Allison La Rue

T&L 413

Text/Material Analysis
Identify the material in APA format (visit the Purdue OWL or another resource for help):
Miranda, A. (2000). What a day! Carmel, CA: Hampton-Brown.
________________________________________________________________________
Task 1: Key concept identification

 List major concepts, ideas, and/or events from the material.

o Pedro and his Papi go on his boat fishing for the first time, which is exciting to
Pedro.
o Fishing is a very important part of this families’ culture and is something young
boys get to do when they are old enough.
o It was tough for Pedro to fish, but his family reminded him that “trying hard” for
anything is important.

 List supporting concepts (important details), ideas, and/or events.

o Pedro did not think he was old enough to go on the boat and go fishing yet, but
his Papi thought he was. He was excited at this opportunity to go fishing.
o This book is very family oriented, as Pedro’s Papi and Grandfather are teaching
him important life lessons that are apparent in his culture (fishing).
o It was challenging for Pedro to fish, but at the end of the story the fact that he
worked hard was most important to his family.
Task 2: Experience and knowledge

 List three experiences that would help your students connect the key concepts to their lives.

1. If students have been on a fishing trip, they can relate to the events that are
happening in the story while they are on the boat.

2. Going on family trips/adventures: If they have ever had to try a new thing
while out with a family member, they could relate to this book.

3. If they were ever nervous to try something new for the first time, they could
relate to this story as Pedro was nervous to be on the boat at first, but then
ended up loving it.

 List 3 pieces of knowledge that would help your students connect the key concepts to their
lives.

1. What students have to do while fishing (using the line, reeling in a fish)
Allison La Rue
T&L 413

2. What animals live in the ocean (so they can be familiar with seals, fish, and
other animals that they introduce in this book)

3. Knowledge of family dynamics (what a grandfather is, what the roles of the
family members usually are)

Task 3: Barrier identification

Answer these questions as specifically as possible:

 Is the material presented in a register that students are familiar with, or is it more or less
formal than they are used to? Give two examples.

The material is presented in a social language way, and is easy for students to
understand since it is not using academic language. It is using everyday language that
students will be familiar with. For example, one paragraph says, “I know whose boat
that is! Pedro saw a red cap and a white beard. It was his grandfather.”
They also use language that is very specific to fishing, which some students may
struggle to understand if they are not familiar with fishing. For example, one paragraph
says, “Abuela got some bait and three long white poles. Papi baited the hooks and
handed a pole to Pedro.” Students may struggle with words like “bait” “hooks” and
“poles” if they do not know specific language and registers for fishing.

 With what specific language structures or grammar might students have difficulty? Give 2
examples and explain why.

1. Switches dialogue often

“Hold on, Pedro!” said Papi. The fish’s tail whipped like the whale’s. The
fish bobbed in the water like the seal. “I can’t do this,” yelled Pedro. “Just
try!” called Abuelo.
In this example, there are three different people switching back and forth
throughout the dialogue on this page. This may be difficult for students to keep up
with since the conversation is changing form speakers so rapidly.
2. Uses specific language related to fishing/sea animals
“When they reached the channel, Papi said, I thought I had seen a seal.”
“Where?” asked Pedro. “Look, said Papi. Pedro looked. The seal bobbed
in the water near the boat. What long whiskers the seal had!”
In this example, the author is using words that are specific to fishing and being on the
water. “Channel” and “whiskers” and “bobbed” are all words specific to being at sea and
Allison La Rue
T&L 413

students may not understand this if they have never been out on the water around sea life
before.

 From whose point of view is the material presented? What difference might this make to
comprehension?
o The material is presented from the point of view of Pedro, the young boy in the
story and his experience on the water fishing with his family.
o This can make it harder for students to understand exactly what is happening
since Pedro is experiencing this for the first time, and sometimes he is confused
in the story. This may make the story harder for students to follow at times.

 What vocabulary in the materials might ELLs have trouble with? Give three examples and
explain why.
o “Channel” – this is a specific term for the water, but students may not know this
and think of a channel on t.v. instead.
o “Bait” – this could be an unknown word and difficult to pronounce for students
as they could not have seen it before as it is also very specific for fishing.
o “Bellowed” – this is a large word for students and they may be unfamiliar with
this term in the book.

 What cultural aspects of the book might ELLs find challenging? Why?
o One cultural aspect of this book that ELLs might find challenging is the fact that
it takes place on an ocean and involves looking at sea life and fishing. ELL
students who come from areas that do not have water or those who have never
been near a boat before could very well be very confused about what is going on
in this book since the ocean is the whole setting of this story. In order to
understand this book, ELL students not from an area where water is
incorporated into their culture would need to have explicit instruction on this
type of life before reading the book in order to understand it.

Task 4: Reflection
What might you as the teacher do to help students who face challenges with the material you
selected? List at least 3 strategies that might help, for what issue they might be helpful, and
how you could tell (assess) whether they helped.
1. Explicitly explain and define unknown vocabulary
a. This will help students understand the terms that are frequently
mentioned in this book and what it means. This way students will be able
to visualize what is happening. I will assess students for this concept by
reading a portion of the text with the unknown vocabulary, and having
Allison La Rue
T&L 413

them draw out what is happening in the scene. If students understand the
vocabulary, then they will have the correct drawing. If not, I will have to
go back and reteach.
2. Read the story in a “script” style
a. One if the issues I felt could happen with this text is that students
would get lost in the changing dialogue. To accommodate this, I could
have three volunteers and we could each be assigned a person in the
story to play. This would help students understand the different people
talking throughout the story. To assess this, I would stop and ask
students to explain what is happening in each scene to see if students
are interpreting the changing dialogue correctly.
3. Use a graphic organizer to sort the key events of the story
a. Since there are a lot of characters in this book and a lot of changing
scenes, students can fill out a graphic organizer to isolate the important
events in the story with the person that was most impacted by them. I will
assess students using this graphic organizer. Students will understand
the key events in the story if they can sort the details properly within the
boxes of the graphic organizer.