Up from the Ashes: "tragedy"
- Students do tasks a), b), and c), then read the text before doing the remaining tasks.
- Tasks a), b), and c) tap into students' prior knowledge of the word.
- Task d) assesses student ability to use contextual clues to interpret the meaning of the word. (Students record the page number where they find the clue.)
- Tasks e) and f) will show if, and how, students have modified their original understanding of the meaning of the word.
- Task g) prompts students to check their thinking, and will make their thinking explicit.
- apply their knowledge of word families
- infer ideas and information that are not directly stated in the text
Note: Only student responses from d) are presented and analysed in the table below. This is because student data from this section is more complex than that from other sections.
Note also: There is no single correct interpretation of a text, and it can be interpreted at different levels (more or less 'deeply'). However, some interpretations are simply wrong. Students need to make logical connections between the text and their interpretation of its meaning.
- the shocking nature of a tragedy;
- the immediate effect on communities and individuals;
- the long-term effects of a tragedy, including on memory;
- the process of recovery and rebuilding;
- lessons learnt.
We have assessed responses as inappropriate if students:
- describe the narrator's feelings rather than focus on a meaning of 'tragedy';
- make illogical connections between the text they select and meanings of 'tragedy';
- repeat or rephrase the text without interpreting what it says about 'tragedy'.
The reasons for students not making a logical connection between text and meaning were varied. For this reason, some examples of students' appropriate and inappropriate (or logical and illogical) responses in the trial are shown in the table below.
| i) Which words, parts of words, and phrases in the text tell you about what 'tragedy' means? |
ii) What do these words and phrases tell you that 'tragedy' means?
The following are examples of student responses. |
|
Page: 2 "The people...were devastated, but they were also determined that they would not be defeated by the tragedy." |
This tells me that a tragedy is an event that can knock people back, but it can be overcome. (student example given)
A logical response to the text. The word 'devastated' and phrase 'not be defeated by' imply that a tragedy is something that can be overcome. |
|
Page: 3 "The burning down of Rangiātea was a terrible tragedy." |
This tells me a tragedy is something terrible and it can destroy something. (student example)
A logical response to the text:
|
|
Page: 4 "The most frequent comment was "What a tragedy." |
It tells me that people will help you get through things like a tragedy. (student example)
An appropriate response: it shows a broader understanding of tragedy (beyond the dictionary definition) as something that other people can help you get through.
It tells me that many people feel a sense of loss. (student example)
An appropriate response: 'most frequent comment' implies that many people share a similar feeling.
No-one expected the tragedy. (student example)
Not a logical response: there is no evidence of surprise here.
It tells me that the most frequent comment was, 'What a tragedy.' (student example)
Not an appropriate response: it only repeats the information in the text. It does not say anything about the meaning of tragedy. |
|
Page: 5 "This was big for me. It meant something – a tragedy in my life. It was a big change – one of the first times I'd experienced such an unexpected loss. My life is now divided between before Rangiātea burnt down and after..." |
This tells me that a tragedy is a big event in people's lives. (student example)
A logical response: the word 'big' and the phrase 'big change' in the text imply this. The narrator shows the significance of the tragedy by dividing the stages of her life around it.
It meant that something bad happened to her. (student example)
Not an appropriate response: it is about the narrator rather than the meaning of tragedy.
This tells me it was one of the biggest events in her life. (student example)
Not an appropriate response: it is about the narrator rather than the meaning of tragedy. It only rephrases the narrator's reaction. |
|
Page: 6 "I remember feeling happy at the time, thinking that it was compensation for the tragedy. I realise now that forty dollars' compensation is more like an insult than anything." |
This means that money can't fix everything in a tragedy. (student example)
An appropriate response: it shows an understanding of a tragedy as something that can't be fixed with money.
She means that she feels better because she felt happy helping everyone get over the tragedy. (student example)
Not an appropriate response:
|
|
Page: 9 "I hope that this story gives you an appreciation of the strength and courage in people in communities, especially in times of tragedy." |
You can overcome it. (student example)
A logical response to the text. Words like 'strength' and 'courage' show how people can react positively to a tragedy. |
A small group of students found other words and phrases in the text which implied meanings of tragedy, for example:
Page 3:
- "Have you ever been woken by something really shocking?" (The shocking nature of a tragedy.)
- "It was one of the most dreadful things I've ever heard." (The dreadful nature of a tragedy.)
- "I just remember seeing emptiness and feeling emptiness. How could this happen? Why did this happen?" (People experience numbness and disbelief in a tragedy.)
Page 4:
- "It hurt to hear my mother weep and say, 'It's all gone, all of it.'" (People feel sad about loss in a tragedy.)
