Goal
5
Supporting Comprehension
in Fiction
Understanding Plot and Setting
• Why is this goal important?
To help students achieve that lost-in-a-book engaged sort of reading that makes
reading enjoyable, they have to understand what’s going on. Or, to say it in a way
others have, they need to be able to “make a movie in their minds” (e.g., Wilhelm et
al. 2001; Harvey and Goudvis 2007; Calkins and Tolan 2010a). To make this mental
movie, students need to know what’s happening, who’s involved in the action, and
where the action is taking place. Consequently, checking comprehension by asking a
student to retell or summarize the text is a common part of most reading assessments.
Supporting student understanding of plot and setting can have a few parts:
•Understanding problems/conflicts and solutions/resolutions as a way to
determine what’s most important. As Janet Burroway (2006, 31) puts it,
“The features of a story are fewer than those of a face: They are conflict,
crisis, and resolution.”
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•Retelling/summarizing. These terms are often confused, perhaps
because some use the terms interchangeably. For instance, Beers (2002,
152) defines retelling as an “oral summary of a text based on a set of
story elements.” I often think of retelling as sequential, with more detail
than a summary, which gives the essential information without too
much detail. Regardless of what you call it, students should be able to
say back, in sequence, the most important information after reading a
section of text.
•Visualizing setting, understanding how setting impacts the events in the
story, and tracking when the setting changes.
•Synthesizing cause and effect, so that the reader is clear on what causes
certain events to take place, and how all the events in the story connect.
• How do I know if this goal is right
for my student?
We’ve probably all heard student retellings of texts that include every single detail,
or ones that say too little, or others that mention events without a clear sense of how
they are related. For me, understanding plot is the most basic of the comprehension
goals for students reading fiction, and I’m sure to include it in any assessments I use
to match readers to books, whether running records or a longer whole-book comprehension assessment (Clay 2000; Serravallo 2012, 2013b).
While doing running records, after a student reads a selection of text aloud and
you record miscues and self-corrections, ask the student, “What were the most
important things that happened? Retell the story for me from the beginning.” Transcribe the student’s retelling as he or she speaks. When you look back at it, notice if
the retelling is in sequence and if it includes the most important information.
Once students are reading chapter books, try planting sticky notes inside a text as
they read, and ask them to respond in writing. You may say, “Retell the most important events that happened in this chapter.” “Why did that (event) happen?” “Describe
the setting. Use as much detail as you can.” Or, after several dozen pages, ask, “What
is the main problem the character is facing?” (Serravallo 2012).
You can also use conferring opportunities to listen to oral retellings, or to ask
questions of the reader. When children talk about their reading, you can listen to
their speech for evidence of understanding of key plot events and setting details.
Regardless of whether you look at student writing or listen to them talk, you’ll
want to evaluate their responses. You can find retelling rubrics, by level, for
Fiction: Plot and Setting
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running records at www.readingandwritingproject.com. The Independent Reading
Assessment: Fiction series (Serravallo 2012) also includes rubrics for retelling,
problem/solution, cause/effect, and visualizing setting based on level from the
Fountas and Pinnell Text Level Gradient™ J–W. Ellin Keene’s (2006) Assessing Comprehension Thinking Strategies has generic rubrics that can be used on any text.
Those using Fountas and Pinnell’s Benchmark Assessment System will also find
indicators for retelling by level.
To help students achieve
that lost-in-a-book engaged
sort of reading that makes
reading enjoyable, they
have to understand what’s
going on. Understanding
plot is the most basic of the
comprehension goals for
students reading fiction.
—Jennifer Serravallo
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Strategies for Understanding Plot and Setting at a Glance
Strategy
Levels
Genres/
Text Types
Skills
5.1Lean on the Pictures
A–K
Fiction
Determining importance, retelling
5.2Title Power
C–M
Fiction
Determining importance
5.3Summarizing What’s Most Essential
E–K
Fiction
Summarizing
5.4Uh-oh . . . Phew
F–L
Fiction
Determining importance, retelling
5.5Is This a Multistory Book or a Single-Story Book?
