Understanding Reading Signposts for Better Comprehension
Reading signposts, such as Contrasts and Contradictions, Aha Moment, and others, act as signals guiding readers to deeper understanding. They help in staying engaged and comprehend the text effectively by prompting critical thinking and awareness of character behavior and story elements. By recognizing and analyzing these signposts in literature, readers can enhance their comprehension skills and derive richer meanings from the text.
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READING SIGNPOSTS Adapted from Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst
WHAT IS A SIGNPOST? A signpost is a signal that points to the correct direction needed to take to accurately arrive at the desired destination.
HOW DO SIGNPOSTS HELP IN READING? Signposts help you to get to where you want to go! They can also help you while reading! HOW? Have you every read an entire page and then thought, Wait, what did I just read? Signposts help you to THINK about what you are reading so you won t get lost!
THERE ARE SIX READING SIGNPOSTS 1. Contrasts and Contradictions 2. Aha Moment 3. Tough Questions 4. Words of the Wiser 5. Again and Again 6. Memory Moment
CONTRASTS AND CONTRADICTIONS Definition Clues A sharp contrast between what we would expect and what we observe the character doing; behavior that contradicts previous behavior or well- established patterns. A character behaves or thinks in a way we don t expect, or an element of a setting is something we would not expect. Why would the character act (feel) this way?
EXAMPLE: CONTRASTSAND CONTRADICTIONS Byron is basically a juvenile delinquent and kills a bird. When he thinks he is alone, he cries. This tender behavior contradicts the tough-guy exterior we ve seen in the early pages of the book, suggesting that he may be more than simply a bully.
AHAMOMENT Definition Clues A character's realization of some thing that shifts his actions or understanding of himself, others, or the world around him. Phrases, usually expressing suddenness, like: Suddenly I understood It came to me in a flash that The realization hit me like alighting bolt in an instant I knew How might this change things?
EXAMPLE: AHA MOMENT Luke has an aha moment in Among the Hidden. The answer was there instantly, as if he d known it all along and his brain was just waiting for him to come looking (pp. 145- 146)
TOUGHQUESTIONS Definition Clues Phrases expressing serious doubt or confusion: What could I possibility do to ? I couldn t imagine how I could cope with How could I ever understand why she ? Never had I been so confused about Questions a character raises that reveal his or her inner struggles. What does this question make me wonder about?
EXAMPLE: TOUGHQUESTIONS Esperanza asks herself questions such as: Why did Papa have to die. Why did he leave me and Mama? (pg. 38).
WORDSOFTHEWISER Definition Clues The advice or insight a wiser character, who is usually older, offers about life to the main character. The main character and another are usually off by themselves, in a quiet, serious moment, and the wiser figure shares his wisdom or advice in an effort to help the main character with a problem or a decision. What s the life lesson and how might it affect the character?
EXAMPLE: WORDSOFTHEWISER Tuck take Winnie on a rowboat and says, It s a wheel, Winnie. Everything s a wheel, turning and turning, never stopping. The frog is part of it, and the bugs, and the fish, and the wood thrush, too. And people. But never the same ones. Always coming in new places, always growing and changing, and always moving on. That s the way it s supposed to be. That s the way it is. (pg. 62).
AGAINANDAGAIN Definition Clues Events, images, or particular words that recur over a portion of the novel. A word is repeated, sometimes used in an odd way, over and over in the story. An image reappears several times during the course of the book. Why might the author bring this up again and again?
EXAMPLE: AGAINANDAGAIN In The Giver, release is used repeatedly. Bud, in Bud, Not Buddy, continually examines the small bag of rocks with strange numbers on them that his mother had collected. In Hatchet, Brian keeps referring to something he calls, the Secret .
MEMORYMOMENT Definition Clues A recollection by a character that interrupts the forward progress of the story. The ongoing flow of the narrative is interrupted by a memory that comes to the character, often taking several paragraphs to recount before we are returned to the events of the present moment. Why might this memory be important?
EXAMPLE: MEMORYMOMENT In The Outsiders, Ponyboy remembers when his friend Johnny was badly beaten. The reader now understands the situation in the community and the rival between the two gangs.
SIGNPOSTS These SIX Signposts will help you while reading! Using these signposts while you read FICTION books will be the most helpful. What are you waiting for? GET READING!
REFERENCES Beers, K., & Probst, R. (2013). Notice and note: Strategies for close reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
