Core Skills Analysis
English
Will met with his Language Arts teacher, read the short story “The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara, and answered comprehension questions, practicing how to understand and respond to a literary text. The reading and questions supported his ability to attend to story details and demonstrate comprehension through written or spoken responses. He also completed a worksheet on prefixes, suffixes, root words, and base words, learning to recognize how word parts contribute to word structure and meaning. Together, these activities gave 14-year-old Will practice in both reading comprehension and vocabulary-building skills.
Tips
Tips Extend Will’s reading by inviting him to choose a brief passage from the story and explain which details helped him understand it. He could make a word-part “detective” chart, sorting examples of prefixes, suffixes, roots, and base words, then use the parts to predict meanings of unfamiliar words. For a creative response, have him write a short alternate scene or a letter from a character’s perspective, referring to details from the story. Finish with a relaxed discussion in which he shares one question he would ask the author and explains why.
Book Recommendations
- Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary by Norman Lewis: A widely available vocabulary-building guide that explores word parts and word origins; suited to supported, selective use by a teen.
- The Giver by Lois Lowry: An accessible novel for teen readers that offers opportunities to practice comprehension and discuss how details shape meaning.
Learning Standards
- Virginia English SOL 9.DSR.1.B: Reading the story and answering comprehension questions aligned with reading and comprehending literary texts.
- Virginia English SOL 9.RV.1.A: Studying prefixes, suffixes, roots, and base words aligned with using structural analysis to understand words.
- Virginia English SOL 9.RV.1.F: The word-part worksheet supported vocabulary development that can be applied in reading, writing, and speaking.
Try This Next
- Word-part sort: classify example words by prefix, suffix, root, and base word.
- Story evidence check: answer three comprehension questions and underline the detail supporting each response.
- Word investigator: choose an unfamiliar word and use its parts and sentence context to explain its likely meaning.
- Creative writing prompt: rewrite a brief moment from the story from another character’s point of view.