Journal: Think about the emotions being portrayed in and about the story behind the photograph above. What details do you notice that help you develop this story? Give this picture a title to summarize your observations. Explain why you chose the title.

Window Pain Rain suggests sadness I know I’m sad/gloomy when it rains and I know authors often use rain to set this kind of mood in a story Looks like she’s on the inside looking out beyond the glass almost like she’s trapped. Since her hand is up, I think she is gesturing toward something outside I think maybe she’s thinking about someone that she missed because she has a look of longing in her eyes I think the black and white of the photo contributes to the darkness/sadness portrayed by the rain

Active Reading: Dialogue with the Text and Think Aloud Using our ideas, cognitive framework, and peers to enhance our knowledge of what we view, read, and experience.

Define Dialogue with the Text When we “dialogue with the text,” we will examine a picture, text, paper, or experience to explore our internal thoughts and feelings in response to the text. We will record these ideas on the text itself, post-it notes, or our reading notebooks. We will consider our literary terms, author’s purpose, background knowledge, questions, ideas, emotions, and vocabulary when analyzing the text. By doing so, we will create a dialogue with the text in which we raise questions and turn to the text for answers. In this way, we will have a record of our initial reaction and continuing consideration of the text as we begin to unpack its meaning.

Define Think Aloud When we utilize “Think Aloud,” we will examine a picture, text, paper, or experience to explore how our internal thoughts and feelings shape our understanding of a text by discussing our thoughts with a partner. Our partner will record our thoughts for us. We will consider our literary terms, author’s purpose, background knowledge, questions, ideas, emotions, and vocabulary when analyzing the text. By doing so, we will have a record of our initial reaction and continuing consideration of the text as we have explained it to others.

Define Drawing Conclusions When we draw a conclusion we will reflect on our internal thoughts, initial reactions, and our questions, dialoguing, and analysis of the text to summarize the overall effect of the text. When drawing a conclusion about the text we will specifically consider theme, author’s purpose, and the relevance of the text within a contemporary context by making connections between the text and our present lives and current context and experiences. We may also evaluate the text by seeing how it measures up against our literary standards or by creating an argument about the text in the form of a thesis statement for an essay.

What Should I Do? First consider the pictures and choose which partner will complete each picture. Complete a Think Aloud with your partner. (Start by noticing details and making educated guesses about the meaning of the details.) When you finish the Think Aloud, draw a conclusion about the overall meaning or effect of the image in order to summarize or define the picture. Think about the story behind the text. Give the picture a title to reflect the story.

Questions I Should Ask Questions to Ask What do I already know about this story and characters? How can my own life relate to the events the characters experience? Why do I relate more to the protagonist or antagonist of the story? What Literary Elements or Devices can I identify in this text? How do the Literary Elements or devices help or hinder the reader? Why would the author include this chunk in the text? How does the author feel about the characters or events in the story and how does this affect the tone of his/her writing? What type of narrator is present in the text? How does this affect how I read the text? What theme is becoming evident as I read? How do I feel or what is the mood when I finish reading the text?

Questions I Can Answer What do I already know about this story and characters? How can my own life relate to the events the characters experience? Why do I relate more to the protagonist or antagonist of the story? What literary elements/devices apply to this text? How do the literary elements/devices help or hinder the reader? Why would the author include this chunk in the text? How does it relate to the rest of the story? How does the author feel about the characters or events in the story and how does this affect the tone of his/her writing? What type of narrator is present in the text? How does this affect how I read the text? What theme is becoming evident as I read? How do I feel or what is the mood when I finish reading the text?