Reading: Question, Detail and Connection

Read the story. Watch how the example connects a question, an answer and a detail.

Original fictional story: The Sorting Trays

The craft group kept red and yellow paper shapes in one deep tray. When Bea needed three red circles, she had to lift many yellow shapes to find them. She put the circles in a shallow tray and the squares in another. ‘I want us to find the shape we need without searching through the whole pile,’ she said. Bea used a pencil to label the trays. Her pencil had a silver star on it.

Question: Why did Bea separate the shapes?

The question asks for the reason. Bea wanted people to find the shape they needed without searching through the whole pile.

Choose and connect a detail

Bea had to lift many yellow shapes to find red circles. That detail shows the searching problem. Putting the shapes in separate trays addressed that problem. The star on her pencil is true, but it does not explain the choice.

• Read the question and name what it asks you to explain.
• Give an answer that fits the story.
• Choose a detail that helps answer this question.
• Explain the connection in your own words.

Original fictional story

Ari was keeping the score at a table game. At first he called out each new score while people were still talking. Twice, players asked him to say the number again. Ari began writing each score on a card and holding it up. ‘You can check the number on the card even if you did not hear me,’ he said. The cards were yellow. Ari put the used cards in a neat pile beside his cup.

An inference is an idea supported by clues, even when the story does not state the idea directly. Read the example.

Original fictional story: The Exhibition Arrows

Lou helped arrange a small exhibition of paper sculptures. At the first table, one visitor asked which display came next. Another visitor walked back to the entrance after missing the last table. Lou put an arrow beside the first table and another arrow before the final table. She then walked from the entrance past each arrow. At one turn, she moved an arrow so that it pointed toward the next table. Lou wore a purple cap. Before opening the door again, she checked that no arrow was hidden behind a sculpture.

What might Lou be trying to help visitors do?

Lou may be trying to help visitors find the next display. She adds arrows after visitors miss parts of the route. She also walks the route and moves an arrow to point toward the next table. These are two different actions that support the same inference.

The purple cap does not explain her actions. This scene does not tell us that every visitor will follow the route correctly.

• Give an inference that fits the whole scene.
• Choose two different clues.
• Explain how each clue supports the inference.
• Keep the claim within what this scene can show.

Original fictional story

Jay's group was planning a short audio story. Two members began explaining their ideas at the same time. Jay handed everyone a blank card and waited while they wrote. He put the cards in the centre of the table. ‘Let us read each one before choosing,’ he said. When a quiet member reached for a card, Jay moved the microphone nearer to that member and waited. The group had five blue folders. At the end, Jay put both of that member's suggestions with the other ideas. The group still had to decide which ideas to use.