Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program

Grades 7-8

Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Tamra Stambaugh

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000493955
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades 7-8 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob's Ladder, Grades 7-8 (2nd ed., previously published as Level 5).

Using skill ladders connected to short stories, poetry, essays, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards such as sequencing, determining cause and effect, classifying, making inferences, and recognizing main ideas, themes, and concepts. The second edition of the book builds off the previous Level 5 edition, including new readings and ladders for student use.

This book provides teachers with an explanation of the nature of supplementary tasks that scaffold reading comprehension. Also included is an overview of the goals and objectives of the Jacob's Ladder tasks and suggestions for implementation, giving every teacher the tools needed to promote successful reading comprehension.

Optional Student Workbook Packs

In addition to this teacher's guide, companion student workbooks are available for Poetry, Short Stories, and Biographies. The student workbooks feature ample room for student responses and notes, make reviewing and providing feedback on student work easier than ever, provide students with an easy-to-use reference to use during discussions, and save time, as there is no need to reproduce student handouts.

Grades 7-8

Part I:
Teachers’ Guide to Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program

DOI: 10.4324/9781003235972-1

Introduction to Jacob’s Ladder, Grades 7–8

Jacob’s Ladder, Grades 7–8 (2nd ed.) is a supplemental reading program that implements targeted readings from short stories, poetry, and biographies, building on the work in the previous edition, Jacob’s Ladder, Level 5. With this program, students engage in an inquiry process that moves from lower order to higher order thinking skills. Starting with basic literary understanding, students learn to critically analyze texts by determining implications and consequences, generalizations, main ideas, and/or creative synthesis. Suggested for students in grades 7–8 to enhance reading comprehension and critical thinking, Jacob’s Ladder, Grades 7–8 tasks are organized into six skill ladders: A–F. Each ladder focuses on a different skill. Students “climb” each ladder by answering lower level to higher level questions or rungs at the top of each ladder. Each ladder stands alone and focuses on a separate critical thinking component in reading. Each genre section (short stories, poetry, and biographies) includes a culminating activity that allows students the opportunity to compare and contrast different selections in that genre based on specific criteria. Pre- and post-assessments are also included for differentiation and to measure student growth, and a culminating activity allows students the opportunity to write and critique their own creative writing work.

Ladder A focuses on implications and consequences. By leading students through sequencing and cause-and-effect activities, they learn to draw implications and consequences from readings. Ladder B focuses on making generalizations. Students first learn to provide details and examples, and then move to classifying and organizing those details in order to make generalizations. Ladder C focuses on main ideas, themes, and concepts. Students begin by identifying setting and characters and then make inferences about the literary situation. Ladder D focuses on creative synthesis by leading students through paraphrasing and summarizing activities. Ladder E focuses on readers’ emotional responses to the literature by understanding emotion, expressing it, and then channeling it productively. Ladder F provides an emphasis on metacognition by engaging learners in reflecting on the literature read and on their own applications of it for their lives. Table 1 provides a visual representation of the six ladders and corresponding objectives for each ladder and rung.

TABLE 1 Goals and Objectives of Jacob’s Ladder by Ladder and Rung

A3: Consequences and Implications	B3: Generalizations	C3: Main Idea, Theme, or Concept	D3: Creative Synthesis	E3: Using Emotion	F3: Reflecting
Students will be able to predict character actions and story outcomes and make real-world forecasts.	Students will be able to make general statements about a reading and/or an idea within the reading, using data to support their statements.	Students will be able to identify a major idea or theme common throughout the text.	Students will be able to create something new using what they have learned from the reading and their synopses.	Students will be able to analyze how emotion affects the passage and/or the reader.	Students will be able to (a) evaluate ideas and plans, (b) provide new plans of action, and (c) explain the pros/cons of a given selection.
A2: Cause and Effect	B2: Classifications	C2: Inference	D2: Summarizing	E2: Expressing Emotion	F2: Monitoring and Assessing
Students will be able to identify and predict relationships between character behavior and story events and their effects upon other characters or events.	Students will be able to categorize different aspects of the text or identify and sort categories from a list of topics or details.	Students will be able to use textual clues to read between the lines and make judgments about specific textual events, ideas, or character analysis.	Students will be able to provide a synopsis of text sections.	Students will be able to articulate their feelings through a variety of media (e.g., song, art, poem, story, essay, speech).	Students will be able to analyze a plan of action (including implications, consequences, and big ideas) and articulate future goals to accomplish a task.
A1: Sequencing	B1: Details	C1: Literary Elements	D1: Paraphrasing	E1: Understanding Emotion	F1: Planning and Goal Setting
Students will be able to list, in order of importance or occurrence in the text, specific events or plot summaries.	Students will be able to list specific details or recall facts related to the text or generate a list of ideas about a specific topic or character.	Students will be able to identify and explain specific story elements, such as character, setting, or poetic device.	Students will be able to restate lines read using their own words.	Students will be able to explain how emotion and feeling are conveyed in a text and/or their personal experience.	Students will be able to explain and design an outline or plan given certain stimuli.
Ladder A	Ladder B	Ladder C	Ladder D	Ladder E	Ladder F

The second editions in the Jacob’s Ladder series consist of seven levels, divided by grade: K–1, 1–2, 3, 4, 5, 6–7, and 7–8. There are also three nonfiction books focused on grades 3, 4, and 5 (respectively) that include biography study, editorial cartoons and photographs, speeches, and informational text, as well as comparison texts to fiction and nonfiction selections. Most of the fiction-based books contain short stories, poetry, and nonfiction selections, including biographies. Additionally, most of the pieces include at least two commensurate ladders for each selection, with a few exceptions (e.g., the K–1 poetry section and the Grade 3 poetry section, which have one ladder per poem).

