10.+The+5-S+Strategy

=The “5-S” Strategy for poetry and short passage analysis=

A. GOAL


 * The goal of the “5-S” strategy is to give students a powerful tool to fall back on any time they are presented with a poem, a short passage, or an excerpt. The “5-S” strategy is an excellent way to access any shorter work in an organized, step-by-step fashion so as to be able to gain comfort and confidence in the process of analysis, inference, connections to the world in general, and predicting. Particularly with repetition, the “5-S” strategy can become a powerful tool in students' reading (and writing) toolbelts.
 * The “5 S” steps are:
 * 1) Discover the key SENTENCES: Preview the passage by reading the first and last sentences, and then by skimming the in between to quickly determine the scope of the work. Put a “plus” or “minus” sign next to the first and last sentences if the connotations are positive or negative.
 * 2) Discover the SPEAKER: Look for such things as the number of speakers, the narrator’s point of view, note anything that gives a clue as to the narrator’s attitude, and look for telling pronouns.
 * 3) Discover the SITUATION: What is happening? State the situation in one clear sentence.
 * 4) Discover the major SHIFTS in structure, syntax, or diction—look for wording that evokes clear images or connotations. Look also for tone change within these shifts.
 * 5) Discover the obvious clumps of SYNTAX and their purpose. Look for changes in sentence length, the unusual use of punctuation such as italics or rhetorical questions. Mark this predominant syntax with an asterisk—often it will lead the reader to the crux of the piece (the crucial part to understand to uncover meaning).
 * The audience is students.
 * Materials: books (if applicable), pens, paper, and a document outlining the 5 steps (though the goal is to use the strategy enough that students internalize the steps); a poster on the wall with large font outlining the steps is another nice option.
 * Source: Shelnut, Connie. Proc. of British Columbia Advanced Placement Conference, Sutton Place Hotel, Vancouver, BC. Print.

B. STEP-BY-STEP


 * Use a classic, well known poem to introduce this strategy, such as [|“Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening”] by Robert Frost. Guide the students through the text, providing clarity and facilitation where necessary, but aim to allow the students to come to their own insights. If necessary, do a “think aloud” as you yourself model your thinking and interpretation as you “do” the five stops on the poem.
 * After the 5 Ss are complete, it is a good time for conversation. Conversation may be brief or involved, but it should end with some sort of “big idea” gained, a theme uncovered, an inference gleaned.
 * A good move to make for students’ second encounter with the 5 Ss is to have them read and analyze a short passage or an excerpt from a larger novel. Students tend to have more experience with acronym-based analysis strategies when it comes to poetry reading (e.g., “DIDLS (Diction, Imagery, Details, Language, Syntax)” and “TPCASTT (Title, Paraphrase, Connotations, Attitude, Shifts, Title, Theme),” so the notion that the “5 S” strategies can be applied to prose as well is sometimes a realization that creates a greater level of buy-in on the students’ behalf (students think something like, “Oh, this strategy is more widely applicable—I’ll use it because it’s like ‘one stop shopping’ for deeper reading”).
 * Once students understand the 5 Ss, the process should be practiced weekly for some time (6-8 weeks?) on various pieces until students internalize the process and gain confidence—and start to see how the dissecting of parts leads to more polished interpretations and theme statements.

C. EXTENSION


 * The “5 S” strategy lends itself very nicely to such next steps as further conversation and written responses.

D. CONTROVERSY/WARNING


 * Perhaps the most important detail is to ensure that students see the obvious benefits of the “5 S” and that they have a real sense of its usefulness as a tool. If not, there is the potential that it could become a “5 steps of drudgery” strategy. Moving through each step relatively swiftly—while also revisiting it about once a week—is a good way to help keep it fresh.