Module 1: Instructional Challenge

Read the following passage:
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.
Answer these questions about the passage:

1. What are the hocked gems? The hocked gems are the money that is being used to finance this voyage.
2. What should we think of as an egg and not a table? We should think of the Earth as an egg because it is round and one could travel around it, rather than a table which is flat.
3. Who are the three sturdy sisters? The three sturdy sisters are the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
4. What kind of winged creatures appeared? The winged creatures are the birds that signified the travelers had reached an area close to land.

If you were to use this passage with students, what schema would you need to activate with them first? How can you help teach children whose schema and the text’s content don’t match? How much time should children spend in texts that don’t match their interests or schema?

The schema that would need to be activated before using this passage with students would be their knowledge of world explorers. As an American student, students should have at least a somewhat sufficient knowledge of Christopher Columbus, however if a student was raised in another country, he or she may not have that knowledge. Even though a student's schema and the text's content may not match, that student can still be taught. A teacher can activate the prior knowledge and see what that student knows before introducing the new topic.  I believe a fair amount of time should be spent on texts that don't match a student's interest or schema. In order to broaden a student's mind, they must obtain information on topics that may not always appeal to them.  I would use a text that is needed information, then follow up with a text that matches their interest to still keep them engaged and to practice more with what is being worked on.