Our reading this term will focus on inferring to gain deeper meaning.

We will focus on using three aspects of inferencing in particular to understand characters in stories

1/ use visual clues in illustrations to infer emotions


this means we will...
  • look at characters facial expressions
  • examine characters body language
  • examine the body language between different characters
  • discuss the angles of shots used to portray the character
  • look at the colour choices used in illustrations and discuss how they relate to the story
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2/ use characters actions to infer information

about the personality


this means we will...* identify the verbs used to describe their behaviour
  • discuss why the author chose those verbs and think about what they wanted to show
  • discuss what the characters motivation was. What did they hope to achieve?
  • discuss how the actions effected other characters. Was this intentional?
  • do the characters action change throughout the story? why?
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3/ use characters dialogue to infer information

about their personality


this means we will...
  • What verbs describe the characters voice?
  • What type of language does the character use? what does this show?
  • How does their dialogue effect other characters?

We will be reading many sophisticated picture books to develop these skills. The books of authors such as Anthony Browne and Shaun Tan have many extra layers of meaning in the illustrations.


These books are specifically written for older students. Some books actually have no text at all!
external image Reading-comprehension22.jpg


Helping At Home
Play charades! By guessing what you are doing people have to use their inferencing skills!

While reading or watching TV ask each other what they can tell about the characters. What evidence have they seen to support this?

Providing the evidence to match the inference is the key skill to promote.