Inferences & Character Traits As mentioned in a previous post, good readers have their head in the game. They are not only thinking about the words on the page, but they are making inferences about the setting, characters, and plot in a text. An inference is a new idea not stated by the author or a way to figure out something not explicitly stated in the text. In class we use this formula to help us make inferences as we read: Clues From the Text = Text Evidence Schema = Background Knowledge Inference=New Idea Lately, we have really been zoning in on what is a character trait and how do we infer a character's personality. The students pulled information from their personal experiences and came to the realization that we judge another by what that person says and does. As we have all heard, sometimes actions speak louder than words, right?! Well, in literature, the reader is also privy to a character's thoughts. So we are able to judge a character in a text also by what he/she thinks. For instance, we have been listening to the read aloud, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The main character Ally thinks, "The rest of the class is getting tired of me again. Even I am tired of me." Using this piece of evidence plus their background knowledge, the students inferred that Ally is an unhappy character. Having practiced making inferences about ourselves, each other, and characters in our read aloud and shared readings, we are now onto making inferences about characters in our independent novels and about the people in the biographies we have chosen to read. Summarizing As we dive deep into a variety of fiction text, we have been examining the difference between retelling and summarizing. Basically, when we retell a story, we tell the story again and spare no details. When we summarize, we tell only the most important elements from the story. We have been using the following organizer to help us summarize some of the text we have read: Yesterday, we listened to the story, Suki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki for our book a day. Today we looked at it through another lens. As we listened to the story, we used the above organizer to help us summarize the story. We then went back to our power spots and started reading and summarizing our own independent reading. We will continue practicing using this organizer when summarizing fiction text throughout the year. So, the next time you ask your fabulous 4th grader what the book is about, maybe prompt him/her into stating the "Somebody Wanted But So Then"!
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Welcome to Room 314!
Have fun following our fabulous 4th grade journey! Important Dates
August 22nd- First Day!
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September 2018
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