Students will learn how to conclude characters in a literary work throughout this class. At the end of the lesson, students are able to: 
- Discover information about the characters.
- Utilize textual and visual cues in addition to their own thoughts to help them justify their conclusions.

- How can literary and factual texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- How does the reading material affect how a text should be interpreted?
- What is the true purpose of this text?

- Characters: The people or animals in a story.
- Inference: A guess based on clues in a text or illustrations plus the reader’s ideas.
- Evidence: Text or illustrations used to support a reader’s ideas about a text.

- Paulette Bourgeois. (2011). Franklin Is Bossy. Kids Can Press. 
Alternative books: 
- Kevin Henkes. (1996). Sheila Rae, the Brave. Greenwillow Books.
- Rosemary Wells. (2000). Noisy Nora. Puffin.
- Richard Buckley. (2010). The Foolish Tortoise. Simon & Schuster.
- Peggy Rathmann. (1995). Officer Buckle and Gloria. Putnam Juvenile.
- Teachers may substitute other books to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- anchor chart from Lesson 1
- copies of the Making Inferences about Characters worksheet (L-2-4-2_Making Inferences about Characters) for the Extension activity

This lesson's objective is for students to come to inferences about characters and bolster their arguments using evidence from the text and past knowledge.
- Examine students throughout class participation and small group work. Assess pupils' proficiency in the following areas:
- create assumptions about characters; provide evidence for their conclusions from the text and past knowledge; and explain how they employ textual cues and their own ideas to do so.
- As needed, offer reteaching and chances for more practice.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active participation
W: Teach pupils how to reach inferences about characters from both their own ideas and textual information. 
H: Get pupils thinking by asking them to draw conclusions about a person. 
E: Show students how to apply their prior knowledge and text evidence to enhance their character analysis through a shared story, and assist them in applying the same abilities to another text. 
R: Give kids the chance to share their ideas with their peers. 
E: Monitor students' grasp of the process of establishing conclusions with prior knowledge and evidence from the text and illustrations. Give pupils a chance to show off what they have learned. 
T: Give pupils the chance to demonstrate their ability to conclude characters through both large- and small-group engagement. 
O: This lesson's learning exercises offer large-group instruction and discussion, small-group and partner engagement, as well as individual application of the material. 

Focus Question: What assumptions about characters do readers make?
Give the children the following explanation: "After the race, Susan was wearing a gold medal around her neck." Say, "I believe Susan won the race. She had to run so quickly."
Say, "It's not clear from the text that Susan is a quick runner or that she won the race. On that, I deduced things. An inference is a hypothesis that is supported by the reader's prior knowledge and cues found in a text or image.
"What hint from the text leads me to believe Susan won a race?" (After the race, she has a gold medal.) Say "Yes." The passage supports my deduction regarding Susan.
Say, "I also deduced things about Susan using my ideas. I am aware that the winner in first place normally receives a gold medal. Thus, I'm going to assume that Susan won. She had to run quickly."
Show the lesson one anchor chart. Add the term "inference" to the chart and instruct students to define it as a guess that is made based on information the reader already knows as well as hints found in a text or picture. The definition could be made simpler like this:
Deduction is your ideas plus textual hints.
Explain how the reader's experiences influence their ideas. Keep the anchor chart for use in Lesson 3 and display it for the benefit of the students.
Go over this other description: "As soon as Jason sees the players selected for the school baseball team, he starts to jump around."
Say, "Turn to a partner and talk about any conclusions you can draw about Jason. Make sure the textual cues and your thoughts both support your inference. (Some possible responses are as follows: Jason was selected for the group. He reportedly begins to hop up and down in the text. When someone is joyful, they act in that way. Jason can play baseball well. The squad is made up exclusively of the greatest players.) Ask a few students to present their conclusions and explain how they arrived at them by combining their ideas and the textual evidence.

Part 1

Say, "We extrapolated personal information from a brief text. We can also conclude characters from a story. What name do we give the characters or creatures in a story? ( characters) Say, "I'm going to read you a story. I want you to conclude the characters as I read by using your imagination and the text's hints."

When Jack's parents announced that they would be spending the long weekend with his aunt Joan and her family, he was ecstatic. Living on a lake meant that Aunt Joan, Uncle Mark, and cousin Rick could always find something enjoyable to do.

Jack and Rick didn't spend much time organizing their brief visit before Jack's folks arrived. Rick was eager to show Jack the tree house he and his father had constructed. They had a picnic lunch that Aunt Joan provided. For Jack, cheese sandwiches had never tasted better.

To show how to conclude characters, think aloud. Say, "It seems reasonable to assume that Jack enjoys spending time with Rick. According to the passage, Jack was ecstatic to see his family. Getting to see people I enjoy spending time with makes me joyful. It is also conceivable that Jack and Rick enjoy engaging in outdoor activities. According to the text, Rick's family resides close to a lake with lots of exciting activities. I am aware that lakes are good places to go swimming, boating, and fishing."

