Close Reading: Draw Inferences About Character

1. Close Reading: Draw Inferences
About Character
GRADE 4, UNIT 4, WEEK 2, MINI-LESSON 8 (15-20 minutes)

2. Close Reading: Draw Inferences About
Character
I will be able to:
Draw inferences from details in the text.
Figure out meaning of words used in a story.
Draw on my knowledge of the story to add to discussions.

3. Engage Thinking
“Quiet!” is a story about a dog’s special relationship with
his owners. Though the story includes many details
about how Lad feels about his owners, readers have to
draw inferences about how his owners feel about him.
If you have a pet, does it tell you what it needs or feels,
or do you have to infer it?

4. Reread to Find Text Evidence
Close Reading Prompt: Reread paragraphs 5-7. What
inferences can you draw about how the Master and
Mistress feel about Lad from the details given? Do they
feel the same about him as their other dogs?
Annotate: Star key words and phrases that help you
infer how Lad’s owners feel about him.

5. Collaborative Conversations: Partner
Instruct students to create a two-column note sheet with
the headings: EVIDENCE and INFERENCE
Students will write down inferences in the INFERENCE
column.

6. Collaborative Conversation: Partner
EVIDENCE
“Of all the dogs…Lad alone
had free run of the house.”
“He is allowed in the
dining room, he sits to the
left of Master’s chair.”
INFERENCE

7. Collaborative Conversation: Partner
EVIDENCE
Master takes him on
romps, or walks.
Mistress likes to play with
him and pet him.
INFERENCE

8. Share
Call on several student partners to share their answers
to the close reading question. Then discuss the fact that
because Lad is a dog who can’t actually talk with his
owners, Lad and readers, must infer a lot of the
information in the story.

9. Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy
(TE p. 149)

10. Write to Apply Understanding
Please take out your writing journal. We will write a
paragraph explaining the inferences you made in
response to the close reading question and the
evidence from the text you used to support your
inferences. A good start might be…
Lad is a very special dog. I can infer this because…

11. Model
What the Narrator Does
Reveals what the main
character observes
“My Breaking In” First Person
Narrator – Details
 Black Beauty sees the care
showed to him by his master.
 Black Beauty watches other
horses fear steam engines.

12. Model
What the Narrator Does
Reveals what the main
character observes
“Waiting for Stormy” Third Person
Narrator – Details
Misty watches two horses
on the marsh pretend to
be stallions.

13. Model
Similar or Different
Similar

14. Model
What the Narrator Does
Reveals action in different
settings at the same time
“My Breaking In” First Person
Narrator – Details
no

15. Model
What the Narrator Does
Reveals action in different
settings at the same time
“Waiting for Stormy” Third Person
Narrator – Details
yes – Maureen’s
daydream, Paul’s
“daymare,” Misty in her
shed

16. Model
Similar or Different
Different – Black Beauty can reveal only what he
observes

17. Productive Engagement: Partner
YOUR ESSAY PROMPT
“My Breaking In” is narrated by the horse explaining his life to the
reader in his own “voice.” In “Quiet!,” the reader learns about Lad’s
life through third person narration. Write an essay in which you
compare and contrast the points of view in the two stories. Explain
the difference in the two points of view and discuss which one, in
your view, is more effective in telling the character’s story. Why?
State your reason and support your position with details from the
text.

18. Productive Engagement: Partner
Work with a partner using two-column notes to
compare “Quiet!” to “My Breaking In.” Discuss if the
points of view are different or similar by examining
details from both stories.

19. Share
Who would like to share what they found and recorded
on their two-column notes?

20. Build Cursive Writing Skills
Display the Unit 4 Week 3 Cursive Writing
Practice page and read the model sentence.
Demonstrate forming the week’s focus letters.
Provide copies of the page so that student may
practice cursive writing skills during independent
time.