud on her sleeve. (Check it: the gist names who, where and what happens, and it leaves out details such as the coffee and the fire.)

   • Read 2: How is it built?

     Who tells the story, and in what order does Holmes give his conclusion and his reasons (paragraphs 5-9)?

     Result: Watson tells it ("my friend," "my companion"), so we watch Holmes from the outside, as the woman does. Holmes states his conclusion first, "You have come in by train this morning, I see" (paragraph 5), and gives his reasons only after she "stared in bewilderment" (paragraph 8): the mud "in no less than seven places" (paragraph 9). The turn comes between paragraphs 7 and 9. Doyle holds the reasons back so the reader is surprised too, then shows that the surprise has a logical explanation.

   • Read 3: What does it mean?

     The woman says, "It is not cold which makes me shiver" and "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror" (paragraphs 2 and 4). What does the scene suggest about her, and about Holmes?

     Result: Idea: she is in real danger, and Holmes is the kind of person who can help, because he notices what others miss. Quotation 1: her eyes are "like those of some hunted animal" (paragraph 4), so she feels hunted, not just nervous. Quotation 2: "There is no mystery, my dear madam" (paragraph 9); he turns small facts into sure conclusions. The reader expects him to do the same with her fear.

   • Fix-up moves on one sentence

     Paragraph 9: "There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver." What do "save" and "dog-cart" mean here?

     Result: Move 1, reread: save cannot mean "rescue" here, since no one is being rescued. Move 3, use the words around it: "no vehicle save a dog-cart" follows the pattern "no one except you," so save means "except." For dog-cart, the same words show it is a kind of vehicle with a driver, and paragraph 7 says she had "a good drive" in one. Move 4: the exact kind of vehicle can wait; it does not change the gist. (A dog-cart was a light, open two-wheeled cart pulled by a horse.)

   Teacher tip. Model honestly: say where your own first read broke down, and let students see that you did not stop there. Point out that you used no glossary and no outside source except in the last sentence of the fix-up example, and that the gist was right without it.

3. Guided Practice15-20 minutes

   Pairs get the Three Reads card, which shows only the three questions, and the fix-up bookmark. Context note (from the play's opening stage direction): A reception room in a country house in Russia. Mrs. Popov, a young widow, sits in deep mourning, gazing at a photograph. Her old servant, Luka, is with her. This is a comedy, but students are not told what kind of comedy or what happens next. The pair reads the scene aloud once, one partner as Luka and one as Mrs. Popov, then both partners do all three reads, writing their answers. The teacher circulates and answers questions only with another question ("Which move have you tried?").

   1LUKA. It isn't right, ma'am. You're wearing yourself out! The maid and the cook have gone looking for berries; everything that breathes is enjoying life; even the cat knows how to be happy--slips about the courtyard and catches birds--but you hide yourself here in the house as though you were in a cloister. Yes, truly, by actual reckoning you haven't left this house for a whole year.

   2MRS. POPOV. And I shall never leave it--why should I? My life is over. He lies in his grave, and I have buried myself within these four walls. We are both dead.

   3LUKA. There you are again! It's too awful to listen to, so it is! Nikolai Michailovitch is dead; it was the will of the Lord, and the Lord has given him eternal peace. You have grieved over it and that ought to be enough. Now it's time to stop. One can't weep and wear mourning forever! My wife died a few years ago. I grieved for her. I wept a whole month--and then it was over. Must one be forever singing lamentations? That would be more than your husband was worth! [He sighs.] You have forgotten all your neighbors. You don't go out and you receive no one. We live--you'll pardon me--like the spiders, and the good light of day we never see. [...]

   4MRS. POPOV. [Resolutely.] Please don't speak of these things again. You know very well that since the death of Nikolai Michailovitch my life is absolutely nothing to me. You think I live, but it only seems so. Do you understand? Oh, that his departed soul may see how I love him! I know, it's no secret to you; he was often unjust toward me, cruel, and--he wasn't faithful, but I shall be faithful to the grave and prove to him how I can love. There, in the Beyond, he'll find me the same as I was until his death.

