Mini lesson day 3 Thank you, mr. falker

Thank you, Mr. Falker you have learned how to pose and respond to questions that encourage readers to make connections with the text. You’ve learned that through discussions about these questions with members of our Literature Study group, you can construct a deeper meaning of text. To help us better understand what an author wants us to know, we will learn how to ask and respond to questions that encourage us to look closely at the language the author uses.

Questions to ponder Let’s review questions that focus on the language an author uses What are some interesting words, phrases, or sentences? Are there words that were used to create a feeling or picture in your mind? Where did the author describe something well? What images did the writing evoke? How did the author use language to evoke images? What were some of the strongest words the author used? How did the author begin/end the story? Was any of the language especially interesting, vivid, or surprising?

Thank you, Mr. Falker Today we are going to continue reading from Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. For this reading, we are going to focus on the author’s language to see if this will help us gain a deeper understanding of the story. Listen as I Read the first page and be prepared to answer the following questions: “What are some interesting words, phrases, or sentences?”

Response: “I think the way the family described knowledge was interesting. They said ‘Yes, and so is knowledge, but knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it through the pages of a book!’ I have never thought about comparing knowledge to a bee. It helps me to understand that you have to work hard to gain knowledge, like a bee works hard to make honey. It also helped me understand that books are a means for learning. The more you read, the more you learn.”

Listen as I Read next two pages and be prepared to respond to the following question: “Are there words that were used to create a feeling or picture in your mind?” Response: When the author wrote ‘The other kids would crowd around her and watch her do her magic with the crayons.’ I could picture an amazing drawing that almost comes to life. Because the kids would crowd around her, I imagine that they were just mesmerized by her talent. I would think that makes Trisha feel pretty special.

asking questions that encourage readers to look closely at language will help you gain a deeper meaning of the story. In addition, discussing these questions with other readers will help them to construct a deeper meaning of the text as they will have the opportunity to consider alternate perspectives.

Practice: Listen as I Read the next two pages with written text aloud. You will work with your elbow buddy to pose and respond to a language question from our list. You may use the question chart as a reference. Make sure to elaborate on responses of your partner.

What are some interesting words, phrases, or sentences? Are there words that were used to create a feeling or picture in your mind? Where did the author describe something well? What images did the writing evoke? How did the author use language to evoke images? What were some of the strongest words the author used? How did the author begin/end the story? Was any of the language especially interesting, vivid, or surprising?

Link Today we learned how to ask and respond to questions that encourage us to look closely at language in the text. As you read, think about these same questions. Consider asking questions from this chart when you work in your Literature Study group.