The Six Sign Posts

Written By: Charlotte, Danielle, Ben, Kate, Eliot, and Logan

Words of the Wiser

When you are reading a book and a character who is probably older gives some advice to a younger character.

If you are a character in this movie, would you have any Words of the Wiser words or thoughts for the characters?

Ask yourself, What is the life lesson and how might it affect the story?

(Answers on next page)

Words of the Wiser

Did you find the words of the wiser moment? One words of the wiser that I would give to the toy is that he shouldn't have tried to stop the girl because she really wanted something and that you shouldn't look at someone and think that they are something when you don't know them.

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Words of the Wiser

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Tough Questions

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Can you find this sign post in your book?

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Tough questions are when a character asks a difficult question that determines what might happen next and when you see this STOP and think to yourself how will this question change the whole story or part of is and what does this question make me wonder about?

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One example of this is in the book Lifeboat 12. A 12 year old boy (named Ken) who lives in England with his father and stepmother(who is not the nicest) but Ken was okay with it. At the time when the Nazis were taking over and bombing England, Ken sees a letter and takes a peek at a letter he wasn't supposed and he see's his parents are sending him away, then his parents walk in and sit him down for a talk. They say it's the best thing for him but he doesn't want to go. This proves that he likes where he lives even in the middle of a war it also proves that he likes the life he has but he also knows this could turn out better for him. As Ken said "It is a chance to have a new beginning." so he has to make a decision that could change the output of the story.

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I hope this helps you notice and note one more signpost.
Don't forget to use it, it can really help so make sure you dig deep when you read.

By Benjamin Arthur Lemke

Contrast and Contradiction

When your reading and suddenly the character says or does something that's the opposite of what he was saying or doing before.

When you see a contrast and contradiction, you should stop and think, "Why is the character doing this or how will this effect the story?"

In the arcade video there are two contrasts and contradictions. The first one is when we realize the girl isn't what she seems on the outside and the toy judged her by how she looked. The second one is when the toy realized she actually wouldn't treat her like how he thought he tried to plug back in the machine so she can win him.

Realizing a contrast and contradiction could help you make a prediction or make an inference about the plot and conflict later in the story.

AGAIN

Again and

Watch this video! Do you notice any AGAIN AND AGAIN ?

Again and again is an important signpost for noticing patterns in books.

The again and again is that the toy keeps messing up her game so she doesn't win.

An Again and Again is when something keeps REPEATING in a book. There might be a problem that keeps coming up, or a pattern that keeps repeating.

What keeps repeating in this pattern? What's out of place? This is a good way to think about books.

This book is a great book for noticing patterns.

In the book, the main character keeps giving up.

This is a clue that foreshadows the plot.

AHA Moment

If the character realizes the problem, you most likely just learned the conflict. Same thing with theme, if a character understands the life lesson, you probably just learned the theme.

An AHA moment is when someone in your story realizes something. An example is, in Snack Attack, when the lady realizes that the cookies aren't hers when she opens her bag and hers are in there and she just ate the boys instead.

Wow! That was a big change!

ASK...

How does this change things?

Memory Moment

A memory moment is when a character remembers something because of something that happened in the story. What they remember could change the entire story because of just one character remembering something. That might cause a sudden over reaction or change in thought. If you see one of these moments ask yourself, how might this change your predictions based on earlier events.

Notice the way the old lady reacts when she has her own memory moment at the end. What does she realize and how does she change.

These are the signposts!

Signposts are great for noticing patterns and figuring plots in the book.

We hope this information can help you become a better reader!