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Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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hello, fourth graders.
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So you've been working really hard on developing ideas about
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your characters.
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And before we move on today, I'd like you just
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to take a few seconds and go back through the
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notes that you have already written, either in your post
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its or in your notebook about the ideas you have
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about your characters and go ahead and rape them on
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a scale of 1 to 10.
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How do you think you're doing with developing really strong,
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grounded fourth grade ideas about characters?
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And don't be afraid to give yourself a low number,
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because this just means you're being critical of your work.
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And that's exactly how you become a better reader.
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So press pause just for a few seconds.
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Do that work and then press play when you're ready
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to continue.
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So today we're going to continue our work with growing
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ideas about characters, but this time we're going to be
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noticing authors craft.
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There are certain things that authors do to help us
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readers get to know their characters.
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We've got to be smart about paying attention to them
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so that we can get these ideas.
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Okay, so what I want you to know today, readers,
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is that another way to grow significant grounded ideas about
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your character is to notice anything that that the author
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seems to spotlight.
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And what I mean by that is that if you
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notice anything that keeps coming up in your story over
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and over again, that's what you want to pay attention
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to and notice.
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Maybe it's a line that the character says over and
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over again, Um, maybe it's a gesture that the character
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has, Or perhaps it's an object that keeps coming up
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in this story.
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If there's one thing we know about authors, it's that
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they don't do anything willy nilly with their stories.
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They put everything just the right way that they want
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toe on purpose in their story.
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So when they start toe, emphasize something like that and
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it keeps coming up.
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You want to pause, pay attention and ask yourself why?
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What's the meaning behind this?
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Here's an example.
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If you're reading a story and let's say the main
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characters, this guy who always seems to have a hat
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and he puts the hat on, he takes the hat
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off. He runs his fingers around the rim.
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He dust it off I mean, he even puts it
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by his bed at at the end of the day
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before he goes to sleep.
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Now, do you think the author, just through those ideas
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in there without any thought behind them?
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No way.
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There's a reason that that hat is in that story
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and the authors trying to give us some clues about
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that character.
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That hat is probably a symbol for something having to
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do with the character, so that's a moment we want
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to pay attention to.
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Okay, so let's try this with Sistine.
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I'm going to model for you.
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Um, the way that I try to develop characters, uh,
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theories about characters using this.
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So let me zoom into this work that I've put
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together about Sistine.
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I tried to think of some, um, just some things
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that I've noticed throughout the book about Sistine that stand
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out to me about her.
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So I wrote down that she wears this pink frilly
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dress. Um, she's named after a famous chapel and Italy
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called the Sistine Chapel, and she speaks differently than other
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people. Um, you know, around town, and she also seems
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to have angry eyes.
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So let's start by thinking about these things.
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And you know what?
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I want to just work with the pink frilly dress
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idea. Does the author makes sort of, ah, big deal
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about this detail?
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Um, I think you would agree with me that Yes,
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this frilly dress keeps coming up over and over again.
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So here's the big question.
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Why does Kate DiCamillo make a big deal out of
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this detail?
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Okay, so if I'm going to use these clues to
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grow an idea about Sistine, I'm thinking, how might this
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dress matter?
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I like to use the words.
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Could it be when I'm trying to think about this?
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So I might say, Could it be that no one
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else in this town wears dresses to school, so wearing
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one makes her unusual?
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Mhm. Could it be that Let's see the frilly dresses
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make her stick out like a sore thumb?
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E think I might be on to something here.
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So, readers, what's the next thing that we have to
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do once we come up with an idea or a
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theory about a character?
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I hope you are saying that we need to find
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some evidence in the book to support our idea or
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theory. So let's see.
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I want to give you a chance to do that.
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Could you pause here and see if you can come
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up with any details from the book Tiger Rising?
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Of course, that might support that idea that wearing these
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frilly dresses make her stick out.
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Okay, press pause to do that work and then play
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when you're ready to come back.
