ISE-Semester

Making Inferences
Making inferences involves combining what you already know ("prior knowledge") with what the author says ("text information"). Basically, you can think of it as an equation:

Prior Knowledge + Text Information = Inference.

You make inferences all the time -- when you watch a TV show and try to figure out "who done it," when you listen to music and try to figure out what the lyrics are about, and when you watch a comedy and laugh at the funny parts. These are just a few examples of the many kinds of inferences that you make every day.

1. Go here to practice making some simple inferences. 2. Open a new Microsoft Word document and number from 1-10. 3. Go here to read some political cartoons. 4. For each cartoon, infer what the author of the cartoon is trying to say. Write your answer for each numbered cartoon on your document. 5. Hand in your document using the hand-in robot.
 * Your Task: **

Connected Texts:
1. Read the article "Lyin' Eyes" and talk to the text (write your questions, comments, connections, etc on the paper). 2. Search the internet for an article that is connected to the content of this text in some way. 3. Read that article. 4. Open a new Microsoft Word document. Copy and paste the article link in this document. 5. Write a 5-sentence summary of the new article. 6. Write a 5-sentence explanation of how this article connects to "Lyin' Eyes." 7. Submit your document using the hand-in robot.
 * Your Task: **

= **POINT OF VIEW** = Every writer must decide who will tell the story he or she is writing and what that person's point of view will be. POINT OF VIEW is the way in which an author reveals characters, events, and ideas in telling a story. It is the vantage point from which the story is told. There are three basic points of view:

**First person** - the narrator is a character within the story; uses the pronoun "I"; reader's knowledge is limited to what the narrator knows (example: autobiography)

**Second person** - the narrator speaks directly to the reader; uses the pronoun "you" (example: how-to directions)

**Third person** - the narrator is outside of the story looking in; no "I" or "you" pronouns, except in dialogue; reader often knows about the thoughts and actions of different characters in different locations throughout the story (example: newspaper article)

In third person point of view, the author must decide how much the narrator will know. The **omniscient** point of view is all-knowing. This narrator knows everything about all of the characters in the story and can give the reader information on their thoughts and actions. An omniscient narrator may even comment on the story as it unfolds, making asides to the reader about the characters' actions.

The third person narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character in the story has a **limited** point of view. This narrator can tell the reader what one character sees and hears, and what he thinks and feels. The limited narrator may also interpret, or comment on, the character's thoughts and behavior, but he has no knowledge of what other characters are thinking or feeling except by inferring.

In nonfiction, point of view is also important because it can impact the author's PERSPECTIVE - his or her starting viewpoint, outlook, or preconceived ideas. An author's perspective is a tendency to feel and write a certain way based on his or her set of experiences. The perspective will affect the author's purpose, for better or worse.

Search the Action News website (http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/index) for a newspaper article on a topic that you are interested in. Read the article. Then, write a short summary (6-8 sentences) of the article from the **first person perspective** of someone involved (it should read as if they are telling the story). Post your summary on the "Point of View" discussion board. Be sure to include the link to the article, too.
 * Now, try this practice activity: **

= **FACT & OPINION** =

**First**, try this activity to see how well you can identify statements as facts or opinions. Show me when you finish the activity to get credit.
**Then,** search the internet for an interesting article to read. The article should be on a topic that you enjoy reading about (sports, fashion, technology, etc). Show me the article you would like to read so I can check to see if it is long enough. **After** reading, post a brief summary (5 sentences) on the "Fact & Opinion" discussion board. Then create 6 statements based on the information from the article, 3 facts and 3 opinions. Post this information as well, along with a link to the article you read.

Genre & Purpose
**What are Author's Purpose Questions?** //So it's test time again and you've gotten to your favorite part - reading passages and answering multiple choice questions. The first few question are easy - the answers come right from the reading. Even the inferencing questions aren't that bad. But then you get to the last question, which asks, "Which of the following was the author's purpose in writing this?" Unfortunately, "To torture students," is not one of the answer choices.//

//Author's Purpose Questions are questions that ask you to figure out why the author wrote the text. Possible reasons include: to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince their audience to do or not do something.//

//Quick Quiz: What was my purpose in writing this?// //Answer: Hopefully, you figured out that I was trying to inform you about Author's Purpose Questions.//

