Corrie Dobis

ECI 541 Reading in Content Areas

Spring 2020

Scaffolded Reading Experience (SRE) Project

A. INTRODUCTION
a. Contextualize your SRE Plan

1. Target student(s) and context: This lesson will be taught with a small-group of 6th grade
students at Four Oaks Middle School. There will be six girls total, and each child will be
given their own copy of the book for this lesson. All six of these students are a mix of
English Language Learners and those whose first language is English. The students are
all currently performing below grade level and are all needing support to continue their
progress meeting literacy standards that address higher order thinking skills. The middle
school is located in a small rural town in Johnston County. In total, the school has 523
students in grades 6th-8th.

2. Text selection: For this lesson, we will be using the text "The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved
Mystery From History", written by: Jane Yolen & Heidi Elisabet Yolen-Stemple. I have
chosen this book because one of the students from this small-group was one that I
initially conducted a student-interview with. After talking with the student I found out
that they enjoyed reading mystery books, so it was my goal to find a historical book that
tailored to her interests. This is a historical mystery text that is about a ship called The
Mary Celeste whose crew suddenly disappeared in the middle of the ocean over one
hundred years ago. While a ship finds the boat at sea, there is no trace of the crew and
they were never found. This book takes readers on a journey to solve this mystery by
reading clues of the ship’s account. According to the Lexile Framework website, this
book has a Lexile number of 840. This text shows a good instructional range to start
working with this particular group of students.

3. Reading purpose/objectives:
● Content objectives: By using this historical fiction book, it is my goal for them to learn
about the Mary Celeste ship and its lost crew. This can be considered a historical mystery
in which students are able to look at historical documents and pictures of its crew, its
sailing route, and comprehend how or why this event could have occurred. I would like to
incorporate the following 6th grade social studies standards:
○ 6.H.1.2. Summarize the literal meaning of historical documents in order to establish context.
○ 6.H.2 Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events,
issues, individuals and cultural groups
 ● Language objectives: Students will be working as “detectives” during these lessons to
uncover their own theory on what happened to the crew of The Mary Celeste. In order to
do this, students will learn through our guided reading activities to cite specific text
evidence to support their claims. After reading, they will conduct a discussion with one
another and will then use this to continue their learning into their written arguments.
They will be using the multimedia documents used in the beginning reader activities and
will also be able to look for their own multimedia tools to integrate into their digital
presentations.
○ RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
○ W.6.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
○ SL.6.2 Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats and explain how it
contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
○ SL.6.4 Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent
descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; adapt speech to a variety
of contexts and tasks.
○ SL.6.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify
information.

b. Theoretical Rationale: For my creative-synthesis project, my compelling question

looks into how teachers can integrate meaningful literacy activities in the (K-6)
elementary classroom to promote student independence. My rationale for this SRE
project is to help promote meaningful or research-based activities that allow students to
effectively engage in independent activities either before, during or after their reading for
the content-based materials. In order to do this, I have planned specific activities that help
extend students’ knowledge of the content material as they are directly aligned with the
North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Some of these activities include building
students’ background knowledge, guided and silent reading, and having a socratic
seminar to discuss the possible theories to this ship's mystery.

B. LESSON PLAN
a. Overview: 3 Day Lesson Plan Format
Day 1 Pre-reading (BEFORE) Reading (DURING) Post-reading (AFTER)

● Activating &
Building
Background
Knowledge (30
minutes)
● Suggesting
Strategies (20

2
 minutes)

Day 2 Pre-reading (BEFORE) Reading (DURING) Post-reading (AFTER)

● Guided Reading
(30 minutes)
● Silent Reading
● (20 minutes)

Day 3 Pre-reading (BEFORE) Reading (DURING) Post-reading (AFTER)

● Discussion (20
minutes)
● Writing/Multimedi
a Presentations
(30)

b. Description

Pre-reading (Day 1): For the first day of instruction, students will be building their background
knowledge about the crew of the Mary Celeste ship. Students will be activating this knowledge
by looking at some primary sources such as pictures of the crew, a log of its crew, and a map of
the ship with its conquest. They will also watch a short video clip to help tie these sources
together before reading. This first activity will take the first 30 minutes of instruction. For the
second 20 minutes of instruction, students will be working with the teacher to identify the
suggested “think aloud” strategy and how this will be a helpful tool to them during their reading.

Activity 1: Activating & Building Background Knowledge

● Goal of the activity: The goal of this activity is to help students understand the history
behind this ship, what & who it was transporting, and the course of its passage across the
Atlantic Ocean.
● Rationale: Although students may have some previous knowledge about transatlantic
boat voyages and items that may have been transported in the 19th century, discussing
some photographs and primary documents will be a great resource to use. In addition to
this, students will be able to discuss questions or predictions they may have about why
this could be a historical debate of theories as to why the crew went missing. Activating
students’ knowledge about these components in the text will help them begin their
journey as a “detective” to find the answer.

