Objective:
I can use visual thinking and read pictures in order to draw conclusions or make inferences about characters' feelings or actions.
Hook: Present students with the image of MJ and Billy on page twenty-one and thirty-two in Billy the Bully or a comparable picture in another book. Ask, what do you notice about MJ? How does he feel? What do you think is happening with MJ and the bully in this picture?"
Activity: Read the text,
Billy the Bully
aloud and have students turn and talk with their friends to discuss MJ's characteristics. Use the picture note-taking template provided by the Himmeles, which will help elicit responses to the following questions:
Based on the pictures and the text, what can we say about MJ's character? What is the central lesson that the author is trying to teach the reader? Allow students to draw their notes. Allow students to share their notes and respond to the following prompt: Use what you know about the character and your own schema to make an inference about MJ and Billy. What conclusion can we draw about MJ's character and his relationship with Billy?
Independent Practice: After sharing their responses with peers, students will make inferences about MJ's character.
By the end of this activity students should be able to realize that we need the text and our schema to help us draw conclusions. After reading
Billy the Bully
, students will realize that interpretations of an image may vary. They will also learn that sometimes the viewer may not have the same interpretation as the producer.