Six Characters in Search of an Author

Six Characters in Search of an Author

(Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore)

A COMEDY IN THE MAKING

By Luigi Pirandello

Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez

DEAD STARS

by Paz Marquez Benitez

Dead Star by Paz Marquez Benitez is the very first published Philippine Short Story in English. It was written in 1925 and was published in the Philippine Herald on the same year. How can we simply describe the story: It is verbose, very flowery--a great example of what a literary piece written on the period of imitation in Philippine Literature looks like. The theme is very simple. It is about love. The title Dead Star speaks of the whole story itself. A star, like love, when it is new and young is very warm, very bright but as time goes by, love, like a star, can grow dim, distant, and cold. 

Reading Learning Plan for Grade IV: Distinguishing Between Facts and Inferences

Topic: Distinguishing Between Facts and Inferences Selection: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White Grade Level: Grade 4 Timeframe: 3 days Learning Resources and Materials: pictures or picture books, text samples, overhead projector, graphic organizer templates, activity sheets
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:        ·         determine the difference       between a fact and an inference       ·         distinguish between character traits that are explicitly called out in a story and character traits that they infer from a story      ·         distinguish between facts and inferences in informational texts				Assessment:        ·         Class discussion        ·         Practice Exercises, Quiz        ·         Practice Exercises, Quiz
Values Integration:      ·         Exercise rational thinking in making judgments.     ·         Exemplify empathy towards other people.				Assessment: ·         Motivation activity (Pre-reading) ·         Class Discussion (Post-reading)
Assumption(s):      ·          The students read Chapters XII-XV of Charlotte’s Web at home.        ·         The students have acquired the skills of making inferences and identifying facts prior to this lesson.
Development of Lesson
		What Teacher Will Do				What Students Will Do
Introduction DAY 1		BEFORE READING a. The teacher will show pictures of several literary characters the students are familiar with. b. The teacher will ask the students: “What can you say about the character? What made you say so? Did you base your verdict on what is openly said in the story or did you base your judgment on what you infer about the character’s action?” c. The teacher will ask the students about other literary characters they know and share the character’s traits and characteristics in class as well as the reasons that made them say so. d. Teacher will say: “In Charlotte’s Web, there are so many characters and each character have their distinctive characteristics or traits. These characteristics made them unique or different from any other characters in the story. These characteristics made them interesting and important in a story.”				Students will share their answers in class.
Vocabulary Development DAY 1		Unlocking of Difficulties a. The teacher will show pictures that depict the following vocabulary words. ·         acrobat ·         progress ·         tattered ·         sensational ·         versatile b. The teacher will ask the students to infer the meaning of the vocabulary words by looking at the details seen in the picture. c. The teacher will then give the dictionary meaning of the words for the class to find out if they were able to make a correct inference. d. The teacher will then ask the students to construct a sentence using the vocabulary words.				Students will write the definitions of the words in their handouts.
Methods/Procedures		DURING READING Teacher will ask the students to read Chapters XII-XV of the novel Charlotte’s Web at home. Teacher will also ask the students to take note of the following motive questions as they read the chapters. ·         Why is it important for the farm animals to look for words that best describe Wilbur? ·         Why did the animals, specifically Templeton, oblige to help look for words that could be written on Charlotte’s web? ·         What makes a web a miracle? ·         Why does Wilbur want Charlotte to go with him to the fair?
DAY 2			AFTER READING A. Teacher will ask the motive questions and discuss with  the class the following comprehension questions: ·         Why is it important for Wilbur to have true friends? ·         To what can you compare the summer season? What do you think it mean when the crickets sang “summer is over, summer is dying”? ·         What can you say about the characters’ actions towards Wilbur? B. Mini Lesson on Distinguishing Between Facts and Inferences a. Teacher will introduce the lesson by saying: ·   What makes a good story? We usually remember and enjoy stories that have lots of good action and good characters. Today we are going to think about characters in stories. What makes them who they are? What things about them help us to identify who they are? What traits made Wilbur, Wilbur and not Shiloh? ·   The teacher will show the class a character map and say: “One way to think about your favorite characters and to understand new characters in stories you are reading is to make a map of those characters.” ·   The teacher will ask the students to fill in the character map. She will ask the students to take a look at the character Wilbur. She will then ask the following questions: “What do we know about him? How did we learn these different things about this character? Which traits does the book describe directly? What about the rest of these traits on our list? If the story doesn't explicitly describe these character traits then how did we learn them? How did we figure these things out about the character from the information given to us in the story?” ·   The teacher will tell the students: “The traits that the book described directly or openly are called “factual traits”. The kinds of traits that the book doesn't tell us directly as facts, but that we figure out from a character's actions or speech, are called "inferred traits".” b. The teacher will then discuss facts and inferences with the class. c. The teacher will give another character map activity to the class featuring another character from the novel. Another activity focusing on distinguishing between facts and inferences in an informational text will follow.			Students will share their answers to the class. Students participate in the discussion. . The students will answer the activity sheets.
Assessment/ Evaluation DAY 3		Students will answer the quiz.
Closure	Teacher will ask:  “At the beginning chapters of the novel, what can we say about Templeton? Did he change as the story progresses? Did your opinion of his character changed as the story unfolds? Knowing that a character changes as the story unfolds, what values can we draw out of it?”				Students will share their answers to the class.

