Each day we worked through the novel in the same way.  We read, we talked, we drew, we talked, we wrote and we repeated these steps until we completed a chapter.  I read aloud, they followed.  They talked in groups of threes.  They drew independently.  They talked again in their groups of three.  They wrote independently.   We took  40 minutes for this process.  

The story lent itself to stops and interruptions, the manner in which the activities were organized drew the students into the storyline, the stops lent themselves to better understanding for the students.  The better they understood the storyline the more they wanted to talk, the more they wanted to talk the better they understood the storyline - a good 'Catch 22'.

In 40 minutes they talked in a focused and sustained manner for 1 minute, 6 - 8 times.  They drew in a focused and sustained manner for 2 minutes, 3 - 4 times.  They wrote in a focused and sustained manner for 3 minutes, 3 - 4 times.  Given a typical 40 minute period with 4 stops per chapter they experienced: 12 minutes reading, 12 minutes writing, 8 minutes talking and 8 minutes drawing - a fairly even distribution of focused input/output. 

In my opinion, this is one of the reasons why this strategy engaged so many of the students.  Independent of whether the inputs/outputs were strengths or weaknesses for the student each was practiced repeatedly for short periods of time, daily.  There were two other students, (groups are always intentional organized to support all learners), available to offer answers, questions or comments.  And the entire activity was scaffolded and supported by the teacher, always 'working' the room.  'Working' the room entails watching faces, listening for understanding during discussions, watching who is drawing what and listening or reading for why they are drawing it, and giving every available ounce of emotion possible to the reading of the story to draw in those drawn to the drama of the events.

If a student struggled with writing they knew they only had to write for three minutes at a time; they felt capable of this.  If the student loved writing they had to say ALL they wanted to say in three minutes; they felt challenged by this.  If the student struggled with the ability to generate ideas orally they we supported by two able models in their group and the activity lasted for short periods of time.  If they easily generated multiple ideas orally, they were challenged to find ways to share the minute of talk time with two others.

This series of activities occured every day for almost six weeks - repetition, repetition, repetition.  The students became very involved in the plot line, the character development and the process.  While I read they hung off of each word.  Their discussions became more involved, their drawings and their writing came easier and ran deeper.