Well! That's exciting stuff to see on a listserv! I wasn't aware of this listserv. Looked it up on the web and read through some of the posts. This is great. Thank you for sharing this.

Please let them know that I'm always glad to answer questions. I would be very pleased to hear their stories about how they used scrolls and Textmapping. Photos, videos, lesson plans, handouts, etc. are always welcome. Thank you for networking!

Dave Middlebrook
The Textmapping Project
A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction.
http://www.textmapping.org (Please share this site with your colleagues!)
USA: (609) 771-1781

Response:  What would you say was your biggest "ah ha" from doing this work?  What happens in textmapping that would take longer or not happen with some other ways of presenting the lesson?

Response:  I think the biggest "ah ha" is that the students become personally engaged with the information in the textbook in a way that I don't see when they are reading alone, with a partner, or when it's being read as a class, even if they are taking notes of some kind. I think the key is in the marking of the text itself, which inherently requires some involvement.

I have fourth and fifth graders, so I tried this out using the first two chapters of social studies text because I thought that would be an organized way to have them working on specific grade level subject matter all at the same time. The first time was very confusing or everyone because nobody, including me, had any real idea how to begin, but the second time we did it was incredibly productive.

The second time I asked the students specifically to link text with pictures. I watched groups of students circling the Central Valley in a topographical map of california and drawing lines from that the words "Central Valley" wherever it occurred in the text (on several pages) AND to photographs of farmland.

One group drew a line along the coastline and drew a line from that across three pages of text to a photograph of the coast AND text that gave the length of the coastline. They were doing these kinds linkings for all four regions. At the end of about half an hour, EVERY fourth grade student was able to name all four regions of California, and most of them could tell what they would find there. Several could tell me how long California's coastline is.

Fifth graders were reading about demographics in the United States. They were linking things like pictures of people, sections of pie charts, and numbers and details in the text. Each of them was able to give me information orally about the population of the United States, including how the population has changed over recent time.

What I'm seeing here is the value of seeing all the text at once, so that they can highlight across pages. This is something you can only do on photocopied material that is laid out in a linear way rather than presented in book form. The kids really enjoy it, and after three individual sessions within a span of about five weeks, they are cooperating and helping each other. I do a lot of other group work and we talk a lot in the classroom about productive group processes, so I'm sure that helps with the productivity of the lesson. At first, students fought over the highlighters. They don't do that any more.

Response:  I think that this looks awesome, but I am having a difficult enough time getting copies made of anything, much less enlarging things and creating scrolls (I didn't see how to do the scrolls—what paper would you use to do that?)

But, I did just have a brainstorm. One of my daughter's teachers had had paperback books broken up into chapters that she gave groups to use and then teach the chapters to the other students. I just thought of how, without having to make so many copies, you could use the books for multiple classes, or not have to make copies at all, and still do the same text-mapping and marking work. How about putting the book pages into a scroll (you could copy just every other page) and then using transparencies over the pages so that students could mark their pages, but another group could use the scrolls, too. That would save resources and still give you something to display. Plus, if the students changed their mind about whether a word was new or known, they could erase and remark the word without having to use wite out or something. Does that make sense?

I am so glad that you shared this, it looks like an awesome technique!

Response:  I have been using textmapping this year and wondered if I could add to this discussion.

With my first graders, I found that I had a group of children who were not using the pictures effectively to predict or to get a strong sense of the story. Within a guided reading group that I arranged very deliberately, one little girl really shines for her ability to do deep, meaningful picture walks that support her understanding of the story.

So I prepared a textmap for a simple little book called Kitty Cat and Fat Cat (Rigby series, the girls love cats) and we did the following work.

Day One: Unrolling the scroll (I had enlarged the pages when photocopying) dramatically, I had Bobbie (who I had already conspired with) talk about how she can figure out words better after really thinking about the story. Shoes off ladies, and there we were walking across the pictures with Bobbie as our tour guide and it sure wasn't long before her classmates, not to be out done, were adding to the richness of the predictions and the noticings.

Day Two (not consecutive): I asked the girls to think about our picture walk—which is now a very vivid metaphor for them—and to use their fingers to turn the pages and walk through the text again, this time thinking to themselves again about what they think the story is going to be about. I point out the dialogue and tell them that I think the animals will be talking! What fun, I think this is a fantasy story. I ask them to read to find out what happens to Kitty Cat after he teases Fat Cat so. Cold read, followed by discussion.