- "Now they were left without any reminder except a black, deathly shadow of what Rangiātea used to be." (This is another example of loss.)
- "Seeing so many people come together over a common loss was both heartbreaking and inspirational." (Tragedy can bring communities together.)
Page 7:
- "I hope it's these things I remember more than the pain of the loss." (Positive things can also come out of a tragedy.)
Page 8:
- "Seeing the footage of the fire was like seeing a murder. Thinking of what was actually burning was too painful ... – gone forever." (A tragedy can be violent, painful and traumatic.)
- "I remember that morning more like a bad dream than a real event ... It's amazing how unaware you are of those life-changing moments when they actually happen." (A tragedy can shock people into a sense of unreality.)
- "... how significant an event it was." (A tragedy can be a life-changing event.)
- "It's just a shame that the price of this lesson was so high." (The lessons learned from a tragedy come at a high cost.)
This resource was trialled by 80 students. The trial involved Year 9 and 10 students from four schools.
Word knowledge: moving along a continuum
Because an individual word fits into a complicated system of language, there are many things to learn about any particular word and there are many degrees of knowing (Nation, 2001). Therefore, learning a word can be thought of as an incremental process along a continuum of word knowledge. Stahl (1986) suggested three stages of word knowledge: association, comprehension, and generation. At the association level, students can make accurate associations with the word, although they may not understand its meaning; at comprehension level, they can understand the commonly accepted meaning of a word; and at generation level, they can use the word in a novel context.
This vocabulary resource enables students to increase their knowledge of a word from whatever point it lies along the knowledge continuum – from association at the first step of vocabulary knowledge, through to comprehension and novel usage.
From recognising words to building a broad understanding
The word 'tragedy' is highly recognisable and has many associations. For this reason it is a good word to build knowledge upon – students can recognise the different contexts in which 'tragedy' is used to broaden their understanding of its meaning.
In Task a), students are asked about the first step in vocabulary acquisition, i.e., where they recognise the word from. Most students in the trial cited the media as the source for seeing or hearing the word, e.g., On the news. This may reflect the trial students' lack of personal experience of tragedy.
Task b) assesses basic comprehension of the word. Most students wrote a sentence containing the word 'tragedy' in the same context they stated in a), i.e.,the context of news: The plane crash was a terrible tragedy. This level of word knowledge can be associative: students may be able to associate the word with other words or a context but not understand its meaning (Stahl 2006).
Note: Some students may use the word 'tragedy' in a trivial sense in b), for example: Today I forgot my pencil case. What a tragedy. This particular student cited her mother using the word in a), My mum made a cake and it didn't turn out right so she said, 'What a tragedy.' This student has used the word 'tragedy' in response to a (mildly annoying) situation similar to her mother's, but without understanding the humour her mother intended through use of comic deflation (the humorous puncturing of a grand or serious statement through trivial context). Her answer in e): Something that you would be able to remember in your life. A bad moment for you demonstrates her movement along the continuum of vocabulary acquisition by her new, broader understanding of the word.
Task c). The definitions students write here explicitly show their level of comprehension of the word. Almost all trial students wrote a brief definition of 'tragedy' as a negative event, such as, Something bad that happens. (Trials showed that the definition most students used at this point of the resource was extended in the remaining exercises.)
At this point, students read the story Up from the Ashes, which explores a tragedy and its multiple effects in detail, giving students the opportunity to form a broader understanding of the word, including the knowledge of how a tragedy can affect both a person and a community over time.
Task d) i). Students find examples of the word 'tragedy' in Up from the Ashes and copy it and the text around it (words and phrases) which show meaning into the left-hand column of the table. This assesses two skills: firstly, basic word recognition in identifying the word 'tragedy' in the story; and secondly, the ability to identify the surrounding text which carries meaning. Almost all trial students found multiple occurrences of the word 'tragedy' in the story and copied the word in a brief and appropriately meaning-giving context into d) i).
Task d) ii). Using context is an important part of working out the meaning of a new word. Context is also important in learning to extend knowledge of a word. In d) ii) students are asked to write about the meaning of tragedy suggested by the text they chose in d) i). About half of the trial students connected a meaning of tragedy to the text samples they selected.
Task e). About half of the students trialled showed increased word knowledge by writing a broader definition of 'tragedy' than they did in c), for example, this trial response to e) Tragedy means something bad that happens which is life-changing, heartbreaking and can bring people together, compared to the same trial student's answer for c) It means something bad has happened.
Task f). This assesses the students' ability to generate use of the word in a new way (novel usage is considered to be the highest stage of word knowledge). About half of the trial students wrote a more complex and novel sentence than they did in b), for example, this response to f) We are very sorry (memories live for ever), it was a terrible tragedy that you lost a relation, compared to the same student's trial response to b) It's a tragedy that your grandad died. This student has demonstrated a shift along the vocabulary acquisition continuum for this word by drawing on the broad meaning of 'tragedy' explored in Up from the Ashes.
