This document provides guidance and questions for students to analyze characters, settings, and historical contexts in complex texts. It encourages students to consider details about characters and how the setting helps understand the story. Students are asked to identify figurative language techniques and use context clues and references to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. Historical notes are suggested to provide deeper understanding of historical fiction texts.
2. “
“I’m going to teach you about…”
The character said ____. What was learned?
3. Character in
Context
What details did you notice about the
character because of the time period?
What is unique about the character
because of the time period?
What seems most important about your
character? How does setting help understanding?
(click the pic for video)
4. Setting Situation
Consider:
Where does the story take place?
When does the story happen?
Why is the setting important to this story?
Why did the author choose this
particular setting?
If the setting changed, how would
the plot change?
5. “
Read the following prologue from Tuck
Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt. What colorful, or
vivid, descriptions of the setting stand out to
you? How do the descriptions help to set the
mood, or impact the way you view the
characters?
19. Use a Reference
1. Tried everything else?
2. Check a dictionary or online.
3. Think about how the
word is used (context).
20. Words Can Have
Multiple Meanings
How is it
being used?
What is one
meaning you
know for
that word?
How do you
know it CAN’T
be that word?
What’s
another
meaning that
could make
sense?
Know of any
other strat-
egies that
could help?
22. Cool Cognates
THINK of a word you know in another
language that looks or maybe sounds like
the word.
THINK about what the word means in the
other language.
CHECK to see if the word in this book
means the same thing.
23. Is It Right There
In the Sentence?
Key Words:
also,
or,
this is called
commas ,
dashes -
Further
explanation later in
sentence? Prior
sentence?
