Sara Kash-Brown, Brenna Robinson

SPED 414

Strategy: CAPS
Stage 1: Developing and Activating Background Knowledge
Task Analysis
Strategy Step

Knowledge and Skills

Needed

Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills

Characters

1. Knowledge of what a
character is

1. Given the question

What is a character?,
students will be able to say
a complete and correct
definition with 100%
accuracy.
2. Given a passage read
aloud, students will be able
to verbally identify the
characters of the story with
90% accuracy.

Who are the Characters?

2. Ability to identify a
character given different
story formats

Aim

1. Knowledge of what aim

means

What is the Aim of the

story?
2. Ability to comprehend
given story.

3. Ability to identify the aim

given different story
formats

Problem

1. Knowledge of what a
problem

1. Given the question

What does aim mean
when reading a story?,
students will be able to
give a complete and
correct definition with
100% accuracy.
2. Given a short story,
students will be able to
express (verbally/written)
the sequence of events
correctly with 95%
accuracy in 5 minutes.
3. Given a short story,
students will be able to
write a sentence describing
the aim of the story with
95% accuracy.
1. Given the question
What does the word
problem mean when

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What Problem happens?

2. Ability to comprehend
given story

3. Ability to identify the

problem given different
story formats

Solved

1. Knowledge of what a
solution is regards to
reading comprehension

How is the problem

Solved?
2. Ability to comprehend
given story

3. Ability to identify the

solution/how the problem
was solved given different
story formats

reading a story?, students

will be able to give a
complete and accurate
definition with 100%.
2.Given a short story,
students will be able to
express (verbally/written)
the sequence of events
that lead to the problem
correctly with 95%
accuracy in 5 minutes.
3. Given a short story,
students will be able to
identify the problem by
writing it down with 100%
accuracy.
1. Given the question,
What is a solution when
reading a story?, students
will be able to state a
complete and correct
definition with 100%
accuracy.
2. Given a short story,
students will be able to
express (verbally/written)
the sequence of events
that lead to the solution
correctly with 95%
accuracy in 5 minutes.
3. Given a picture book,
students will be able to
write down the given
solution to the story with
95% accuracy.

Stage 2: Discuss the Strategy

Sample Script
Friends do any of you ever struggle telling another friend what happened or
what is happening in a story you are reading? Do you ever wonder if you are giving
enough information or giving it all away? *Wait for responses* I know sometimes I

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wonder what parts to include. Finger flash to me how you are feeling with a 5 meaning
you feel great about your skills in this area and a 1 meaning you need some help. Now
lets take a moment to graph our current feelings. Now lets compare our feelings to how
we did on our last reading comprehension test. Here is the class learning curve for that
particular test. Each of you have an individual sticky note that states where you fall on
this curve. Can we all agree that we could use a strategy to move improve our class
graph? After we learn my new strategy I will ask the same question about how we feel
and we will graph again to see how our feelings have changed. And I bet after learning
my excellent strategy our graph will shift to more positive thoughts. Then we can look at
our class learning curve and see if it matches! The strategy I like to use is called CAPS.
It keeps me right on track and I dont leave any important parts out, but I dont have to
tell the friend every single detail. Each letter of CAPS stands for a specific piece of the
story to include. C stands for characters. A stands for aim. P stands for problem. And
lastly, S stands for solved or solution.
*See Figure 1 for an example class graph to use for comprehension test results.
Stage 3 Model the Strategy:
Think Aloud for CAPS
Use this sample script while reading a sample passage to model the strategy.
After reading our passage once lets go back and see if we can use our new
strategy to find each of the individual elements. Now friends as much as knowing what
CAPS stands for can be helpful, we should know why every story includes those pieces
and why every story you write should also include those important elements. First lets
start with the letter C. Every story needs characters. Characters are who the story is
about. Without them we dont really have a story any more, we have more of an essay.
When looking in a story for the specific characters some great clues to look for are a
description or a name. Almost all characters have names. Or you might want to ask
yourself these questions, Who is this story about? Who is involved in this story? Lets
take a peek at our passage. Whisper into your hands one of the characters in our story.
Now raise your hands when you are ready to share out. (call on student) Thats right
Jim is a character in our story. Were there any other friends in our story? (call on
student) You got it! Jake was also a character in our story. Some characters will be
main characters and others will play a smaller role, just like in a play. They all work
together to make the story come alive. Every author will describe their characters to the
reader so that the reader can connect with them and begin to imagine them as real.
Moving on to the letter A. Every story needs aim or purpose. The author needs to have
a reason why the story was written in the first place. If there is no focus or purpose to