Task g). Students may raise issues or questions about the way their understanding of the word has developed. This might provide a starting point for a class discussion or a way forward, such as an exercise or game in which novel uses of the word 'tragedy' are sought.
The following section is about what the English team at NZCER call vocabulary acquisition technique (VAT) and is presented as an example of how you might foreground the Key Competencies within reading. In particular, it exemplifies how you might foreground "Using language, symbols, and texts" and, to a lesser extent, "Thinking" within reading through a focus on applying language strategies to find the meaning of new words. VAT teaches students a strategy that will help them become more active interpreters and users of words. This idea is expanded below.
Working with new words
How should students approach new words they don't recognise, and therefore can't build meaning on?
The following text selected from Up from the Ashes (p 8) provides the opportunity to teach some vocabulary acquisition techniques.
"Seeing Rangiātea grow now is like seeing a ghost emerge. Its mana is becoming visible again. Powered by the hope and expectancy of its people, Rangiātea will stand tall and gallant once again."
Applying vocabulary acquisition technique (VAT)
The first unusual word in the text is 'emerge'. What does it mean? There are several clues given by the context. Firstly, look at the word/s next to it. 'Emerge' is attached to the word 'ghost' so it is something that a ghost can do. Another thing to look at is what we call the word's 'electrical value' - is it positive or negative? By looking at the general tone of the text, at both the sentence and story level, we can see that the word occurs in a positive context of growth and hope - so 'emerge' probably isn't negative. Whatever it is that ghosts do, then, we can tell it's not necessarily one of the bad things. Another clue from the words nearby (though this clue is harder) is the word 'mana' described as 'becoming visible'. The words 'ghost' and 'mana' both describe something we can't really see. Could it be that 'emerge' means something similar to 'becoming visible'? Maybe! Another clue is to look inside the word for parts that are recognisable. The word 'emerge' contains the word 'merge'. It's a fair guess to say that 'emerge' might mean the opposite of 'merge', due to the way that prefixes often turn around meaning, for example, wife - ex-wife, able - unable, tonal - atonal, tolerant - intolerant. And in this case, 'emerge' does mean the opposite of 'merge.'
So, to summarise things to look for when using VAT:
- attachment to neighbouring words (e.g., ghost and emerge)
- 'electrical value' (whether the word is in a positive, negative, or neutral context)
- nearby meanings that may be similar or synonymous (e.g. ghost/mana and emerge/becoming visible)
- word parts (including prefixes such as a, un, in, ex, which turn around meaning)
The shifting meanings and uses of words
While we all know that words are created and others drop out of use, it's a little known fact that for every new word added to a revised edition of a dictionary a rarely used word is usually dropped for reasons of space. This normally private process was made public for the first time by the editors of the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary who have put up the list of 24 words due to be deleted for public debate. These words include:
- Embrangle: make more complicated or confused through entanglements
- Muliebrity: the state of being an adult woman
- Nitid: bright with a steady but subdued shining
Some celebrities in England championed their favourite words before Collins made its final decision, while the Times ran a poll, with 'embrangle' being a favourite with readers.
The words we do keep using change in meaning (the word 'gay' being a famous example). These changes in meaning are often driven by young people using language outside of institutions where meaning is tied down for reasons of business and commerce.
Some students may use the word 'tragedy' in a trivial sense in b), for example: "Today I forgot my pencil case. What a tragedy." This particular student cited her mother using the word in a), "My mum made a cake and it didn't turn out right so she said, 'What a tragedy.'" This student has used the word 'tragedy' in response to a (mildly annoying) situation similar to her mother's, but without understanding the humour her mother intended through use of comic deflation (the humorous puncturing of a grand or serious statement through trivial context). Her answer in e): "Something that you would be able to remember in your life. A bad moment for you" demonstrates her new, broader understanding of the word.
However, the reduction in the gravity of the word 'tragedy' can also be seen in the media to create headlines. The death of Barack Obama's 86 year old grandmother in her sleep during the 2008 US presidential campaign was headlined as 'Obama Tragedy' by TV One at the time.
While the definitions of words are sometimes explicitly contested in the public sphere (think of the debate over the words 'war' and 'terrorist' on one side versus 'invasion' and 'freedom fighter' on the other), the changing meaning of words is mostly an ongoing, organic process.
It might be useful to think of dictionaries as reference tools that record current meanings rather than set them. Be responsive and interested in the new usage of words in the classroom - what starts as slang often comes into general usage - while ensuring that students clearly understand more widely accepted meanings.