Why might this detail matter?
This activity gets students to think about the significance of minor details in a work. These details can be used as evidence to form the basis of inferential and critical comprehension (i.e., understanding and interpretation).
Preparation
- Choose a text or work as the basis of the activity. Students need to read the text, section, or work before the activity.
- Find details from the work that are significant for inferential and critical comprehension (i.e., details that require the reader to infer and interpret meaning).
- Choose 3-4 of these details to use as the opening activity.
Process
- Tell students you are going to play the game, “Why might this detail matter?”.
- If you have not already done so, define the 3 levels of comprehension for students.
- Literal Comprehension: the reader recalls or retells factual information that is explicitly stated in the text.
- Inferential Comprehension: the reader infers or forms an interpretation of what is happening without the information explicitly being stated.
- Critical Comprehension: the reader makes critical or evaluative judgements about the information presented in the text. These details also form the basis of more “perceptive” interpretations and evaluations of the text.
- Explain to students that this activity will build their “inferential comprehension” and “critical comprehension” skills. Ask if students have clarifying questions about each of these modes of comprehension.
- Place students in pairs or groups of 3.
- For the opening activity share your 3-4 details, one at a time. Ask students to draw a conclusion about an aspect of the text based on that detail, using inferential comprehension (aspects may include character, setting, situation, etc.). After each detail, ask groups to share their responses with the class before moving onto the next detail.
- After the class has discussed each detail, ask students to identify the type of comprehension they used to draw conclusions for each detail (inferential vs. critical comprehension). Have them reflect in their small groups and share out a few examples of each type of comprehension in response to the 3-4 details previously provided.
- Assign different sections (or chapters) of the text to each group. Ask each group to find 2-5 details from their section that have a suggestive meaning, inviting the reader to use their inferential or critical comprehension skills. Have students include a slide for each detail (with relevant quotes or references) on a shared class Google presentation. The shared presentation will help with streamlining the activity, give students in the class both an auditory and visual reference for the detail, and serve as an archival record for students to access later.
- Each group will host the game, working chronologically through the text. Groups can share out as a whole class or not, depending on the amount of time allocated for the task.
- When finished, asked students to reflect in their portfolios: What new understandings did you gain about inferential and critical comprehension? Why do you think authors incorporate suggestive details into their writing?
Variations
- For the end of the activity, teachers may share (on a document, etc.) the details they found in the text that are significant for inferential or critical comprehension. The teacher may even choose to share some examples of their own inferential and critical comprehension of the text to illustrate these two modes of comprehension. This can serve as a type of “corrective feedback” for students to check their understanding of the different types of comprehension.
- This activity can easily be adapted for visual texts. Groups will need access to the visual texts to observe its details.
For more information on the levels of comprehension, see this post:
Credits
Rasinski and Padak (2011) – Three levels of Comprehension