● Procedure: Students in the group will all receive a copy of the text The Mary Celeste, By:
Jane Yolen & Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple. The teacher will start the lesson by passing
out two envelopes that contain 4 pictures/primary sources. The six students will be split
into two smaller groups of three students, one group receiving one envelope each. The

3
 teacher will begin by reading the introductory page of the book. These pages include a
young girl who narrates how readers must become detectives to solve this “history
mystery”. After introducing the structure and task the text presents, the teacher will share
with students the following Youtube video to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=0v1Eyu0qmBQ
After viewing this, students will view the four pictures in the envelopes: a picture of the
Mary Celeste, ship master Briggs and his family, a map showing the voyage of the ship
and the Dei Gratia, and a list of the crew. While students are in their smaller groups, the
teacher will have them discuss what they are noticing and wondering. The teacher may
share some of the following information about the video and pictures.
○ The Mary Celeste was a 103 foot long brigantine (ship) weighing 282 tons. It left
the New York Harbor with a shipment of many barrels of denatured grain alcohol.
This was an alcohol shipment they were bringing to the city of Genoa, Italy. This
type of alcohol is typically used as an ingredient to make products, but not for
consumption.
○ Benjamin Spooner Briggs was born in Wareham, Massachusetts on 24th April
1835 and became a master mariner. On the ship, he also brought his wife, Sarah
Elizabeth Briggs and Sophia Matilda Briggs, their 2 year old daughter. They also
had an eldest child, Arthur Stanley, who had remained at home with his
grandmother.
● Here are some open-ended questions the teacher may use to drive student discussions
about these documents and the video clip. These may be questions given orally or written
on the board:
○ Why do you think Captain Briggs brought along his wife and daughter?
○ Do you think there were enough crew members aboard the ship to have a
successful voyage?
○ What questions do you have about the boat, Dei Gratia that found the Mary
Celeste?
○ How does the Mary Celeste ship differ from ships today?
○ Where are the Azores Islands?
■ *If students are unaware of where this is, take a moment to use Google
Earth. Have students “Launch Earth” and type in Azores Islands, and find
Santa Maria. The last known journal log from the ship’s crew was written
when they passed this island. Discuss where these islands are in relation to
the port in New York where both the Mary Celeste and the Dei Gratia left.

Activity 2 : Suggesting Strategies

● Goal of the activity: After students have built their background knowledge about The
Mary Celeste, we are going to look at a strategy that will help them create a full
understanding of the text.

4
 ● Rationale: According to Vacca, Vacca, Mraz (2017), using pre-reading discussions can
help show students how to “develop task knowledge and self-knowledge about their own
learning strategies” (p.120). Helping students understand how to use think alouds and
when to use them will be helpful for them to understand the content in this book.
Students' use of think alouds will also help them understand the structure of this text as it
includes vocabulary boxes, journal logs, and a main text noting the historical sequence of
the ship and its ocean quest.
● Procedure: The teacher will introduce a strategy students have been working on. Students
will receive review on the comprehension strategy of “think alouds” which allows the
reader to discuss their questions, predictions, and insights as they comprehend the text.
The teacher will present the following anchor chart to support students with this strategy.
Introducing these subcomponents of think alouds will help students feel confident in
using the strategy independently while finishing the book. The teacher will tell students
that while reading together, they will model this strategy and will display this anchor
chart for them to use the sentence frames to understand the text layout and respond to the
theory they decide could solve this history mystery!

During Reading (Day 2): During this day of instruction, students will be working with the
teacher for a guided or supported reading in the first half of the book. Students will then finish
the book independently while using the modeled think aloud strategies to support their
comprehension. The teacher will continue to review the literacy structure the authors have
presented along with modeled think alouds to promote student understanding. The guided
reading portion should take about 30 minutes of the instruction period, while students complete
the book during silent reading for the final 20 minutes.

5
Activity 1: Guided Reading
● Goal of the activity: During the supported reading activity students will be able to read
aloud with the teacher through the first half of the book. During this supported reading,
the teacher will be engaging in modeled think alouds, as this was a suggested strategy
from the pre-reading activities. The goal is for students to learn about the text layout
(vocabulary boxes, journal entries, & and main text) and have in depth discussions about
what they are comprehending by watching the modeled think alouds to use as a strategy
later in the book.
● Rationale: The rationale for this activity is to support students’ abilities to read a complex
text that has an irregular layout for literature. By reading to students and having guided
think aloud discussions, students will be able to visualize, predict, reflect, and infer the
mystery of this ship and its crew.
● Procedure: The teacher will begin reading on page 3, since pages 1-2 were read in the
pre-reading activities. When students open to pages 3-4, the teacher will first review the
layout of the book. This instruction is necessary so that students understand how the
author has included extra text features to support the reader's comprehension of the main
text. See picture examples of pages 3-4 for teacher instruction.