   5LUKA. What is the use of all these words, when you'd so much rather go walking in the garden or order Tobby or Welikan harnessed to the trap, and visit the neighbors?

   6MRS. POPOV. [Weeping.] Oh!

   7LUKA. Madam, dear madam, what is it? In Heaven's name!

   8MRS. POPOV. He loved Tobby so! He always drove him to the Kortschagins or the Vlassovs. What a wonderful horse-man he was! How fine he looked when he pulled at the reins with all his might! Tobby, Tobby--give him an extra measure of oats to-day!

   1. Read 1: What happens? Teacher note: a good gist is close to this: Luka begs Mrs. Popov to stop mourning her husband and go out again, but she refuses, swears to stay faithful to him until death, and then weeps over his horse. Push back on gists that say only "they argue"; the gist should say what each one wants.
   2. Read 2: How is it built? Teacher note: look at the length of the speeches. Luka's are long and full of everyday things (berries, the cat "catches birds," his own wife, the spiders), while hers are short and grand: "My life is over," "We are both dead." The contrast between his plain talk and her dramatic lines is where much of the comedy starts. A pair that marks the turn at paragraph 6, where she suddenly weeps, has found the scene's shift from argument to feeling.
   3. Read 3: What does it mean? Teacher note: ask what Mrs. Popov's own words reveal. She admits her husband "was often unjust toward me, cruel, and--he wasn't faithful," yet she "shall be faithful to the grave and prove to him how I can love" (paragraph 4). Her mourning seems to be partly about winning an argument with a dead man. Accept other ideas that are backed by two quotations.
   4. Fix-up check. Each pair names one place where they were stuck and the move that got them through. Collect two or three on the board. A word pairs often stop on is trap: "order Tobby or Welikan harnessed to the trap" (paragraph 5) shows through the words around it that a trap is something a horse pulls, a light carriage, not a device for catching animals.

   Close with one question for the class: which of the three reads took longest on the play, and why? Tell students that for the poem they will have no partner and no card: just the three questions in their heads and the bookmark.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Cold read. Each student reads the poem below alone, with no introduction, no glossary and no discussion. On a sheet folded in three, they write: after Read 1, a one-sentence gist; after Read 2, one note about how the poem is built (its stanzas, its rhymes or its repeated line), with line numbers; after Read 3, one idea the poem suggests and two quotations for it. In the margin, they mark each place where they used a fix-up move and name the move. Collect the sheets without discussing the poem. Questions 11-14 and 19 of the quiz use this poem, so the class discussion waits until after the quiz.

   1Whose woods these are I think I know.
   His house is in the village though;
   He will not see me stopping here
   To watch his woods fill up with snow.

   5My little horse must think it queer
   To stop without a farmhouse near
   Between the woods and frozen lake
   The darkest evening of the year.

   He gives his harness bells a shake
   10To ask if there is some mistake.
   The only other sound's the sweep
   Of easy wind and downy flake.

   The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
   But I have promises to keep,
   15And miles to go before I sleep,
   And miles to go before I sleep.

5. Closure10 minutes

   Exit ticket, on an index card: (1) Which of the three reads changed your understanding of the poem the most, and at which line? (2) Which fix-up move did you use, and did it work?

   Teacher note on language and content: "The Speckled Band" is a mystery about a young woman's sudden death, and parts of the story that are not printed here describe the stepfather's violence and use dated words for the Roma people and for people in India; preview the whole story before assigning it. The Boor opens with a widow in mourning and mentions her husband's unfaithfulness; later in the play, the visitor, Smirnov, rants against women, uses an antisemitic slur when he describes the inn where he slept, and threatens a comic duel with pistols before the quarrel turns into a marriage proposal. None of that part is printed here. "Annabel Lee" is a poem of grief for a young bride who has died. All passages are quoted exactly as printed.

