The document provides information about essential questions readers have when constructing meaning from text, determining important information, and how authors grab readers' attention. It discusses using text features, schema, questioning, inferring, and determining importance to state the main idea. Strategies for inferencing and determining importance are linked. Sample poems and texts are provided to demonstrate these concepts.

2. Essential Questions
• 1
– What are ways readers construct meaning from
text?
• 2
– How do readers determine the most important
information given to them by the author?

3. How do authors grab your
attention?
• Use the organizational features and text structures and features
to construct meaning from fiction and non-fiction text
• Understand that not all ideas or features have equal
importance.
• Use schema, questioning, inferring, determining importance to be
able to state the explicit main idea and to determine what the
author felt was important
– NOT what’s interesting to the reader
• Use evidence from the text will display their thinking

4. Strategy Lesson Plans
• Inferencing
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWSqxItd9SU

5. Excuse Our center’s nose was runny.
Cheer Our forwards had the flu.
The guards were feeling
funny. That’s why we lost to
by you.
Timothy Your team is overrated. We
Tocher really didn’t try.
Our coach was constipated.
I’m telling you no lie.
Now go and take a shower
and hop back on your bus.
You know we’ll beat you next
time, so you’d best watch out
for us!

6. Text says… This means… My evidence is… Important to the
author because…

7. • Determining Importance
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KveNKQw9dd4
Bring Your Own Lunch
by Bruce Lansky
Don’t eat school lunches—
not even a lick.
They might make you nauseous.
They might make you sick.
Just take a small bite and
you’ll start to feel ill.
If the veggies don’t get you,
the meatloaf sure will.

8. The Principal Is Missing
by Kenn Nesbitt
The principal is missing.
He’s nowhere to be found. He isn’t in his closet.
The teachers tried to page him, He’s not behind his door.
and they’ve hunted all around. He isn’t underneath his desk
or hiding in a drawer.
He isn’t in the staff room. If you should see our principal,
He isn’t in the gym, please send him back to school,
and all the kids are wondering and tell him we apologize.
just what’s become of him. We know that we were cruel.
We’ve looked in every classroom. Please tell him that we miss him.
We’ve peeked in every hall. We’re sorry we were mean.
We even checked the bathrooms But tell him next Saint Patrick’s Day
and inspected every stall. he needs to wear some green.

9. • Activating Schema
• PowerPoint Presentation

10. Snow Day Kenn Nesbitt
“Snow day!” Up hill
went Fred.
Fred said. Down hill
“All play. Fred sped.
Sled streaked
Let’s sled! on past.
“No school! Mom shrieked,
“Too fast!”
Just snow. Snow blew.
Way cool. “Can’t see!”
Fred flew.
Let’s go!” Hit tree.
Fred ran Sled bent.
Fred’s head
in shed. got dent.
Had plan. Poor Fred.
Got sled. He cried.
Now plays
“Go slow,” inside
snow days.
Mom said.
“I know,”
said Fred.

11. • Asking Questions
Describe the picture Question I am Answered in the text
or write the words asking myself…
from the text. Answered by researching
My question was not
answered

12. Author’s Craft
• Students’ Job is to read like a writer
– Understand text features
– Determine what’s important

13. Narrative Texts
• Just as a woodworker uses many tools and
techniques to craft a piece of furniture, a skilled
author uses tools and techniques of language
and storytelling to craft a piece of writing.

14. – Setting
• Time and Place
– Examples
– Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809
– lonely farmhouse on a dark night
– Midwestern town during the Depression, the courthouse
– time of day
• Why is it important?
– Setting provides a backdrop for the action. Think about setting not just
as factual information but as an essential part of a story's mood and
emotional impact. Careful portrayal of setting can convey meaning
through interaction with characters and plot.
• How do I create it?
– To create setting, provide information about time and place and use
descriptive language to evoke vivid sights, sounds, smells, and other
sensations. Pay close attention to the mood a setting conveys.

15. • Characterization
– Characterization is the way in which authors convey information
about their characters. Descriptions of a character's appearance,
behavior, interests, way of speaking, and other mannerisms are all
part of characterization.
• Why is it important?
– Characterization is a crucial part of making a story compelling. In
order to interest and move readers, characters need to seem real.
Authors achieve this by providing details that make characters
individual and particular. Good characterization gives readers a
strong sense of characters' personalities and complexities; it makes
characters vivid, alive and believable.
• How do I create it?
– Create characterization by choosing details that make real or
fictional characters seem life-like and individual.