Handout on Making Inferences/ Charlotte's Web

READING IV

C.N.:______                                                                                                   Date:___________

Name:_________________________________________

Vocabulary Study

Directions: Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. Draw a line for each word in column A to its antonym in column B. Use the words in column A to complete the sentences below.

                    A                                                               B                                                

1. sedentary                                                   a. dawn

2. twilight                                                         b. clear

3. vague                                                           c. active

4. gullible                                                          d. rise

5. descend                                                     e. skeptical

     1.      The driving directions were so _________________ that I got lost on the way to       your house.

      2.      People who lead a _________________ lives must exercise to stay healthy.

      3.      Be careful as you __________________ the narrow, twisted staircase.

    4.      It is difficult to drive at _________________ because shapes and distances are hard to see.

     5.      Children are warned not to be ________________ when strangers offer them sweets.

    Vocabulary Focus: Prefixes in, im-, mis-

     

What do the prefixes in-, im-, and mis- mean?     ü  The prefixes “in-” and “im-” mean “not” or “the opposite of”.     ü  The prefix “mis-” means “wrong” such as mistake and misunderstand. When do you use the prefix in-?     ü  The prefix “in-” can be used before root words that begin with any letter except l, r, m, and p.                Examples of words with the prefix in- are inadequate, incapable, inoffensive, and incurable. When do you use the prefix im-?     ü  The prefix “im-” can be used before root words that begin with the letters m and p.               Examples of words with the prefix im- are improper, impersonal and immature.

     Vocabulary practice

Directions: Add the correct prefix to the words below.

    1.      _______ proper

    2.      _______ lead

    3.      _______ capable

    4.      _______ understand

    5.      _______ sufficient

    6.      _______ visible

    7.      _______ dispose

   8.      _______ personal

    9.      _______ mortal

 10. _______ read

Directions: Complete the table below.

1. not modest
2. not adequate
3. not effective
4. not perfect
5. not sufficient

Directions: Add the correct prefix to the boldfaced word to make each sentence correct.

   1.   Understood: I think I’ve __________________________. Could you repeat the directions?

       2.    Informed

      He was so angry to find that he had been _________________________.

      3.    Possible

     It’s ________________________ to predict the weather in this region.

      4.    Polite

    I thought she was very _____________________. She kept on interrupting the     speaker.

      5.    Mature

Throwing tantrums in public places is considered a/an ___________________ act.

Preparing to Read

Below are questions that will serve as your guide while reading Chapters VIII-XI of the novel Charlotte’s Web.

1.      What made Mrs. Arable worry about Fern?

2.      What was Charlotte’s opinion of humans’ web-spinning ability?

3.      How did a rotten goose egg save Charlotte and her web?

4.      Why was Chapter XI called The Miracle?

Comprehension Questions

1.      How did Wilbur’s innocence lead him to try an impossible task? Did he succeed in completing the task? Why or why not?

2.      How can you compare and contrast the way Avery and Fern treated animals?

            3.      Why did Charlotte say “Not many creatures can spin webs. Even men aren’t as good at it as spiders, although they think they’re pretty good and they’ll try anything.”? Do you agree with her?