Although grade-level distinctions have been set for each of the second editions, teachers may find that they want to vary usage beyond the recommended levels, depending on student abilities. Evidence suggests that the curriculum can be successfully implemented with gifted learners and advanced readers, as well as promising learners, at different grade levels. Thus, the levels vary and overlap to provide opportunities for teachers to select the most appropriate set of readings for meaningful differentiation for their gifted, bright, or promising learners.

Ladder A: Focus on Implications and Consequences

The goal of Ladder A is to develop prediction and forecasting skills by encouraging students to make connections among the information provided. Starting with sequencing, students learn to recognize basic types of change that occur within a text. Through identifying cause-and-effect relationships, students then can judge the impact of certain events. Finally, through recognizing consequences and implications, students predict future events as logical and identify both short- and long-term consequences by judging probable outcomes based on data provided. The rungs are as follows:

• Ladder A, Rung 1, Sequencing: The lowest rung on the ladder, sequencing, requires students to organize a set of information in order, based on their reading (e.g., List the steps of a recipe in order).
• Ladder A, Rung 2, Cause and Effect: The middle rung, cause and effect, requires students to think about relationships and identify what causes certain effects and/or what effects were brought about because of certain causes (e.g., What causes a cake to rise in the oven? What effect does the addition of egg yolks have on a batter?).
• Ladder A, Rung 3, Consequences and Implications: The highest rung on Ladder A requires students to think about both short- and long-term events that may happen as a result of an effect they have identified (e.g., What are the short- and long-term consequences of baking at home?). Students learn to draw consequences and implications from the text for application in the real world.

Ladder B: Focus on Generalizations

The goal of Ladder B is to help students develop deductive reasoning skills, moving from the concrete elements in a story to abstract ideas. Students begin by learning the importance of concrete details and how they can be organized. By the top rung, students are able to make general statements spanning a topic or concept. The rungs are as follows:

• Ladder B, Rung 1, Details: The lowest rung on Ladder B, details, requires students to list details from what they have read and/or to list examples they know from the real world or have read about (e.g., Make a list of types of transportation. Write as many as you can think of in 2 minutes).
• Ladder B, Rung 2, Classifications: The middle rung of Ladder B, classifications, focuses on students’ ability to categorize examples and details based on characteristics (e.g., How might we categorize the modes of transportation you identified?). This activity builds students’ skills in categorization and classification.
• Ladder B, Rung 3, Generalizations: The highest rung on Ladder B, generalizations, requires students to use the list and categories generated at Rungs 1 and 2 to develop two to three general statements that apply to all of their examples (e.g., Write three statements about transportation).

Ladder C: Focus on Main Ideas, Themes, or Concepts

The goal of Ladder C is to develop literary analysis skills based on an understanding of literary elements. After completing Ladder C, students state the main ideas, themes, or concepts of a text after identifying the setting, characters, and context of the piece. The rungs for this ladder are as follows:

• Ladder C, Rung 1, Literary Elements: While working on the lowest rung of Ladder C, literary elements, students identify and/or describe the setting or situation in which the reading occurs. This rung also requires students to develop an understanding of a given character by identifying qualities he or she possesses and comparing these qualities to other characters they have encountered in their reading (e.g., In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, what is the situation in which Goldilocks finds herself? What qualities do you admire in Goldilocks? What qualities do you find problematic? How is she similar to or different from other fairy tale characters you have encountered?).
• Ladder C, Rung 2, Inference: Inference serves as the middle rung of Ladder C and requires students to think through a situation in the text and come to a conclusion based on the information and clues provided (e.g., What evidence exists that Goldilocks ate the porridge? What inferences can you make about the bears’ subsequent action?).
• Ladder C, Rung 3, Main Idea, Theme, or Concept: The highest rung of Ladder C, main idea, theme, or concept, requires students to state the central idea, theme, or concept for a reading. This exercise necessitates that the students explain an idea from the reading that best states what the text means (e.g., How would you rename the fairy tale? Why? What is the overall theme of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? Which morals apply to the fairy tale? Why?).

Ladder D: Focus on Creative Synthesis

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Part I: Teachers’ Guide to Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program
• Part II: Readings and Student Ladder Sets
• Appendix A: Pre- and Postassessments
• Appendix B: Record-Keeping Forms/Documents
• Appendix C: Alignment to Standards
• About the Authors
• Common Core State Standards Alignment