   For homework and the quiz: students read the two passages below on their own. After T1, the visitor tells Holmes and Watson that her name is Helen Stoner and that she lives with her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, a man with a violent temper, in an old house at Stoke Moran. The three bedrooms, first Dr. Roylott's, then her twin sister Julia's, then Helen's, are side by side and open onto the same corridor. The sisters always locked their doors at night, because their stepfather kept a cheetah and a baboon that roamed the grounds. Two years ago, two weeks before Julia's wedding, Julia asked Helen whether she had ever heard someone whistle in the middle of the night; for several nights, at about three in the morning, Julia had heard a low, clear whistle. Then she went to her room and locked the door. T4 begins that night. "Annabel Lee" (T5) needs no introduction.

   1“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not recognized me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!’ There was something else which she would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor’s room, but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for my step-father, and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown. When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.”

   2“One moment,” said Holmes; “are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?”

   3“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.”

   1It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
   That a maiden lived whom you may know
   By the name of ANNABEL LEE;—
   5And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.
   I was a child and She was a child,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
   But we loved with a love that was more than love—
   10I and my ANNABEL LEE—
   With a love that the wingéd seraphs of Heaven
   Coveted her and me.
   And this was the reason that, long ago,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
   15A wind blew out of a cloud by night
   Chilling my ANNABEL LEE;
   So that her high-born kinsmen came
   And bore her away from me,
   To shut her up, in a sepulchre
   20In this kingdom by the sea.
   The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
   Went envying her and me;
   Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
   In this kingdom by the sea)
   25That the wind came out of the cloud, chilling
   And killing my ANNABEL LEE.
   But our love it was stronger by far than the love
   Of those who were older than we—
   Of many far wiser than we—
   30And neither the angels in Heaven above
   Nor the demons down under the sea
   Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE:—
   For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
   35Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
   And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
   And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride
   40In her sepulchre there by the sea—
   In her tomb by the side of the sea.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence is the best gist of T4?

   AHelen hears a scream in the storm, finds her sister dying in the corridor, and hears her last words BHelen hears a whistle, locks her door, and in the morning learns that her sister has died of fright CJulia runs to Helen's room in the storm, names the doctor as her attacker, and dies in the corridor DDr. Roylott finds Julia in the corridor, carries her to her room, and sends Helen to the village

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does Helen remind Holmes that she and Julia "were twins" (T4, paragraph 1)?

   ATo explain why the two sisters shared one bedroom on the wild night of the storm BTo explain her "vague feeling of impending misfortune" before anything happened CTo show that no one else in the house could have recognized Julia's voice DTo prove that she, too, is in danger from the whistle Julia had heard

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In what order does Helen report the sounds she heard (T4, paragraph 1)?

   AA clanging sound, then a scream, then a low whistle BA low whistle, then a clanging sound, then a scream CA scream, then a low whistle, then a clanging sound DA scream, then a clanging sound, then a low whistle

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Helen says that as she ran down the passage, "my sister's door was unlocked" (T4, paragraph 1). Using the note before T4, why is this detail worth noticing?

   AJulia usually left her door open, so an unlocked door was expected BThe door was locked from the outside, so someone had shut Julia in CHelen had borrowed Julia's key earlier that evening and forgot to return it DThe sisters always locked their doors, so Julia must have unlocked it herself

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Julia "stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the doctor's room" (T4, paragraph 1). What can a careful reader infer, and no more?

   AThat Julia was pointing out the way back to her own bedroom BThat Julia seemed to link what harmed her with the doctor's room CThat the doctor has confessed to Helen that he caused the death DThat the speckled band is the name of a painting in the doctor's room

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does paragraph 1 show about what Dr. Roylott did after Helen called for him (T4)?

   AHe refused to leave his room until morning and did nothing to help BHe was already dressed, as if he had been waiting for the scream CHe came quickly, gave Julia brandy and sent for a doctor, but she died DHe blamed Helen for the noise and sent her back to her own room

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Luka says Mrs. Popov hides in the house "as though you were in a cloister" (T2, paragraph 1). Using the words around it, what is a cloister?