16. Literary Devices/Figurative
Language
• Literary devices are the tools and techniques of
language that authors use to convey meaning.
Skilled use of literary devices brings richness and
clarity to a text.
• Figurative language or speech contains images. The
writer or speaker describes something through the
use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and
to make things clearer. The result of using this
technique is the creation of interesting images.

17. Personification
• What is it?
– Personification is a figure of speech that gives human qualities to
objects, animals, or ideas.
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TKJItZ_qkw
• Why is it important?
– Personification connects readers with the object that is personified.
Personification can make descriptions of non-human entities more
vivid, or can help readers understand, sympathize with, or react
emotionally to non-human characters.
• How do I do it?
– Give human-like qualities or emotions to inanimate entities or non-
human beings.

18. • "I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT"
– I'm a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, and here is my spout.
When I spy a teacup, then I shout,
Tip me over and pour me out!
Poem Says… Personified Object Author used this
device to…

19. Idioms
• Cat Got Your Tongue
– I was feeling shy when my uncle came.
"Has the cat got your tongue?" he said.
He must have meant, "Why aren't you talking?"
Because my tongue was still in my head.
Poem Says… Real Meaning… Author used this
device to…

20. All ears Can of worms
Ants in your pants Cold feet
Arm and a leg Crash a party
At the end of your rope Cry your eyes out
Axe to grind Don’t wash your dirty laundry
Back to the drawing board in public
Barking up the wrong tree Down in the dumps
Between the lines Eagle eyes
Blood out of a stone Elephant in the room
Blow your stack Feeling Blue
Bone to pick Fifth wheel
Bull in a China shop Fish out of water
By the skin of your teeth Go round in circles

21. Grab the bull by its horns
Head is in the clouds Opening a can of worms
Out on a limb
Heart of gold
Piece of cake
Hook, line, and sinker Pull someone's leg
Horse of a different color Pull your weight
In the doghouse Rock the boat
It cost an arm and a leg See the light
Jump the gun Stick out like a sore thumb
Tall story
Like a fish needs a bicycle
Thin-skinned
Make waves Thrilled to bits
Money talks Walk on eggshells
Written all over your face

22. Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like the
objects or actions they refer to
“A pesky mosquito buzzed
around my head.”

23. Crack an Egg Flip it over,
just like that.
Crack an egg. Press it down.
Stir the butter. Squeeze it flat.
Break the yolk. Pop the toast.
Make it flutter. Spread jam thin.
Stoke the heat. Say the word.
Hear it sizzle.
Shake the salt, Breakfast's in .
just a drizzle.
by Denise Rodgers

24. Text says… This means… The author used this device
to…

25. Alliteration
• Alliteration
– Repetition of words with the same beginning
sounds
• “Polly planted plenty of pretty pansies.”
Daddy's Gone A Hunting
Bye, baby bunting,
Daddy's gone a - hunting,
Gone to get a rabbit skin
To wrap baby bunting in.

26. • Betty Botter by Mother Goose
– Betty Botter bought some butter,
but, she said, the butter’s bitter;
if I put it in my batter
it will make my batter bitter,
but a bit of better butter
will make my batter better.
So she bought a bit of butter
better than her bitter butter,
and she put it in her batter
and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

27. Text says… This means… The author used this device
to…

28. Mood
• angry friendly
fearful mischievous sad
• anxious
frustration optimistic serious
• calm scared
funny patriotic
• carefree gloomy peaceful shocked
• careful happy pessimistic silly
• cautious hopeful playful suspicious
humorous proud terrified
• cheerful
joyful relaxed thoughtful
• excited upbeat
lonely
worried

29. One-Way Ticket
by Langston Hughes, 1949
I pick up my life But not South.
And take it with me I am fed up
And I put it down in With Jim Crow laws,
Chicago, Detroit, People who are cruel
Buffalo, Scranton, And afraid.
Any place that is Who lynch and run,
North and East— Who are scared of me
And not Dixie. And me of them.
I pick up my life I pick up my life
And take it on the train And take it away
To Los Angeles, Bakersfield, On a one-way ticket—
Seattle, Oakland, Salt Lake, Gone up North,
Any place that is Gone out West,
North and West— Gone!

30. Text says… This means… The author used this device
to…

31. Simile
• What is it?
– A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison
between two unlike things and uses the words "like," "as."
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkMKaGLmkzk
• Why is it important?
– Similes make descriptions vivid by comparing their subjects
with known events or things. Effective similes help readers
visualize what is being described.
• How do I do it?
– Create a comparison by using "like,“ or "as."