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the writing then the reader will just be reading a bunch of words on a page. Although all
stories should have purpose, sometimes they can be hard to find as a reader. I suggest
taking a step back and looking at the story as a whole rather than individual sentences
or pages. Then ask yourself the question, What is the author trying to tell me? Who
can tell me the aim of our passage we just read? (call on student) I think you are exactly
right. This story was about friends treating others the way they want to be treated. That
is exactly what the author wants us to walk away with after reading the passage. Now
sometimes we might have different ideas of what the aim is in comparison to the author,
which is okay because we all have different background knowledge that influences our
thoughts. But when reading a story is important for us to look at the aim of the story
after we have finished reading. And this is important to include when telling a friend
about the story. For example, so far we would tell a friend that our story is about two
boys, Jim and Jake learning how to treat others the way they want to be treated. Next is
the letter P. Most stories have some sort of problem. Some might have big problems.
Some might have small problems. Some might have lots of problems while another
might have only one problem. But in the end all stories should include a problem.
Problems keep the story interesting and keeps the readers reading. If nothing has really
happened or if there wasnt an issue the story could come across as being boring. To
find the problem of the story you might want to ask yourself these questions, What is
going wrong or missing? What is the issue? What was the problem in our passage?
(call on student) Perfect! Thats exactly what I was thinking. Jim was using hurtful words
which hurt Jakes feelings. Now friends, problems keep the reader involved because
they want to find out how it will be solved. Which leads me to our last letter, S. Most
stories have solutions or their problems are solved in the end. As readers we want
solutions so that we know what happens in the end. If a problem is left unresolved the
reader might sit and stir not knowing what to think. It is important for stories to have a
solution so that the story feels complete to the reader. When looking for a solution in the
story, it will always come after the problem is presented. Something cant be solved if
there is no problem in the first place, so always look after the problem to find the
solution. In order to find the solution you might want to ask yourself the questions, How
was the problem fixed? What changed? Finding the answers to these questions will
lead you to the solution to the story. How was the problem solved in our story? Share
with your shoulder partner your thoughts. Raise your hand when you are ready to share
out. (call on student) Yes, Jake ended up confronting Jim, so Jim apologized for his
hurtful words. This made Jake feel better. And just like that friends we have all the
elements of the story. Now tell your neighbor what we just read about. (give time to
share) Your summary should have sounded something like this. This story was about
Jim and Jake learning how to treat others the way they want to be treated. Jim hurt
Jakes feelings. Eventually Jim apologized which made Jake feel better. So to recap we
have CAPS, which stands for characters, aim, problem and solution. Every story will

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have these different parts that we need to find and know in order to tell another friend
about it with the perfect amount of information. These are also the four things we need
to consider when writing our own stories for readers.
Stage 4 Memorize the Strategy:
Activities
1. Bottle Caps: Each student will receive a plastic bag with four bottle caps in it. The
students will label each cap with the one letter of caps. They should have a cap
with a C, a cap with an A, a cap with a P, and a cap with a S on it. Once the
students have labeled the caps they will mix them up and put them back into their
correct order. Students will then share with a shoulder partner what each letter
stands for and either why it is important for stories to include that element or what
question can you ask to find that specific element in the story. - with C A P S have to put in correct order and then describe to partner with reason why
2. Sign Language: The teacher will teach the students the letter of CAPS in sign
language. Each letter will have a hand sign and rhythm stating the specific letter
and the element it stands for. For example, C is for character, A is for aim, P is
for problem, and S is for solved, sang to the tune of yankie doodle. The students
will practice this technique by being put into groups of 5 or 6. Each student will
say flash one letter and say the rhythm. Then the student next to them will
continue and so on. Then the students will be broken up into pairs and do the
same routine.
3. Class Poster: The class will be split up into four groups. Each group will be
assigned a specific letter of CAPS. On their designated piece of paper the
students will discuss and write/draw what that letter stands for in the strategy.
Once everyone finishes, each group will share and the whole class will discuss each table receives a different letter - discuss as a class
Stage 5 Support the Strategy:
Content Scaffolding
In order to give the students content scaffolding, the teacher will provide students
will reading passages that are written below their current reading level. It will be easier
for the students to get used to implementing the CAPS strategy when they do not have
to worry about not understanding what important words in the story mean. This will give
students the opportunity to focus on the strategy and be able to find the needed
information for the CAPS strategy.

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The teacher will also have the students read a well-known story. All of the
students will know the important parts of the story, which will give them a chance to use
the CAPS strategy. There will not be any surprises waiting for the students as they read
the story. The students should be able to accurately use the CAPS strategy because
they already know what is going on in the story. This stage is for students to practice
the CAPS strategy and since they already know the story, they will be able to focus on
the strategy.
Giving a reading passage that has a topic that interests the students will also
give them more motivation to use the CAPS strategy. The teacher may provide five or
more different passages for the students to read in order to provide students with a
story that will capture their attention. The more often the students are given passages
that interest them, the more often they will be using the CAPS strategy.
Instructional Scaffolding
Through instructional scaffolding, the teacher is gradually giving them the
responsibility to implement the CAPS strategy independently. One way the teacher can
give the students instructional scaffolding is to read a story to them. Students will be
able to focus on the story and using the CAPS strategy to understand what is
happening in the story. By having the story read to them, the students will not have to
worry about decoding words. They will just have to listen to what the teacher is reading.
After reading a few stories out loud, the teacher will then give the students opportunities
to do all parts of the activity: reading the story and using the CAPS strategy.
Another way to lighten the load for the students so they can focus on using the
CAPS strategy is to have the students do partner reading. This allows them some time
to just listen to the story, but will give them opportunities to read parts of the story also.
During this type of scaffolding, the teacher may combine it with content scaffolding by
giving the students reading passages that are below their reading level. This will give
the students the ability to read the story fluently and with comprehension which will
allow them to focus more on implementing the CAPS strategy. This activity can be
done following the teacher reading a story out loud a few times. This will move the
students to gradually reading and using the CAPS strategy independently.
The teacher can also do step-by-step scaffolding with the students. This means
that after a story is read the students will do the first step of the CAPS strategy and the
teacher will do the rest of the steps. After reading another story, the students will do the
first and second steps of the CAPS strategy and the teacher will do the rest. This
process will keep going until the students are completing all of the steps in the CAPS
strategy without the teachers assistance. This activity could be done as an
independent work for the steps the students do and large group work for the steps the
teacher completes.

