When I was a Reading Teacher, I was always looking for ways to improve my instruction and engage students who had not yet discovered the “joys of reading.” Some were uninterested; others tried hard to mask their reading difficulties; others worked hard, but lacked background knowledge or life experiences which would contribute to enjoying books.

One winter, I came across a book by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst called NOTICE AND NOTE. They developed a system for teaching reading comprehension using 6 signposts that I found interesting and useful.  I started to test out these signposts in my own reading and decided this could work with my students. And indeed, it worked. Discussions grew deeper and questions more thoughtful as enjoyment of the book, HATCHET, by Gary Paulsen increased. 

Today, I’m no longer teaching reading, but instead, I’m working on writing the stories of my life. As I was walking in the neighborhood and doing a lot of reflecting about my life, my mind went to these signposts once again. I asked myself if the signposts could also be a scaffold for my writing. Would I be able as a writer to zoom out in order to recognize patterns and key understandings using the signposts? I’m interested to find out. 

These are the signposts outlined by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst:

Contrasts and Contradictions: When a character does or says something unexpected, you can stop and ask, “Why is the character doing that?”

Aha Moment:  When a character realizes, understands, or finally figures out something, you can stop and ask, “How might this change things?”

Tough Questions:  When a character struggles with hard questions, you can stop and ask, “What does this question make me wonder about?”

Words of the Wiser: When a character receives advice from someone older and wiser, you can stop and ask, “What is the life lesson and how might it affect the character?”

Again and Again: When a word, phrase, or situation comes up over and over, you can stop and ask, “Why does this keep happening again and again?”

Memory Moment: When the author interrupts the action with a memory from the character’s life, you can stop and ask, “Why might this memory be important?”

As I think about the story of my life, I’m sure there are threads that run through my experiences that could be identified by these signposts. Maybe there are other signposts yet to be named, but I think considering these markers might become useful to me as I write my stories and perhaps to those who read them.

I believe the work is largely the same for the writer and the reader. We are both striving to make meaning from the stories we live. The meaning of our stories can change over time as we grow and test our theories to find or reject what we think is true or not true. For it is truth we desire. Truth that tells who we were, who we are, and all we may become.