   AA place where people live shut away from the world BA crowded public room where people come to dance at night CA garden where the servants go to gather berries DA stable where a family keeps its horses at night

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does Luka tell Mrs. Popov about his own wife's death (T2, paragraph 3)?

   ATo show her that he is still too sad to do his work properly BTo ask her permission to take a month away from the house CTo prove that he loved his wife more than she loved her husband DTo show that grief should end, since he mourned for a month

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 4 of T2 begins with the stage direction [Resolutely.]. How does it tell the actor to say the speech?

   ASadly and quietly, close to tears, as if she might give in BFirmly and with determination, so that no one argues CCheerfully, as if she has decided to take Luka's advice DNervously and fast, as if she is afraid of being overheard

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 8, Mrs. Popov weeps over her husband's horse and says, "give him an extra measure of oats to-day!" What does the speech show?

    AThat she has stopped mourning and is ready to visit the neighbors BThat she is angry at Luka for letting the horse go hungry CThat her grief spills over onto the things her husband loved DThat she plans to sell the horse and leave the house for good

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence is the best gist of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (T3)?

    AA traveler gets lost in a snowstorm and his horse has to find the way home BA farmer watches a neighbor's woods to keep strangers from cutting the trees CA man visits a friend in the village and stays too late on a winter night DA traveler stops alone to watch snow fill some woods, then thinks of what he must do

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    "My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near" (lines 5-6). What do these lines suggest about the stop?

    AIt is unusual: there is no ordinary reason to stop in this place BIt is dangerous, since the horse is afraid of the ice on the frozen lake CIt is planned, because the horse knows this is their usual rest DIt is short, because the horse is hungry and wants its supper

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Look at the end words of lines 1-8: know, though, here, snow; queer, near, lake, year. What does Read 2 show about how the rhymes link the stanzas?

    AEvery line in the poem rhymes with every other line BThe first two stanzas rhyme in pairs, like couplets CThe line that does not rhyme in one stanza sets the rhyme of the next DThe stanzas do not rhyme with each other at all; only the two repeated last lines match

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The last line, "And miles to go before I sleep," is printed twice (lines 15-16). What is the effect of the repetition?

    AIt shows that the speaker has forgotten what he just said BIt makes the line sound heavier, as if it means more than a trip home CIt shows that the speaker has decided to sleep in the woods DIt only fills out the last stanza, because Frost could not find another rhyme for it

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In May, a grade 8 class reads stories, dramas and poems at the high end of the band, but the students still get a glossary and a summary before every text, and most cannot read one without them. Which words of RL.8.10 has this class not yet met?

    A"including stories, dramas, and poems" B"at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band" C"independently" D"By the end of the year"

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student reading T4 stops at "her face blanched with terror" (paragraph 1). Which fix-up move and meaning fit best?

    ARead on: "blanched" means flushed red, since Julia later falls down BMark it and move on: "blanched" cannot be worked out from this passage CUse the words around it: "blanched" means went white with fear DReread: "blanched" means covered with a sheet, as a dead body is

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Read 2 and Read 3. In paragraph 2 of T4, Holmes interrupts to ask, "are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" Explain why these two sounds matter to him more than the scream does, and what Helen's answer in paragraph 3 admits.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Luka says, "We live--you'll pardon me--like the spiders, and the good light of day we never see" (T2, paragraph 3). Explain the comparison, and what it shows about how Luka feels about life in the house.

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19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Read 3 on the poem. The speaker says "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep" (T3, lines 13-14). What pulls him toward the woods, what pulls him away, and what might the poem suggest beyond one evening's ride? Quote two lines.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Of the three passages the quiz uses (the story, the drama and the poem), which was hardest for you to read on your own? Name one specific place, say which of the three reads it stopped, and say which fix-up move you used and whether it worked.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RL.8.10: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.