J and K, mostly
Fiction
Summarizing, monitoring for meaning
5.6Reactions Help You Find the Problem
J–R
Fiction
Determining importance
5.7Series Books Have Predictable Plots
J–Q
Fiction
Retelling, predicting, determining
importance
5.8What’s Your Problem?
J and above
Fiction
Determining importance
5.9Who’s Speaking?
J and above
Fiction
Visualizing, monitoring for meaning
5.10Let the Blurb Help You
J and above
Fiction
Determining importance
5.11Retell What’s Most Important by Making Connections to
the Problem
K and above
Fiction
Summarizing, retelling, determining
importance
5.12Angled Summaries for Highlighting Deeper Ideas in Plot
L and above
Fiction
Summarizing, determining
importance, inferring
5.13Summarize Based on What a Character Wants
L and above
Fiction
Summarizing, determining importance
5.14Chapter-End Stop Signs
L and above
Fiction
Determining importance
5.15Where Am I?
L and above
Fiction
Visualizing
5.16Summarizing with “Somebody . . .
Wanted . . . But . . . So . . . ”
N and above
Fiction
Summarizing
5.17Two-Sided Problems
N and above
Fiction
Determining importance
5.18Does the Story Have to Be Set There, and Then?
P and above
Fiction (especially
historical fiction)
Visualizing, determining importance
5.19Tenses as a Clue to Flashback and Backstory
P and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning
5.20Not Just Page Decorations
P and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning, visualizing
5.21Plotting Flashback on a Timeline
P and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning, visualizing
5.22Vivid Setting Description and Impact on Character
P and above
Fiction
Determining importance, visualizing
5.23Map It
P and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning, visualizing
5.24FQR (Facts/Questions/Response) Sheets for Filling in Gaps
Q and above
Fiction (historical
fiction and
fantasy,
especially)
Questioning, synthesizing, inferring,
monitoring for meaning
5.25Double Plot Mountain
R and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning, visualizing
5.26Historical Notes Prime Prior Knowledge
R and above
Fiction
Monitoring for meaning, visualizing
5.27Analyzing Historical Contexts
R and above
Historical fiction
Determining importance, visualizing,
inferring
5.28Micro-/Meso-/Macroenvironment Systems:
Levels of Setting
V and above
Fiction
Visualizing, determining importance,
inferring
Fiction: Plot and Setting
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5.4 Uh-oh . . . Phew
Strategy When you retell, think about the problem (uh-oh), how the problem gets
worse (UH-OH!) and how the problem gets solved (phew!). Use a story mountain
with these parts to retell, touching the parts of the mountain as you go.
Lesson Language A story goes like this. (Draw a story mountain.) Uh-oh
(problem), UH-OH (problem worsens), UH-OH! (problem worsens), and the problem
gets solved (phew!). If I were going to retell Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen
Diamonds (Adler 2004), I would start off with the uh-oh—the problem. In this story, the
problem is that someone steals diamonds from the jewelry store at the mall. The problem
gets worse and worse—UH-OH and UH-OH!—when Cam and Eric go looking for the
thief. They are in a dangerous situation outside the house where the thieves are, and
even worse when the baby starts crying and they get pulled inside the house. But then the
police show up (phew!), and the criminals are caught and taken away by the police.
Who is this for?
Levels
F–L
Genre / Text Type
fiction
skillS
Prompts
•Let’s retell. Start with the uh-oh. What’s the problem?
•Think about how the problem gets worse.
•Where are you on the story mountain now? Point to it.
•You’re giving me a lot of detail. If you had to just tell me the problem using a few
words, what would you say?
•Of all the details you told me, what’s most important?
determining
importance, retelling
Fiction: Plot and Setting
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