Going below the surface

Look beyond the words. Why are things happening? What could it

mean?

Going below the surface is when we figure things out even when it's not directly explained to us.

Sometimes it is called inferring.

We can infer about events that happened in the past, characters' thoughts and feelings, and even the setting of a story.

Going below the surface is like being a detective. You have to search for clues that the author leaves for you.

Going below the surface:

“New class rule, people: from now on, students are

now allowed to use my coffee

cup as a toilet!”

Although she didn't come right out and say it, what happened in class yesterday?

Going below the surface:

What's going on here? What's wrong?

Going below the surface:

As I rode up to the saloon I heard shouting inside—then the crash of chairs and tables being broken. And as I climbed off my horse and threw a rope around the hitching rail, I heard gunshots. It was then that I knew I was going to have to earn my marshal's pay that day.

What kind of story is this? Where and when does it take place?

Going below the surface:

“First grade babies!Second grade cats!Third grade angels!Fourth grade...RRRRRATS!”

It was the first recess of the first day of school. A mob of third-graders had me and Joey Peterson backed up against the monkey bars.

They were giving us the old chant. When they came to the word “rats,” they screamed it in our faces. Then they ran off laughing.

“I wish I was still in third grade,” I said.

What grade are these losers in?

fin