We (the teachers) choose an icon for each selection or chapter. So, for example, we just read a chapter in Because of Winn Dixie. The main character asks her father about her mom, who had left when she was young. One of the things that we want the students to understand is a character's motivations. We wanted them to understand what was her motivation to inquire about her mom, and to eventually understand how her feelings are about that situation. So we looked at the icon convergence. Which events and circumstances came together to make her ask about her mother? So we understood her background and what her motivation was. We brainstormed all the factors that came together to lead to that moment of her asking. That leads to complexity of understanding of the book, and allows children to predict outcomes.
We being by discussing and thinking about the icon, in this case, convergence, in concrete terms. Because we have talked about convergence earlier in the beginning of the year, we bring it to what they know. We talk about it right before we read the chapter using an example of a common experience of convergence. So for example, I pose the question: what things have to come together to cause us to be sitting here in our meeting to participate effectively in the read aloud today? The children brainstorm this idea and charts with their thoughts are written. By the time they are applying this same concept to the chapter in the novel, it is something that they really understand and have had real experience with. In this way we always begin with the personal understanding and then extend it into deeper cognitive understanding in the academic realm.
We often will have a brainstorming and reflection meeting discussion after we read the chapter. Other times I will give them a chance to work on their own or in small groups to write some notes about questions or thoughts about the icon we are working on for that chapter. Either way, I write down their comments and we keep these charts up on the classroom wall as evidence of our ideas and discussions. It is striking how the use of these concepts allows children to think intellectually about the material and broaden their understanding in a scholarly way. We have noticed a real difference in the depth of discussion and thinking about literature when we use these iconic pathways.
Here are some of the children's comments (displayed on the classroom wall) about the convergence of factors that took place in Chapter 3 of Winn Dixie to make Opal ask her father about her momma
All of this is leading up to a scholarly discussion at the end of the book. So for example, after we finished the book, I gave them a sheet with five different icons -- in this case it was Ethics, Contributions, Multiple Perspectives, Convergence and Changes Over Time.
To start off, we brainstormed questions for ethics together -- questions that ask about ethics in the context of the book. So for instance we might have brainstormed "Was it right for the two brothers to call Gloria a witch?" We do a few together and then they do some on their own. They might come up with a question about convergence, for example "What had to come together for Opal to make friends?" And so they brainstorm their questions. We do some together, and they do some on their own. And then at the end of the book, we'll have a whole scholarly discussion about issues within the book, based on the questions that they brainstormed.
What I've noticed is that using these iconic pathways leads to a much deeper discussion. When I used to do a traditional kind of literature circle, where each student has a different job, the discussion often seemed very superficial. And we would talk about what makes a deep question. And they would try to come up with questions that stimulate discussion rather than just a yes or no answer, and sometimes they would be successful. But by using the icons this way, their questions almost always stimulate discussion because they relate to broader and deeper themes.