MAKING INFERENCES

Authors do not always tell readers everything they want them to know. Good readers infer when they want to understand more than what the author has written. Readers also infer when they have lots of questions that are not answered in the text.  Sometimes authors want readers to think of different possible answers. Good readers ask themselves questions and make inferences based on what they already know and clues from the text

Inferring occurs when readers understand something that is not stated directly. Readers infer when they try to read facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. Therefore, inferences are conclusions that the reader makes based on evidence from the text and his/her own experience and background knowledge.

Below is the procedure on how to come up with logical conclusions or good inferences.

Activity 1: Making Inferences Graphic Organizer

Directions: Using Chapters VIII-XI of the novel Charlotte’s Web, complete the graphic organizer below.

Making Inferences

Think about what you know, and use what the author tells you to make inferences

Situation	My Background Knowledge: What I Know	Clues I Found in the Text	What I Infer
1. On Sunday morning, at the breakfast table, Fern rambled about the conversation of the animals in Uncle Zuckerman’s farm.
2. Wilbur jumped out into the air and glanced hastily behind to see if a piece of rope is following him to check his fall, just like how Charlotte produces a thin rope that keeps her from falling.
3. Avery was just about to raise his stick to hit Charlotte when he lost his balance. He swayed and toppled and landed on the edge of Wilbur’s trough. The trough tipped up and then came down with a slap. The goose egg was right underneath. Fern screamed. Suddenly, there was a horrible smell.
4. One morning, everything on the farm is dripping wet. The grass looked like a magic carpet. The asparagus patch looked like a silver forest. That morning, each strand of Charlotte’s web was decorated with tiny beads of water and the web glistened in the light like a delicate veil.

Activity 2: Making Inferences

Directions: Read the paragraphs below and answer the questions that follow.

1.      Jalisa woke up early and ran down the stairs with a huge smile on her face. She had been waiting all night for Saturday to arrive. She ran into the kitchen. On the table was a large pile of hot, steaming pancakes with a candle on them. Dante, Jalisa’s brother, walked in holding a large box wrapped in pretty pink paper and tied with a shiny purple bow. Jalisa beamed and quickly tore off the paper to reveal a box with a beautiful doll on the side. She hugged and kissed her brother and ran to call her best friend. The day was starting off wonderfully.

a.     What was Jalisa waiting for all night?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b.     How did Jalisa feel when she woke up?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c.     Why did Jalisa’s brother give her the gift?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.      Randa was excited about tonight. Happily, she put on her big, red shoes and bright yellow outfit. Her mom helped Randa paint her face white with a big, red circle on each cheek. Just before Randa ran out the door to meet her friends, she attached her large, squeky nose and placed a light blue, pointy hat on top of her head. She grabbed an empty bag and went out into the night.

a.     What was Randa excited about?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b.     What was Randa dressed as? What words helped you know?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 3: Making Inferences

Directions: Read each situation below. Decide what is happening based on the actions of the characters.

1.      A runner finishes a race. She looks up at the scoreboard. She smiles and jumps into the air.

What inference can you make about the runner? What made you say so?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.      The young man picked up the phone. He looked at a phone number written in pink ink on a slip of paper. He dialled the first five numbers and then hung up. He bit his nails. He picked up the phone again.

What inference can you make about the young man? What made you say so?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.      A boy cleaned the whole house. He made all the beds. He made dinner for his parents. Finally, after dinner, he slowly pulled his report card out of his backpack, winced, and quickly looked away.

What inference can you make about the boy? What made you say so?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.      The girl waited until her mother left the kitchen. Then she quickly lowered her plate under the table so the dog could eat her lima beans.

What inference can you make about the girl? What are your evidences?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 4: Making Inferences: Cloze Technique

Directions: Fill in the missing words.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the last night of October. On ________________, many people dress up in ____________________ and go trick or ________________. Children _________________ up in costumes and go from house to house around their ______________________ collecting ___________________. Some people dress up in scary costumes (such as a _____________________), some people dress up in magical costumes (such as a _____________________), and some dress up as an ______________________ (such as a bunny).

On Halloween, some people like to __________________ a jack-o’-lantern. A _________________________ is a pumpkin that has been hollowed out and then carved into a scary face; a small candle is then placed ___________________ the pumpkin.

Another Halloween activity is visiting a ___________________ house, a place that has been ________________________ in a spooky way, with pretend ghosts, monsters, spider __________________, mummies, vampires, _______________ cats, and other scary things.