Put the two implications on the board. Go back and read the narrative again.

The boys decided to swim in the lake after lunch. After bringing out the rafts and life jackets, they relaxed in the cool, clear lake for the remainder of the afternoon, relishing the hot summer day. Though there were plenty of other things to do, they disliked getting out of the water for dinner. They roasted marshmallows around the campfire later that night and caught up on family news.

Over the weekend, time passed quickly. Together, the lads enjoyed ice cream, hiked, rode bikes, and went fishing. The conclusion of the weekend was bittersweet for them. However, Sunday arrived before they knew it, and Jack's family had to depart. Jack was eagerly anticipating their next visit even as they drove away.

Consider the following: "How does the remainder of the story support the conclusions I made?" Turn students to their partners and have them discuss evidence from the text as well as their ideas that support the two inferences you placed on the board. Ask a few pupils to present their thoughts. Note the supporting details for each inference. (A few instances are as follows: The text indicates that Jack enjoys hanging out with Rick because they enjoyed their time together and did not want to leave the lake for dinner. Jack was eager for their next visit. Time flies when I'm having fun because I don't want to stop. The text indicates that Jack and Rick enjoy being outside because they go biking, hiking, swimming, and sitting around a campfire. I'm aware that all of these involve being outside.)

Say, "Even though the author doesn't explicitly state that Jack enjoys hanging out with Rick or that the boys like outdoor activities, we can draw those conclusions from the story's evidence and our prior knowledge of the characters."

Write the following advice for concluding the interactive whiteboard or chalkboard:

Go through the author's writing.
Conjecture about the characters in your mind.
To bolster your arguments, use both your thoughts drawn from personal experience and the text's proof.

Part 2

Put Paulette Bourgeois's book Franklin Is Bossy on display. Ask pupils to turn to a partner and use the cover image and title to speculate about the main character. Put the students' responses on the board. A few examples of conclusions might be as follows:

Franklin may have given up and left for home. Franklin is seen in the photo picking up his baseball, mitt, and bat before turning to leave his friends.
Franklin seemed to be upset that he did not get his way.
Franklin comes across as an overlord in the title.
Say, "Hear me out as I tell you the story. Consider Franklin and the events depicted in the narrative. Determine whether your conclusions are accurate by using the words and illustrations as evidence."

Go over the tale. At different points throughout the narrative, pause to pose the following queries:

"Can you tell us anything about Franklin?" ( Pupils ought to draw inferences from both their personal experiences and the text's evidence. Franklin, for instance, enjoys taking the lead. Franklin selects the games that his buddies play, according to the text. Bear complains that Franklin chooses the games every time.)
"What makes Franklin determine who finishes the race fastest?" (Franklin desires to triumph. To win, he modifies the rules.) "What textual evidence backs up your claims?" (According to the text, Franklin says, "Slowest one wins!" when he realizes he is losing.) "What concepts from your experience underpin the way you think?" (Possible responses: I am aware that the fastest runner typically wins. Franklin modifies the rules to his advantage because he isn't very quick.)
"What is Franklin's reaction when he is not granted his wish?" (He loses it. He reportedly stomped all the way home, according to the text. When someone is angry, they stomp their feet.)
"What makes Franklin's friends say they can't play baseball after cooling off in the river?" (Franklin's a lousy friend. He begins giving directions, according to the scripture. He's a tyrant. I am aware that friends detest being dictated to.)
Read the narrative again and pose inquiries about Franklin. Ask students to review the assumptions they had before reading the book after the story. "Turn to a partner and discuss whether the textual evidence supports the inferences you made," you say. Students could find that the book provides evidence to support their conclusions. Make note of the possibility that inferences are incorrect.

Part 3

Read aloud to the class from another text to supplement the lesson. Students should be divided into groups of three or four and instructed to collaborate to conclude the story's characters. Ask them to cite their thoughts and textual cues to back up their conclusions. While the students are working, go around the classroom and see if they can draw conclusions about characters and provide evidence for them. Give instructions when they're required.

Assign groups to present their findings to the class.

(For further strategies, see the list of related resources after the lesson.)

Extension:

Students who can comprehend inferences should be given more challenging materials to improve their skills with. Ask students to make an inference about a character, supporting it with citations from the book and their own experiences. After that, assign them to present their work to a small group of pupils or a partner who also read the same literature.
Assist students who require more learning chances. Cut apart the character cards from copies of the Making Inferences about Characters worksheet (L-2-4-2_Making Inferences about Characters). Distribute character cards to every student and ask them to respond to the questions. Students should present their solutions and discuss how they arrived at their conclusions by combining their ideas with textual hints.