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Material Scaffolding
This type of scaffolding is meant to give the students some guidance as they are
practicing the use of the CAPS strategy. The guidance comes from materials that the
teacher will provide. One way this kind of scaffolding can be implemented is to give the
students a graphic organizer. There will be multiple versions of the organizer. The
version that students will use first can be found in Figure 2. Students are provided the
acronym CAPS and what each letter means in CAPS in the first version. They will fill
out the information boxes with the information that corresponds to each letter. The
students will use this graphic organizer a few times until the teacher believes that they
are ready to do a little more work. The next graphic organizer the students will use
provides them with the acronym CAPS. The students will have to fill out what each
letter means below the letters and the information boxes like they did with the first
graphic organizer. The second graphic organizer the students will use can be found in
Figure 3. After students have used this graphic organizer a few times and are
successful at implementing the CAPS strategy, the teacher will give them the third
graphic organizer. This graphic organizer shows the students what boxes they need to
fill in meaning the students will need to write down the acronym CAPS, what each letter
in the acronym means, and the information that corresponds to each letter pertaining to
their story. This graphic organizer can be found in Figure 4. This activity is gradually
giving the students the independence to implement the CAPS strategy without being
given clues.
Another way the teacher can give students material scaffolding is to provide the
students with a bookmark that lists the acronym CAPS. The bookmark can help the
students remember the strategy whenever they are reading a book. Two example
bookmarks can be found in Figure 5. One version lists just the acronym, which requires
the students to think about the CAPS strategy to remember what each letter in CAPS
means. Once students are able to implement the CAPS strategy independently and
successfully, the teacher may collect the bookmarks. The other version of the
bookmark lists the acronym and the elements that apply to each letter. This version can
be used before giving the acronym only bookmark if the students need a little more
assistance in remembering what story element goes with each stage of the CAPS
strategy. This is done because the students are comfortable with the CAPS strategy
and recognize when they should use the strategy on their own. They do not need the
bookmark to remind them to use the CAPS strategy.
Stage 6 Independent Performance:
During this stage, students will be asked to talk about CAPS on an individual
basis. They will be asked to recite each step of the CAPS strategy, to explain what they

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need to do for each step, and to explain what each step means. This is done in order to
make sure the students are keeping the strategy fresh in their minds and that they are
still using the strategy. If explanations are slightly different than what we discussed in
previous stages, the differentiations need to be addressed only if the differentiations are
causing the student to not be successful when using the CAPS strategy.
The teacher also wants to make sure that the CAPS strategy is having a positive
effect on students performance. When students finish reading a story, they will be
completing graphic organizers that relate back to CAPS. At this stage, they will be
given a blank chart and will need to fill in the CAPS labels and the information boxes.
To make sure the students are being successful with the CAPS strategy, their graphic
organizers will be checked for accuracy. Students should be able to fill out the missing
pieces of the chart and place the appropriate information in the correct information box.
Reading comprehension test results will also be monitored. Students should be having
more success during the tests if they are correctly implementing the CAPS strategy.
Grades will also be monitored on any assignment that can incorporate the CAPS
strategy. Students grades should increase once they have gone through all of the
stages of learning the CAPS strategy. The teacher will also go back and discuss the
problem students were having at the beginning of this learning process: not knowing
what information to give to their peers when retelling a story. The teacher will check in
with their students every couple weeks to see how they are doing with retelling stories.
Students should be able to give enough details, but not too much that would give away
the ending at this point in the process. After a couple discussions, the teacher will
create a new graph that shows the students ability of retelling. The graph should show
all of the students being at a higher level of confidence concerning retelling. The
teacher will put up both graphs and compare the results. Graphing can be done every
few weeks until the teacher believes all of the students are at the highest level of
confidence. It is a good way to remind the students to use the CAPS strategy.

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Figure 1:

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

Percent on Quiz/Test

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Student
Scores:

*Give each student a number, instead of putting his or her name or initials in the box
below the shaded bar that represents their score.
Student Numbers

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Figure 2:

C
Character

A
Aim

P
Problem

S
Solved

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Figure 3:

C
_________

A
_________

P
_________

S
_________

Figure 4:

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Figure 5:

C
C
A
P
S

Characters

A
Aim

P
Problem

S
Solved