While stopping on each page to discuss the vocabulary boxes to support students comprehension,
the teacher will also stop to complete modeled think alouds based on the illustrations, dialogue
from the characters, and the informational journal log text on each of the two page sections.
These journal entries highlight many clues that students will need to be attentive to when
choosing a potential theory for their after reading written responses and presentation to the class.
Below are possible think aloud questions using the sentence frames from the suggested anchor
chart used in the before reading instruction:

Pages 3-4:

6
 - The text says “ spotted a smudge on the horizon”. This reminds me of a boat I went on to
watch the sunrise, and it looks like a blur is the far distance. Have you ever seen
something far away, but couldn’t see the whole image?
Pages 5-6:
- I was confused when I saw the pronoun “she”. I am thinking that “she” refers to the ship
that was headed in their direction. What do you think?
- I can picture the crew’s faces when they are looking through their spy glasses. I can see
from the vocabulary box that these are handheld telescopes. I think they would have a
quizzical brow.
Pages 7-8
- I wonder if the crew hangs flags on the ships to show other ships passing by a message.
Captain Morehouse suggests the crew “hail them” or call a greeting to the passing ship.
Let’s see if this page gives us anymore information about how they send messages to
passing ships
Pages 9-10
- I didn’t expect for Deveau, Johnson, and John to row their small boat over to the Mary
Celeste and not hear anyone aboard. I thought that maybe there would still be people
aboard but not attending to the sails or needs on the deck of the ship
Pages 11-12
- In the next part, I think that we are going to figure out whether the crew left any items
behind. If no one is aboard the ship, I am guessing that items may have been taken with
them or it was shuffled through and items were taken by pirates nearby.

Activity 2 : Silent Reading

● Goal of the activity: The goal of having students silently read this text is to allow the
teacher time to circulate the room to independently support their comprehension. This
allows the teachers time to observe students in action and use comprehension strategies to
make meaning from the text.
● Rationale: By providing students time to silently read the text, they are able to
independently practice the think aloud strategy modeled by the teacher. This allows them
time to practice when to complete think alouds and for them to see how they support their
overall comprehension of the text.
● Procedure: Now that the teacher has read the first part of the text, students will be silently
reading pages 13- 26. The beginning of pages 13-14 mention that the ship is missing a
chronometer and the sextant. Although the vocabulary boxes describe the definition of
these terms, the teacher may also let students listen to an audio recording about the
history of the chronometer. The teacher can display the following website: BBC History
and play the audio clip (start at 3:42 out of the larger audio file, pause after transcript).
This audio will give students some history about the important significance of this
invention for sailors. In case some students in the group need support with their listening

7
 comprehension skills, there is a transcribed file listed in the appendices of this lesson plan
that can be printed.
While students are reading, they will be pausing and conducting their think alouds. The
teacher will be circulating around the room and checking in to have one on one
conferences with students to clarify anything they are further confused about or
questioning. This is a great time for the teacher to ask students where they stopped to
think aloud and what they think has happened to the crew so far. If the teacher wants to
extend this activity, students may be given a set of index cards to write down their
thoughts from conducting their think alouds. This may include questions, new vocabulary
words, pictures, or predictions about the crew. Once students have completed their
readings, the teacher will have them write a quick 2-3 sentence summary to briefly
describe what they believe happened.

Post-reading (Day 3): After students have completed the book, the teacher will guide students in
a socratic seminar discussion. To begin the discussion, the teacher needs to again remind
students that they have become “detectives” to solve the mystery of the missing ship’s crew.
Students will have about 30 minutes to discuss their possible theories, based on ideas presented
in the text. For the next 30 minutes, students will be working independently to create a written
response to explain their theory choice. If time permits, the students will take these written
responses to create a digital presentation of their theory.

Activity 1: Discussion/Socratic Seminar

● Goal of the activity: The goal of the socratic seminar is driven by an open-ended question
led by the facilitator (teacher) for students to articulate their thoughts and present text-
based evidence to support their claims. It is a forum that will allow students to further
discuss details they came across during their silent reading and decide on their final
theory.
● Rationale: By holding a socratic seminar, students will be able to practice holding text-
based conversations and how to practice their listening skills while other small groups of
students are speaking. They will be able to practice how to respond to classmates with
opposing views or theories they have decided after reading the text.
● Procedure: For a typical socratic seminar, there would be a large circle of students with a
smaller inner circle of students. The smaller group of students would be leading the
discussion, while the outer circle would listen and decide how this conversation matches
with some of the ideas they are going to present to their group. Since this is a smaller
group of six students, the teacher may separate them into three groups of two or two
groups of three, whichever works best for the students. The teacher will lead the group
with the following open-ended question:
○ What theory do you think explains the crew's disappearance on the Mary Celeste?

