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Teaching Reading: Mini Lesson Format (Calkins, 2001)

Targeted Literacy Strategy or Skill: Inferencing


Grade level: 2nd grade
Objective: The student will be able to infer big ideas and themes using textual evidence.
Common Core State Standard/ PASS Standard:
2.2.R.1: Students will locate the main idea and supporting details of a text
2.2.R.2: Students will begin to compare and contrast details (e.g., plots or events, settings, and
characters) to discriminate genres
2.2.R.3: Students will begin to summarize events of plots (i.e., beginning, middle, end, and
conflict) of a story or text
Prior knowledge: (What students already know)
1.2.R.1: Students will retell or reenact major events in a text, focusing on important details to
recognize the main idea
1.2.R3: Students will sequence the events/plots (i.e., beginning, middle, and end) of a story or
text
Students could recognize main ideas within in readings.
Observations/Rationale: (Before Lesson) What did you notice in your students work that
let you know this lesson was necessary? (This will be an approximation this semester.)
Previously as a class we were working on visualization of a story and main ideas. I noticed that
the students were understanding big ideas and themes, but could not differentiate between the
two. As well, the students were not using the comprehension strategy of inferring to help them
gain better overall comprehension.
Materials Needed:
Lesson from (Name your source including page number): Strategies That Work pp 142-144
Mentor Text: Teammates by Peter Golenbock
Materials: markers, text/theme papers printed, sticky notes, smart board
Student Groups (whole/small group/partners): Begin in whole groups, then break into
partners
Mini Lesson Format:
Connect (AKA~ Anticipatory Set, Engagement/Pre-reading):
Today we will be discussing how we as readers can infer the overall themes and big
ideas by using evidence from the text. Inferring means that we as readers think and
come to a conclusion or end product of what something means or why it is being said.
So, while we read the book Teammates by Peter Golenbock we as readers are going to
pay close attention and think alongside while we read and gather textual evidence of
what the big ideas and themes are in the book. We do this to enhance overall
comprehension.

Teach (Model/Explain):

Lets take a look at Teammates to notice surface level and underlying themes. (Read
through half of the book). What I notice when I read is the difference of how blacks and
whites are treated. The way I determined this was by inferring through what the author
tells us about each race. For example, in the text it says But making the Dodgers was
only the beginning. Jackie had to face abuse and hostility throughout the season, from
April through September. Racism is a surface level theme because it is easily pointed
out to us. So, I will take my sticky note and write and I on it for my inference and stick
it next to this sentence to leave traces of my thinking (Read the rest of the book). In the
last half of Teammates another theme is created, which is friendship and compassion.
How do you think I came to that conclusion? *wait for suggestions and answers* I
inferred the theme through textual evidence such as Stopping beside Jackie, Pee Wee
put his arm around Jackies shoulders Outlined on a sea of green grass stood these
two great athletes, one black, one white, both wearing the same team uniform. This
textual evidence expresses how Pee Wee could see past superficial thinking and see
Jackie for what he was a man. Again, I am going to stick a sticky note with an I on it
next to where my inferencing was. I can find more themes by... (quickly demonstrate
finding another piece of textual evidence to support an underlying theme)

Active Engagement (AKA~ Check for Understanding: students try it out, teacher
observes):
Now, we are going to look at the smart board and see the T-chart that I have created.
On the top left corner I wrote Textual Evidence and on the top right corner I wrote
Theme. Class I want you all to help me find a sentence or two that help us determine
a theme in this book (child raises their hand and gives a time or sentence in the book)
Next we will take the sentence that we found and place it under the Textual Evidence
column and then in the Theme column next to it we will write out what kind of theme
and idea the author is portraying here. Now let's infer and discuss why we think the
author found this sentence and main idea to be important to the overall story. Students
when we think about WHY an author does something and WHAT will happen next we
are inferencing things about the text. Next we are going to split into your reader
partners and grab the book you are reading together. I want each of you to read the
book individually and place sticky notes with Is on them where you infer your theme
thinking. Then collaborate together and discuss the themes each of you found. After
discussion, I want you to take the paper that is on your desks that is split into two
columns, one that says texts and the other says theme. I want you to fill the texts
colum up with the I sticky notes that you and your partner agreed on for themes. Then
next to it in the theme column I want you to write the theme that each of you inferred
from the text. After that we will come together as a whole group again and discuss how
we inferred our themes. (Send them off into partners and walk around and listen/help
the students piece together their inferences.) (Close with collaboration with the whole
classroom sharing one example of sticky note inferencing)

Link (AKA~ Closing the Lesson [with accountability for the skill/process]):
So readers, now when we read our books we can think while we read and write Is next

to the text to show our thinking. Then we can go back and look at our thinking and
connect it all together to form a larger comprehension of the overall book.

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