The purpose of text sets is to help students relate what they read across texts so they can see relationships amongst texts.

1. Select your texts, ideally one text for every pair of students. We recommend having no more than three students in a text group.

2. Make the appropriate number of title cards (one for each student reading the text).

3. Decide how many students will be part of each group in the re-group phase. We recommend three or four.

4. Decide which texts you will combine for each group during the re-group phase and number the title cards according to the new groups. Remember, each book will be represented multiple times according to the number of students in the original group.

5. Provide various note-taking guides and allow individual students to choose the guide each would like to work with. Students in the same group do not need to use the same note-taking guide.

6. Prior to having students read, line the books on the chalk rail and ask students to predict the over-arching theme of the books. Discuss that theme.

7. Assign the books and ask the pairs to take notes according to the note-taking guide each individual student has chosen. Remember, students in the same group can use different note-taking guides. Students will be changing groups after the reading.

8. Announce the new groups according to the cards and have students form those new groups.

9. Have students share the content of their notes orally with the others in their new groups and decide as a group what the guiding theme of the stories is.

10. Have students create a graphic (chart, drawing, poster, Venn diagram, etc.) on chart paper that represents the guiding theme.

11. Have the groups share with the whole class.

12. Ask students, through classroom conversation, to decide what the big theme or idea is of these texts.

Bibliography

Daniels, Harvey, and Marilyn Bizar. Methods that Matter: Six Structures for Best Practice Classrooms. York, ME: Stenhouse, 1998.

Claggett, Fran. Drawing Your Own Conclusions: Graphic Strategies for Reading, Writing, and Thinking. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton Cook Heinemann, 1992.

Burke, Jim. Tools for Thought: Graphic Organizers for Your Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002.

Nancy Patterson and Jill VanAntwerp, 2005, Grand Valley State University