8
 While students discuss, the teacher should only be holding the role of facilitator, and
keeping the group on track with the discussion question. A timer set for at least an 8
minute discussion would be helpful or less if doing three small groups. When the groups
switch, the inner circle will move to the outer circle to listen to their classmates’
discussions.

Activity 2: Written Theories/Multimedia Presentations

● Goal of the activity: After students have participated in their socratic seminar, the teacher
will have students turn to the final two pages in their books which display six possible
theories the book suggests for how and why the crew had disappeared. Students will be
creating a written summary of their theory which connects to text-based evidence and use
this as a part of their digital presentation to the group.
● Rationale: Now that students have had time to collaborate with one another, they will be
able to go back and choose either a theory presented in the book, or one they have chosen
themselves. Allowing students to have a creative and collaborative discussion helps
students combine and create ideas that they can apply to their written assignment.
● Procedure: Students will create a written summary of their chosen theory. This can be
one of the six theories presented in the book or it can be one separate from this. The key
is that any student theory that is presented must be backed with text-based evidence.
Students will work independently on this portion of the assignment and if they choose a
theory from the text- they will have written questions to consider that will help them find
specific evidence.
Students will have two choices to use as they prepare a digital presentation to present to
the group. They must include their written summaries in this presentation but can
combine this with visual graphics, videos, photos, or other primary sources they find.

9
 They can create a short Google Slide presentation or they may create a Smore Newsletter
to present their findings. Most students may need the whole 30 minutes for their written
summaries. If this is the case, the teacher may extend the lesson one day to allow students
time to research and complete these presentations to share with their classmates.
Some students in the group may need support beginning their written summaries. Below
you will find some helpful sentence starters to display or individually pass out to
students:
1. After reviewing the mystery of the The Mary Celeste crew, I believe they
disappeared because….
2. One reason I believe this theory explains their disappearance is…..
3. On page ___ it states……
4. This explains my theory because….
5. As a detective in this mystery I think….. because…..
6. One fact I considered when choosing this theory was…..

C. REFLECTION

Overall, I think that this scaffolded reading experience provides multiple opportunities
for students to receive explicit instruction in comprehension strategies, time to collaborate with
their peers, and opportunities to express their opinions through writing with text supported
evidence. By providing moments of supported reading and independent reading, students are also
able to independently put into action research based strategies to practice their comprehension of
a complex text. One strength in this plan is the integration of technology tools. I think that
activating students’ background knowledge with the videos and Google extensions such as
Google Earth allow students to visualize the journey this boat took over one hundred years ago. I
also think that allowing students to create digital presentations of their written theories allows
them a creative outlet to display their learning. One area for improvement could be to possibly
include a supported reading guide with specific points where students should be stopping to have
a think aloud. This could be a simple index card with pages or paragraph numbers with a think
aloud question students should stop and ponder. I think students will be enthusiastic about
reading this text and the activities because they include multiple opportunities for them to
interact with the text. They are not simply reading the text, answering questions, and giving the
class a written report. These activities include moments for direct instruction, guided instruction,
peer communication, independent reading and practice creating written, digital presentations.
References

Fitzgerald, J., & Graves, M. (2004). Scaffolding reading experiences for English-language
learners. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

Graves, M., & Graves, B. (1994). Scaffolding reading experiences. Norwood, MA: Christopher-
Gordon.

10
Hogan, K., & Pressley, M. (Eds.). (1997). Scaffolding student learning: Instructional
approaches and issues. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

MacGregor, N. (2010, October 11). A History of the World in 100 Objects - Mass Production,
Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD) - Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle - BBC
Sounds. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00v6htv

McGovern, K. (n.d.). TEFL Reading & Listening . Retrieved 2020, from https://esolepacks.com/

Unknown. (2014, December 3). Retrieved from http://manmythmagic.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-

mystery-of-mary-celeste-part-one.html

Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. A. L., & Mraz , M. (2017). Content area reading: literacy and learning
across the curriculum (12th ). Boston, MA: Pearson Education .

Yesterday | The True Story of the Mary Celeste clip. (2015, July 27). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1Eyu0qmBQ

Appendices- Primary Sources

11
12
 (used with map in text)

(Captain Briggs with his wife Sarah, and daughter Sophia)

Detective Theories (In Text) Writing Activity

13
14
Chronometer Auip Clip Transcript

15
16