Pencil Moving Brain Working This is you when the test begins This is you 15 minutes later When you are taking a test it is important to keep your brain working This is particularly true when working on reading comprehension questions ID: 280446
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Talking to the Text" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Talking to the Text
Pencil Moving = Brain WorkingSlide2
This is you when the test begins.Slide3
This is you 15 minutes later.Slide4
When you are taking a test, it is important to keep your brain working.Slide5
This is particularly true when working on reading comprehension questions.Slide6
Here’s a sample.
They
are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city. From our room we can hear them, but
Nenny
just sleeps and doesn't appreciate these things.
Their
strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.
Let
one forget his reason for being, they'd all droop like tulips in a glass, each with their arms around the other. Keep, keep, keep, trees say when I sleep. They teach.
When
I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be.Slide7
On a test, you’ll be asked to read this kind of passage and answer questions about it.
This can be difficult if you get to the end and ask yourself:Slide8
This is where
T.t.t.T. helps.
There are three things you can do to help yourself keep what you read in your head so that you can answer the questions that follow.
Analyze
Infer
PredictSlide9
Analyze
Read the passage.
Circle any words you do not know.
Try to figure out what they mean by using what you know about:
Roots, prefixes, and suffixes
ContextSlide10
Analyze
Here’s an example from the passage:
Their strength is secret. They send
ferocious
roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.
“Ferocious” means “violent and able to cause serious damage or injury; severe or strong.” I know this because I looked it up.
On a test you can’t do that. But you
could
figure it out on your own.Slide11
Analyze
What is the root of
ferocious
?
The root, or main part of the word, is “
feroc
.” Obviously, that’s not a word in the English language, but it sounds like a word you might know, right?
fierceSlide12
Analyze
Ferocious
has a suffix, “
ious
.” It means, “full of.”
So if you combine “fierce” with “full of,” you know that the word means full of fierce, which doesn’t actually make sense, but kind of gives you an idea what the word means.Slide13
Analyze
They
send ferocious roots beneath the ground
.
Outside of a Harry Potter book, have you ever heard of trees that send ferocious roots into the ground? These must some really angry trees.
Now, look at the whole sentence.Slide14
Analyze
So now you have an idea of what the word means. Write it down. Write it right on the page.Slide15
Analyze
Repeat this with every other word you don’t know.
Then, read the passage again, substituting your new definitions for the words you didn’t know.Slide16
Infer
You do this all the time.
Why is this girl smiling? Why do you think that?Slide17
Infer
What would you think if you saw a student give their teacher an apple?Slide18
Infer
What would you think if
this
student gave the teacher an apple?Slide19
Infer
What if it was
this
student?Slide20
What can you
infer about the trees?Slide21
PredictSlide22
Infer and Predict
When you infer and predict, you are making judgments based on what is in the passage and from the knowledge you bring with you. You might be absolutely right with everything you infer and predict. You could also be wrong about most everything. Probably, you’ll be somewhere in the middle.
The thing is, it doesn’t matter. By going through the exercise of talking to the text, you will make your brain stay in the “on” position while you are reading. That way, when it’s time to answer questions, you won’t be asking yourself, “What did I just read?”