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So do you see how readers have to stop and
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ask themselves?
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Why might the author have given Sistine these details?
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What I want you to see is that ideas about
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characters that readers come up with don't just come out
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of thin air like dandelion fluff floating around there actually
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grounded in the text themselves.
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So what you want to do is see, does this
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idea have any connection to anything else that comes up
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in the book?
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And if you look over here again, I'm thinking the
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answer is yes.
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That pink, frilly, frilly dress does make her stand out
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like a sore thumb.
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What about her name?
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Her name is completely unusual, so that makes her different
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as well.
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And then the way she speaks, so all of these
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things match and it all makes me think that Sistine
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doesn't really fit in.
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Now, what about the angry eyes?
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Okay, so that doesn't seem like it really fits in
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with my theory or my idea already.
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But as we read on, you will see that that
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definitely is going to come into play and it will
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have a connection.
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Um, but it's going to be something that we talk
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about a little bit later.
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It's going to show us that Sistine has different sides
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to her, and that is something that fourth graders do
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pay attention to.
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But we'll get into more of that later on.
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Okay, So I hope that you understand how we notice
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things that are re occurring or getting a spotlight shone
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on them by the author.
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We pause and we ask, what might that mean?
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And could it be right?
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And then we have to go back and see if
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we can support that idea with information from the text.
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So what I'd like you to do right now is
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to see if you could do the same work with
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Rob. I'd like you to jot down a couple of
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ideas, just like I did here.
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with Sistine.
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Jot down some things that you're noticing about Rob.
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It can be things that he says his actions gestures.
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It could be objects that keep coming back about Rob,
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and then ask yourself, What might this mean?
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Use that phrase.
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Could it be and then see if you can come
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up with an idea and then lastly, try to see
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if you can find at least two different text details
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to support this idea.
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Do this work with your partner if you can.
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If not, maybe just jot down these ideas on your
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own in your notebook press pause to do this work
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and then play to continue.
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Okay, readers, I'm wondering if you noticed that, um, robs
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rash keeps getting brought up.
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So the rash, his habit of not thinking about things.
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And what about stuffing his feelings into this imaginary suitcase
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that gets brought up a lot, too?
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So the idea that you might have come up with
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is something about Rob being isolated or feeling separate from
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everyone else.
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Or maybe you focused on this idea that Rob is
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passive. He doesn't stand up for himself, right?
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So what I want you to take with you from.
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This lesson is that it will always benefit you to
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pay attention to your character's motivations.
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Struggles, changes their triumphs.
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How do they win over the things that are holding
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them back?
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But it will also usually pay off to pay attention
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to those things that keep repeating in the story those
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things that it seems like the author is just emphasizing
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or putting a spotlight on.
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And this is what will help you develop these big,
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strong, substantial ideas that we need to do in fourth
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grade about the characters in our books.
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We want to avoid those fluffy ideas that can just
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blow away in the wind like the dandelion fluff.
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We want to make sure that they're grounded in the
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text. So you need to go back and find several
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places, at least two places in your text where you
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can support this idea.
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Now I am going to show you the parts that
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we're focusing on here today with our chart right here.
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These are the steps that you want to follow to
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pay close attention to develop these ideas.
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So you want to notice anything about a character that
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the author repeats and of course, pause and ask yourself,
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Why? Why is it important?
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Next notice anything that is repeated those details like character
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traits or features or objects.
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And again, ask yourself, why What meaning must it have?
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Okay, readers.
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So you're going to go off and read and try
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this. Work with your own independent book.
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Make sure you have those post it notes handy and
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a pencil your notebook to.
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Because these ideas are big ideas, they might not even
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fit on a post it note.
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You might have to write long in your notebook.
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Use the timer that's in your digital notebook to help
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you with time management.
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And be sure that you leave enough time to complete
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the share that you find at the end of this
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lesson in your digital readers notebook.
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Okay, off you go get to doing this high level
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fourth grade work