TLED 408: Comprehension Activity Assignment

For this assignment you will develop a comprehension activity to be used with one or more of
your chosen texts in your unit plan. To complete this assignment you will need to have an idea of
the grade level, discipline, and both the content and literacy standards that will be addressed.
Using your knowledge of comprehension activities and their impact on student comprehension,
fully develop a lesson that uses a questioning strategy as well as a graphic organizer or reading
guide activity. This activity should help students to build their comprehension through
questioning and interacting with the text.

Grade Level, Content Area, and Theme:

11th grade Social Studies. The theme will be connecting important events in history and specific
dates with literature depicting this era.

Standards/Learning Objectives: Provide the precise learning objectives in the disciplines that
will be addressed by the unit. Specifically include the content area and literacy standards.

WHII.10 The student will apply social science skills to understand World War I and its
worldwide impact by

e) explaining the causes and assessing the impact of worldwide depression in the 1930s; and

f) examining the rise of totalitarianism

Overall Description: Clearly identify the comprehension strategy you chose. It could be a
questioning strategy, a graphic organizer or reading guide strategy. Provide a short description
of the two strategies as they pertain to your unit.

The comprehension strategy that I chose for this unit is the Compare and Contrast Chart. (Will

be attached to this assignment) This chart will help the student focus on the similarities and

differences of aspects of the main character in the book and how they effected history as well as

the main characters life personally.

Rationale: Include your reasons for using this comprehension strategy for your unit. Make clear
connections between the strategy you chose and the comprehension benefits the students will
experience. Thoroughly explain how this activity will benefit student comprehension within
your unit.

The reasoning behind using the Compare and Contrast Chart is to help each student look deeper

into the text and not only analyze the historical events realize that the war took a toll on many of
the lives of soldiers. Students will be looking into the main character while being invested into

the history of the event as well. The comprehension benefits that students may not know they are

understanding are helping the students first recognize the similarities that the book offers by the

main character and the rise of totalitarianism, how the main character is viewing the war while

facing the challenges. I want students to have to really think about the texts and not only skim

over the main historical points and understand the emotion and meaning behind the history. The

students will benefit from using this compare and contrast by understating the main characters

viewpoint on totalitarianism and how the character views this.

Materials: Provide a brief explanation describing all of the materials needed for this activity.
Create all of the materials students will need for this activity. If you are using technology or a
digital platform, provide a link here to the activity. If you are using a paper activity, create the
handout in a separate document and submit as a second attachment when you submit this
assignment.

The materials that are needed for this activity are the sheet that will be attached to this

assignment, pen, extra paper and the book.

Echenoz, Jean. 1914 a Novel. Translated by Linda Coverdale. New York: New Press, 2012.

Instructional Steps: Outline the activity by identifying the specific instructional steps for the
comprehension activity. You can assume that you have already completed your pre-reading
activity. All steps for the entire activity should be listed, and there should be a clear beginning,
middle, and end of the activity.

1. Students will read Echenoz, Jean. 1914 a Novel. Translated by Linda Coverdale. New

York: New Press, 2012. In its entirety in class with me over around a week or so while

going over this unit.

2. Once the class has finished I will ask some key questions regarding their opinions about

the text and how they view the main character to see if they are understanding the text

correctly.
 3. Next I will hand them the Compare and Contrast sheet to let them fill out with their

thoughts on the main characters of their choice with totalitarianism and their thoughts.

4. Lastly I will have the students get into small groups and talk to each other asking why

they chose those similarities and differences.

Differentiation: Clearly explain how and why you will differentiate during this comprehension
activity.

I will differentiate this activity by helping the students who might not want to write the

similarities and differences but have those certain students draw if they chose to the differences

and similarities if they can. For students who have a hard time comprehending the book I could

ask them key questions to see if they understand who the characters where and a little more

about the war and how the book made them feel personally.

Assessment Plan: Clearly discuss how you will assess your students’ level of comprehension
throughout this activity. Identify the specific types of assessments you will use and why you
have chosen these assessments.

I will allow the students to begin the activity by starting with independent work and trying to

understand the character with more depth and finding the Comparisons on their own first. This is

how as a teacher I will be able to read over students as I walk around the room to make sure that

the students are understanding correctly, once the class has had enough time to work

independently I will being the class and break them into smaller groups and have the small

groups discuss what character they chose and why they found the similarities they did. Once

small group work is over the class will discuss with me about some of the answers that they

found and what is correct for each character.

Format: This assignment can be completed using the bold headings above. There should be no
grammatical or spelling errors. It should be a typed word document written in 12 point font,
saved and submitted as TLED 408.lastname.firstname.comprehension.
Character________________ Totalitarianism_______________

Similarities/opinions Differences/Negative Additional

opinions Comments about
the Character and
totalitarianism