READING S

IGNPO

STS

ST

RE

NG

TH

EN

I NG

YO

UR

RE

AD

I NG

SK

I LL S

CONTRASTS & CONTRADICTIONS

• When author’s show us something that doesn’t fit with what we expect

• Example: teacher mood/behavior

• ASK: why would the character act this way?

• Helps recognize: • Character development• Internal conflict• The relationship of setting to the plot.

• Let’s Read: All Summer in a Day• Where do you see contrasts or contradictions in character

behavior?• How does the author use these contrasts or contradictions to

prove his point?

AHA! MOMENT READING SIGNPOST• The moment when a character realizes or understands something that he

has not previously known (could be sudden or slow growing).

• Helps recognize: • If the character figured out a problem, you probably just learned about the

conflict. • If the character figured understood a life lesson, you probably just learned the

theme.

• Look for: “I realized” or “I understand”

• ASK : How might this change things?

• Examples of Aha moments: • When you are in class and remember that you were supposed to study for that

test. • When you read through the texts from that boy/girl you’re crushing on and

suddenly realize that they like you too! • Other examples?

AHA! MOMENTS: AUTHOR CLUES…

• What author’s sometimes include as clues to “aha moments”:

-Suddenly, I realized…

-In an instant I saw…

-It came to me in a flash…

-I now knew…

-I finally understood that…

• Example from the text: Rules of the Game?

• Let’s take a look…

WORDS OF THE WISER SIGNPOST

• When a character takes the main character aside and offers serious, critical, or important advice.

• Helps recognize:• Theme

• ASK: What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the character?

• Example: Waverly’s mom– She repeatedly gives advice, but Waverly sticks with one piece of advice the most- as a way to win chess (and at life). What is it?

AGAIN & AGAIN (REPETITION) SIGNPOST

• When something is repeated we should pay attention.

• Helps find:• Plot• Characters• Mood• Theme

• ASK: Why does this happen again and again?

• Example: All Summer in a Day- repetition of Margot’s separateness.

• Rules of the Game- the repetition of “wind” whenever she was thinking about something at a pivotal moment—pointed to the theme about getting what she wants through “The art of invisible strength” (just like the wind).

• Look at The Tell Tale Heart. Where do you see repetition?

PRACTICE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

• While reading “Everyday Use” annotate for the four signposts we’ve learned so far (in small groups).

• Contrasts & Contradictions

• Aha! Moments

• Words of the Wiser

• Again & Again (repetition)

• (hint: annotate means to highlight where you see examples of the listed signposts and make comments about what it means in the margins)

MEMORY MOMENT SIGNPOST

• When you’re reading and the author interrupts the action to tell you a memory.

• Helps find:• Theme• Conflict• Might foreshadow what will happen later in the story.

• ASK: Why might this memory be important?

MEMORY MOMENT AUTHOR CLUES

• Authors sometimes say…

-“I remembered the first time I met him...”

-“In that very moment, the memory came flooding back…”

-“My dad liked to tell the story about…”

-“This picture reminded me of the time when…”

• Can you think of what else the authors say to set up a memory moment?

• While reading Brownies annotate for the Memory Moment—ask yourself “Why might this be important?”.

TOUGH QUESTIONS SIGNPOST

• When you’re reading and the characters asks him/herself a tough/really difficult question.

• Helps find:• Internal (and external) conflict• Theme• Insight into characters• Ideas about what will happen later in the story

• Examples of tough questions in our life:• When someone passes away “How will I move forward?”• When someone breaks up with us “How will I ever get over this?”• When you are faced with a social choice “Am I brave enough to say

no?”• When looking at an impossible choice “What should I do?”

TOUGH QUESTIONS CONT…

• Who do we usually discuss the tough questions with? • Ourselves• Parents• Friends• Characters are the same!

• ASK: What does this question make me wonder about?

• Example: Annotate The Most Dangerous Game and look for the tough questions the characters ask (or the reader asks!)

SUMMARY OF SIGNPOSTS• Contrasts & Contradictions:• Why is this character doing that? (Predictions, conflict, inferences) • Words of the Wiser:• What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the character? (theme)• Aha Moment:• How might this change things? (conflict, theme)• Again & Again:• Why does this keep happening again & again? (conflict, theme,

foreshadow)• Memory Moment:• Why might this memory be important? (theme, conflict, foreshadowing)• Tough Questions:• What does this question make me wonder about? (conflict,

foreshadowing, plot development)

TITLES

• What do titles indicate?• Theme• Symbols• Central conflicts

• What do these titles tell us?

• Rules of the Game

• The Tell Tale Heart

• Everyday Use

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

• When you wrote a personal narrative, what was included in the beginning and ending paragraph?

• What information might you find out in the beginning and ending of a story?• Theme or life lesson• Central characters• Central conflict• The relationship between setting, characters, and theme

• Think about…• All Summer in a Day• Brownies• Everyday Use