So as I mentioned earlier, I've been frustrated with the ennui I sensed from Amaya, Alex (absent today), Brandon, and particularly Zeke during guided reading recently. Today guided reading with these guys went so much better! We started by sharing our answers to the question they prioritized last time: "How did Brian survive 3 days without food?" Zeke suggested that he drank water instead of eating food. Brandon didn't have an answer prepared.
Amaya: Brian had too much stuff on his mind so he wasn't hungry.
Me: Tell me more.
Amaya: He was thinking about the divorce and the secret and was too busy trying to solve the secret to think about food.
Zeke: I disagree. He thought about food and when you think about food it makes you want to eat it.
Me: Do you have text evidence?
(Zeke was able to find text evidence in the book after a minute that proved that Brian had been fantasizing about food.)
Me: Zeke you're right but do you think that the whole thing with the secret might have taken his mind off food?
Zeke: Even if he's got a lot on his mind, he's got to eat to survive. That's what people do.
Me: Amaya what do you mean he's trying to solve the secret?
Amaya: He doesn't know the secret of why they had the divorce. MISCONCEPTION: HE DOES KNOW.
Me: Do you have text evidence?
Amaya finds evidence from the passage where Brian has a flashback to when he saw a strange man in his mom's car.
Me: What do you guys think about that? A VERY OPEN QUESTION, IN MY MIND I'M TRYING TO DIRECT THE CONVERSATION TOWARDS THE NATURE OF THE SECRET, AND WHO THE SECRET IS BETWEEN, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT.
Zeke: I still don't think he's thinking about that right now cuz he's on the island trying to figure out what he's going eat. MISCONCEPTION: BRIAN'S ON A LAKE, BUT HE'S ON THE SHORE, NOT ON AN ISLAND
Amaya insisted that this secret might have distracted him.
Amaya: He might be thinking about his mom's reasons for the divorce.
Me: What are the reasons for his divorce?
Zeke: Maybe his mom didn't like the dad anymore.
Amaya: Brian saw another man in her car. I think she fell in love with someone else. GOOD INFERENCE, I WONDER WHY SHE THINKS THAT BRIAN DOESN'T KNOW THE SECRET ABOUT WHY HIS PARENTS GOT DIVORCED?
Me: I agree with Zeke that it's more likely he survived for 3 days without food by drinking lots of water because I know that people can survive for weeks without food, as long as they have water. But I really appreciated Amaya's response because I'm wondering why when he's in the middle of the wilderness and starving, he's still thinking about the divorce?
Amaya connects Brian's dwelling on the divorce with her own thoughts when her parents divorced (for privacy reasons, I am not transcribing anything she said).
Zeke: He might not be thinking about it that much cuz he's hoping people will find him.
Amaya: I wonder if he's gonna find the hatchet? I think it's going to make him miss his mom even more. From the cover I think that when he puts the hatchet on it makes him feel strong because his face looks calm on the cover.
Me: Why do you think he'll miss his mom more?
Amaya: His mom gave it to him as a present.
Me: Why do you think it makes him feel strong?
Zeke: It's a weapon that can keep animals from messing with him because I went on the computer and found out that the book takes place in the Canadian wilderness and there's lots of animals there.
Amaya uses the summary on the back of the book to answer the question. She reads: "Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother has given him as a present -- and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart ever since his parents' divorce. But now Brian has no time for anger, self-pity, or despair -- it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive."
Amaya: Wait...that sentence...I think that the secret's not between his parents, it's between him and his mom. THIS REALIZATION MAKES IT CLEAR THAT SHE HAD PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT THAT BRIAN'S PARENTS WERE HIDING SOMETHING FROM HIM, AND THAT WAS THE SECRET.
Me: Can you explain that? I'M EXCITED THAT WE'RE FINALLY BEGINNING TO TALK ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE SECRET, SOMETHING I WANTED TO GET TO EARLIER.
Amaya gives an answer too quickly for me to record, it doesn't make sense. But then she says: "It makes me wonder, what is the secret that's tearing them apart?" WOW, SHE REALIZES SHE JUST DOESN'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE SECRET, WITHOUT ME TELLING HER THAT SHE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND. THIS FEELS IMPORTANT.
I jump in with questions to get Amaya to realize that the secret is that Brian saw his mom with another man.
Me: Why do you think the secret is tearing him apart? Why would a secret do that?
Amaya: He has to keep it from his dad and he doesn't like that.
Zeke says that he might also be really worried about what that man in the car might be like, especially if he becomes his stepdad.
Zeke: My question is that in the text it says he just saw the mom in the car. Is the secret really between him and his mom? It didn't seem that his mom told him who the man was. Did she really tell him who the friend was?
Amaya: No, he's got to keep it from his mom.
Zeke: Did she see him (Brian)?
Amaya: Probably not.
Zeke: How are you not even going to tell your kid about something like that? Oooh, this is probably another thing that tears him apart because his mom won't talk to him about this strange man. YES! I HADN'T EVEN THOUGHT OF THIS. HERE'S THE ZEKE THAT I KNEW WAS UNDER THAT BORED EXPRESSION THE LAST TIME WE MET IN GUIDED READING.
Amaya: This reminds me of my life with my mom seeing someone else. When I first saw him I got mad because I hadn't seen my dad for a long time and wanted to see him.
Zeke relates his experience meeting his stepdad and the emotions that went into it.
I closed the session really pleased with the places the conversation went. It was really hard for me to not control it and ask more direct questions about who Brian was keeping the secret from, but they were able to get there on their own. I did ask them questions, but I feel like the conversation really took off when I asked about why he still thinks about the divorce even in his dire circumstances. They really personally connected to the divorce, and they began to ask their own questions without prompting. It seems like this personal connection was the fuel behind the flurry of self-generated questions.
The moment when Amaya realized from the back of the book that the secret was something Brian was carrying, rather than his parents, was so awesome. That light bulb is so much more satisfying when you see a kid get there on their own, rather than you pushing the understanding onto them. I can't say what exactly she learned from that moment, maybe that it's important to ask questions to understand the text better, that you will eventually find many of your answers by talking about your questions and thinking about them as you read the text? Plus, she came away with much better comprehension of Brian's dilemma.
The other moment that was really cool was when Zeke started questioning whether his mom knew that Brian knew, and then inferred that Brian was also being torn up because he knew his mom was trying to keep that man secret from him. Brilliant. I didn't think about it that way, probably because my personal experience is different than Zeke's. This feels like very fertile ground, but I don't want to kill it with a writing prompt (that feels forced). How do I extend thinking on this theme in a natural and nurturing way that keeps ownership on their terms and enthusiasm high?
One important note is that this conversation doesn't go anywhere near as interesting without Amaya's divergent (and perceptive) answer about the divorce being on his mind. The openness of the questioning protocol definitely demonstrated its utility here. Interesting how Zeke kept pulling away from this for awhile, but eventually convergent thinking emerged when they began thinking about the nature of the divorce and its effects on Brian (and their personal connections to this).
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