Question,Connect,+Transform+(QCT)


 * Your Name ** : Laura Leisch #17


 * Strategy name:** Question, Connect, Transform (QCT)


 * Student appropriate grade levels**: fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth


 * Tags**: reading comprehension strategy, QCT, question, connect, transform, social injustice, inferential level


 * Content areas:** Language Arts, Social Studies


 * Type of Strategy:** Pre-reading Comprehension Strategy, During Reading Comprehension Strategy, After Reading Reflection Strategy, Writing Strategy


 * Types of Students**: General, ELL, struggling readers, LD

· The **Q **stands for question. Students uncover and question moral and ethical dimensions in historical fiction. · The **C **stands for connect. Students connect events described in stories with their own life. · The **T **stands for transform. Students transform injustices and unfairness portrayed in historical fiction and prevalent in today’s world.
 * Strategy Description:** QCT is a reading comprehension strategy designed to help middle school students in inclusive settings enhance their critical literacy abilities. This strategy encourages students to uncover and question moral and ethical dimensions of issues presented in historical fiction. The implementation of this strategy encourages students to recognize connections between their lives and the lives of real or imagined story characters.

After reading passages from a true story, I will model for students how to read critically. For example, after reading passages from the story //Letters From Riftka// (Hesse, 1992), about a Jewish Russian family immigrating to the USA, I will demonstrate how to question (**Q)** the unfair treatment of the Jewish people around the world in the years surrounding First World War:  I question **why** the Russian government decided to divert the peasants’ anger away from the crumbling government and direct it toward the Jews. What did the Jewish people do to deserve this treatment? It doesn’t seem fair that they were denied basic rights such as work, travel, and owning more than two of any material good. It is not right that to survive, they were forced to leave everything and everyone they knew and move to a foreign country. A new country where they didn’t even speak the language or know about the food.
 * Strategy implementation example **:

Students must then follow this example with their own ideas. This could be done in small groups, pairs, or whole class. Then, I demonstrate how students might connect (**C)** their personal experiences to the lives of the Russians who were forced to emigrate from their beloved country.

I was never forced me to move because of my ethnic or cultural background, or religious affiliation, or political views. But, I connect to Rifka’s experiences in the story because when I was in 4th grade my dad got a new job so we had to move to a new city. I remember feeling scared and lonely, and I missed my friends and relatives who had lived near me before just as Rifka did.

Students must then follow this example with their own ideas. This could be done in small groups, pairs, or whole class. Next, I model ways I might have worked to transform (**T)** the unfair treatment of Jewish people around the world in the years surrounding World War I and how I might take action to promote social justice in our world now:

I can think of many ways I might have worked to transform the unjust treatment of Jewish people around the world during this time. I could have written letters of complaint to newspapers or displayed signs in my yard that said, “Stop the unfair treatment of Jewish people around the world. We are all human beings." I could have collected food and personal hygiene items to send in care packages to immigrants arriving at Ellis Island from around the world. In today’s world, we all have opportunities to take a compassionate stand and challenge and transform what we believe is unfair and undeserved treatment of others. Who can name some individuals, or groups of people who have been treated unjustly? What might you do to make a positive difference in their lives?

Students must then follow this example with their own ideas. This could be done in small groups, pairs, or whole class.To extend the QCT activity, students will be put in groups to enhance their thinking. They might write a poem, e-mail a letter to the author, or develop a script that contains their questions about issues depicted in historical fiction. **__ Examples of Historical Literature appropriate for Middle School Students: __** Armstrong, N.(1994) || **//Sounder//** Armstrong, W. (1969) || **//Tangerine//** Bloor, E. (1997) || Buss, F. (1991) || **//The Slave Dancer//** Fox, P. (1973) || **//Monkey//** **//Island//** Fox, P.(1991) || George, J.(1972) || **//Summer of My German Soldier//** Greene, B.(1973) || **//Number the Stars//** Lowry, L.(1989) || Paterson, K.(1991) || **//Holes//** Sachar, L.(1998) || **//Wringer//** Spinelli, j.(1997) || Taylor, M.(1976) || **//A Solitary Blue//** Voigt, C.(1983) || **//Thief of Hearts//** Yep, L.(1995) ||
 * **//Navajo Long Walk//**
 * **//Journey of the Sparrows//**
 * **//Julie of the Wolves//**
 * **//Lyddie//**
 * **//Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry//**