Day Three (not consecutive): I idenfity the quotation marks and tell the girls this how the author is signaling us that someone is talking. In this story, the Kitty Cat saids are sometime before, sometimes after the dialogue and that is confusing them somewhat. We go back to the map with two color of highlighting tape and highlight the dialogue, underlining the said parts and using a marker to draw a line to the animal that is speaking. In partners, the girls literally read across the scroll, voicing the dialogue for the characters and giggling about the story of this pesty little kitten.

Then we laminated the map and keep the storyscrolls in a basket for rereading. My 'ah-ha' was how dramatically their interaction with the pictures as story support changed as they physically took their picture walk and how the interaction with the text on day three impacted the way they voiced the story as they read it me again on later days. I spent no more time on these lessons than I allow myself for guided reading.

Response:  In my room, being the resident art nut, I have two mounted paper cutters (think bulletin board paper), one on the wall and another mounted on a throw away desk. I buy 18-inch butcher paper and my looping partner buys the 24 inch and we share.

It works like toilet paper and is self-serve for the kids. That is how I prepare textmaps—butcher paper off the roll. And you don't need to enlarge, I just thought it would make it fun. Our books at this level, well those guide reading text are not long.

Response:  I love this! I have some 2nd graders that would be perfect for this! Tell me about the scrolls. How do you make them?

Response:  I enlarge the really small guided reading texts, photocopying two page spreads at a time. I glue onto butcher paper banners (I have 18 and 14 inch rolls in the room), pages side to side with a white margin for notion above and below. After we mark away, I laminate them and the roll and twist off with a pipe cleaner for storage in a basket.

Response:  Thank you!! I was trying to figure out what to do with the scrolls. I was going to just roll them up and put them in a basket but laminating is a great idea! In fact, instead of laminating multiple copies of the same chapter of the social studies book, I think I will have students consolidate all the markings on one scroll and laminate just one of each thing we do.

Response:  Yes, your explanation makes sense and using the overheads would be another way to deal with text. What I like about the scrolls is that it's all laid out and visible all at once.

Just to clarify.... I did not enlarge anything. I just photocopied the book pages as is and gave them to the students. They taped them together in order with scotch tape. For the voting book, each group had a different chapter. For the social studies book, each group had a copy of the whole chapter.

By the way, watching the students tape together the pages is an education of its own. I watched one group one day meticulously reading the last and first words on the pages to match them up in order. After a couple of minutes, I asked "Do you know that the pages are numbered?" It was pretty funny.

Response:  With my fourth and fifth graders I don't do any enlarging or anything. I just photocopy book pages and the kids tape them together. Voila! Instant scroll! If I want more writing space for notes or something, I will have them tape them to butcher paper.

Response:  Is the scroll horizontal or vertical? I couldn't tell from your description. I like the way you handled the dialogue stuff.

Response:  Left to right linking on the sides.  My aide, working with a group struggling with sequencing, has been having them assemble the text maps. Great lesson! I laughed at your post—our pages are usually numbered and they haven't noticed that yet.

Response:  Doing it with short texts is much more productive. I did it with Donald Crews' book Big Mama, and the scroll went around two walls of my room. It was actually still helpful for the kids to see the whole story laid out like that, but very time-consuming to prepare.

All this discussion is giving me some other ideas on how to be more effective.

Response:  I can't wait to start using the scrolls. I'm such a visual person that this makes so much sense to me. I went onto the textmapping website which explains everything very clearly. I would encourage everyone to take a peek at it.

While reading how to put the scrolls together and what text teacher's might use, I thought that I might use National Geographic for Kids to start with. I always have a few extra copies left over and the magazine makes excellent use of text features. I think it may be perfect for text mapping. Does anyone else have any suggestions for the upper grades (3-5). 

Response:  There is a lesson on voting at http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=396 which might help you find resources. It includes a list of books on elections. There is a good one in the "New True" book series that I believe is listed there.

Response:  OK—thanks for the clarification. I was thinking of overheads WITH the scroll, not just page by page.

I just had another idea. If I can get permission, I could do this with our old history textbook without making copies. We supposedly are supposed to be getting new books next year. With old textbooks, give away textbooks, previews, etc. if you just had two copies of the book, you could use original pages. The books we have (as I was last hired and last to know where the books were kept), are in pitiful shape and falling apart.

I also had free books from a financial company. They are supposed to be middle to high school level, and I thought they were an easy read, but my students thought that they were too complicated when they had to do the chapter in class with a sub. I could have them create scrolls of those and see where the breakdown is going without asking them to articulate it, which frustrates them. They are frequently in the position of "I don't get it." without any recognition of what they do or don't get.

Thanks so much for letting us know about text mapping and sharing your pictures. They were wonderful and I am getting more excited the more I think about it!

October 2004