32. • Flint
An emerald is as green as grass, Your Teeth
A ruby red as blood; Your teeth are like
A sapphire shines as blue as stars;
heaven;
A flint lies in the mud. they come out at
A diamond is a brilliant stone, night.
To catch the world's desire; They come back at
An opal holds a fiery spark; dawn
But a flint holds a fire. when they're ready
• Christina Rossetti to bite.
1830-1894
by Denise Rodgers

33. Text says… This means… The author used this device
to…

34. Additional Author’s Craft
Strategies
• Voice
• Descriptive Language and Detail
• Strong Verbs
• Powerful Leads
• Authentic Examples or True Stories
• Use of Effective Transitions
• Integrating diagrams, charts, and tables with text
• Identify the author’s purpose – persuade, entertain,
inform

35. Patterns
• Readers select, apply, and self-monitor their use
of strategies in order to comprehend all types of
texts.
• What stays the same and what changes when I
read different types of text?
• Genres have different organizational features
that hook, hold, and inform the reader.
• How do readers determine the most important
information given to them by the author?

36. Genres
Traits for all Fiction:
1. Characters – people or things such as animals
2. Setting – real or invented
3. Problem/Solution
4. Events
5. Theme/Author’s message
Setting Characters
Fantasy
Imaginary Animals act like people
Time is any time Characters can have special powers
or no time
Time travel is
possible

37. Story Author’s Craft
Tall Tale
Story is usually tied to a Hyperboles
group of people or Similes
culture Metaphors
The plot of the story is
funny to show
meaning and often
exaggerated
Fable Characters Other
Fictional Story
Main character is usually an Has a moral
animal with human traits

38. R F Story
e i Made up or
a c imagined
l t
i i Stories involve
s o people and
situations set
t n in a time or place
i that does or could
c exist

39. Folklore is a collection of fictional tales about
people and/or animals.
Superstitions and unfounded beliefs are important
elements in the folklore tradition.

40. Elements
Characterization
Characters are ordinary real people who could have lived in the historical setting
Characters are usually shaped by the setting
Characters usually change as a result of the problem and must to be able to resolve it
Historical Fiction
Setting
Place is a particular historical geographical location
Time is a particular historical period
Plot
Must be plausible and believable
Usually problem or puzzling event as a result of the time or place in history for
characters to resolve
Reader/listener usually feel that the story really happened or could have happened
Theme
Life themes as well as good versus bad/evil

41. Elements
Characters
Suspects are characters who may have caused the problem the mystery is
trying to solve. Detectives or investigators try to solve the mystery.
Plot
The plot is the story of the mystery. Usually there is:
• A problem or puzzle to solve
• Something that is missing
Mystery
• A secret
• An event that is not explained
Clues
Clues are hints that help the detectives and reader solve the mystery.
They can be things people say or do or objects that are found.
Most mystery plots use suspense. This means that the reader does not
know the solution while he or she is reading the mystery.
Distractions
Distractions are things that lead an investigator off the path, including
clues that do not add up to a solution but make the search longer.

42. Elements
Advanced Technology like an alien or computer
Future time setting – may even be in the past
Has an alternate setting such as another planet
Characters are aliens – humans may be on an alien planet
Science Fiction
Characters have strange powers
Science is important
Good verses evil
Problem and Solution

43. Poetry Organization Elements
Creates an emotional Verse Rhyme Scheme
response Stanza Rhythm
Mood
Symbolism
Theme
Imagery

44. Nonfiction
Format Interesting, inviting to the reader
Index
Glossary
Table of Contents
Size of book, magazine, newspaper
Photographs
Vocabulary
Title
Subtitles
Enumeration
Time order
Cause and effect
Compare/Contrast
Labels
Maps
Charts
Graphs
Captions

45. Contents Accurate
Timely
Includes excellent details to support the main idea
Organized presentation of information
Characters Real
True-to-Life experiences
Author’s Inform
Purpose Persuade
Theme
Author’s
Message

46. Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent either to inform or
teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to
persuade or convince their audience to do or not do
something.
Autobiography: The story of a person’s life written by himself
or herself. Usually written to share the author’s life lessons
he/she learned.
Biography: The story of a person’s life written by someone
other than the subject of the work.

47. Vocabulary
• How is specific vocabulary placed in texts to capture
the reader’s attention and keep them reading?
• What helps a reader understand words and phrases
in a text?

48. Fluency
• Fluent reading
• Accuracy
• Stamina
• Prosody