**Let's look at a few more examples:** //1.) Princeton University just announced that it is creating a program that will enable students who've been accepted to volunteer in a foreign country for a year before they begin as freshmen. This is a great program because it allows students to develop their understanding of the world and to gain a global perspective of the United States. This will hopefully help students to choose more diverse majors, and it may also drive classroom discussion in a more global direction. This program also gives students the opportunity to help others, which could help to increase volunteer activities both on and off campus and create a more pleasant campus atmosphere overall. Princeton's program is a great thing for the university and should be replicated by other colleges and universities around the country.//

//2.) When I first started working in Japan, I knew nothing. I couldn't use chopsticks, had last studied Japan in tenth grade, and could only say "arigato" and "sayonara." One of the first things I was told to do was to present gifts to my superiors at school. This included my supervisor, the two vice principals, and the principal. I arrived at the school during the middle of summer vacation, when many of the teachers report, but none of the students do; it's generally a very relaxed time of year. I was introduced to the principal by one of the English teachers, and I managed to mangle my way through my self-introduction and present him with a small gift, a book about Philadelphia. I was also given a tour of the teachers' room, one office shared by all of the teachers in the school. (In Japan, the students stay in one room all day while the teachers rotate through.) In our teachers' room, the principal had a desk in the front center of the room flanked on either side by desks belonging to the vice principals. With the tour and my first self-introduction complete, I finally had a few hours to sit at my desk and try to take it all in. After lunch at a nearby noodle shop where I embarrassed everyone with my pathetic chopstick skills, we returned to school. As I was sitting at my desk, trying to blend in as much as a white teacher who speaks no Japanese can in a rural Japanese town, a man walked in and took a seat at one of the vice principals' desks. "Aha!" I thought. "Now's my chance to show that I really know what's going on." I grabbed my gift for him, walked to the front of the room, rushed through my self-introduction, and retreated to my seat. When I glanced back at the man, he seemed puzzled, but I chalked it up to his amazement that I could speak any Japanese at all. The next day, however, I was horrified when I walked into the teachers' room and saw the man to whom I had given the gift sitting at the principal's desk and a different man in the vice principal's. It seems that I had not actually paid attention to what the principal looked like and had given him both gifts! I quickly learned my lesson and made sure to pay better attention to those around me.//

Which of these stories is meant to entertain? Which one is supposed to persuade? If you said the first one is persuasive, and the second is entertaining, you got it right! Now it's time to move on to some practice activities. Download the //Genre and Purpose// activity below:



Review: Identifying Main Idea & Details; Summarizing
Your Task: 1. Read the article //The Digital Divide.// 2. Complete the corresponding worksheet and identify the main idea and key details from each section. 3. Post a brief summary (5-7 sentences) of the article under "The Digital Divide" post (located under the discussion tab).

**Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes**
Use this link to select a common root word for your vocabulary tree: Common Roots



Here is a copy of your Career Menu assignment:

Remember, you must pick one assignment from each row:

Look for Possible Careers || Have an idea of the career for you? Research a Career || Already certain of your career path? Find the Path for You After High School || Write a Resume for Your Dream Job || Should others join your field? Write a Newspaper Editorial || What do employers in your field look for? Write a Job Posting ||
 * ~ Row A || Not sure what you want to be?
 * ~ Row B || Where are you going to be in 20 years?

To complete your assignment for Row A, you must respond to the "Career Menu Project" discussion I posted (located in the "Discussion" tab).
 * For those of you who completed the "Look for Possible Careers" assignment, please tell us about two careers that interest you. What about them makes them interesting to you? Write a 6-8 sentence paragraph describing the careers and your interests in them.
 * For those of you who completed the "Research a Career" option, please tell us what you learned about your career. What sort of education or training do you need to get it? What is the job outlook for that field? What sorts of tasks do you have to complete? What salary can you earn? Write a 6-8 sentence paragraph about your career answering those questions. (Be sure to tell us the title of the career!)
 * For those of you who completed the "Find the Path" assignment, please tell us what you learned about options for you after high school. What education or training do you need to get the career of your choosing? If you are going to college, what major do you need to study? What schools or other institutions offer that training? Which of those places most appeal to you? Why? Write a 6-8 sentence paragraph answering the questions above and telling us about two of the schools or other institutions that offer training in your field. (Be sure to tell us the title of your career!)

Row B - Resume Template

Row B - Job Postings
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