1. Notice and Note Resource
Anchor Charts / Handouts
(Color Coded with Symbols)
Contrasts and Contradictions, Aha Moment, Tough Questions, Words from the Wiser, Again and Again, Memory Moment ?

2. Contrasts & Contradictions
“Signposts”
Contrasts & Contradictions
“AHA” Moments
These “markers” can help guide you along the path to understanding as you read fiction. When you notice them,
and take note!
Tough Questions
Words from the Wiser
Again & Again
Memory Moments
These are in order based on the signposts you will see more often to the ones you will see less often.

3. Contrasts & Contradictions Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and a character says or does something that’s opposite (contradicts) what he has been saying or doing all along,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why is the character doing that?”
The answers could help you make a prediction or make an inference about the plot and conflict.

5. ? Tough Questions Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and the character asks himself a really difficult question,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“What does this question make me wonder about?”
The answers will tell about the conflict and might give you ideas about what will happen later in the story.

6. “AHA” Moment Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and suddenly a character realizes, understands, or finally figures something out,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“How might this change things?”
If the character figured out a problem, you probably just learned something about the conflict.
If the character understood a life lesson, you probably just learned the theme.
“AHA” Moment

8. Words from the Wiser Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and a character (who’s probably older and lots wiser) takes the main character aside and gives serious advice,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“What’s the life lesson, and how might it affect the character?
Whatever the lesson is, you’ve probably found a theme for the story.
Words from the Wiser

10. Again and Again Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and you notice a word, phrase, object, or situation mentioned over and over,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why does this keep showing up again and again?”
The answers will tell you about the theme and conflict, or they might foreshadow what will happen later.
Again and Again

12. Memory Moment Stop and Notice and Note
When you’re reading and the author interrupts the action to tell you a memory,
You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why might this memory be important?”
The answers will tell you about the theme, conflict, or might foreshadow what will happen later in the story.

14. Contrast And Contradictions In “Thank You Ma’am”
You should stop and ask yourself: “Why did the character act this way?”
“It was about eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse.
The large woman took the boy home. If someone tried to steal my purse, I would not want to take them to my home. This is very unexpected behavior.
Why do you think the woman would take the boy home after he tried to steal from her?

15. Tough Questions In “Thank You Ma’am” ?
You should stop and ask yourself: What does this question make me wonder about?
“Ain't you got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?”
2.“You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you?....but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well I wasn’t going to say that.”
These tough questions focus show the hardships of life that the boy and the woman have both faced. The reader learns that Roger has no one to take care of him, and that the woman made mistakes when she was younger too. This shows why she has compassion for Roger.

16. Again and Again
You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why does this keep showing up again and again?”
The author keeps repeating images like, “large woman,” “large purse,” and “weight of the purse.” This makes me think he is really trying to get the point across that she is a large woman and he is a small boy. I wonder what would happen if she was a small woman and if he was a large man?

17. “AHA” Moment You should stop and ask yourself:
“How might this change things?”

18. Words from the Wiser You should stop and ask yourself:
“What’s the life lesson, and how might it affect the character?
The woman tells the boy his face is dirty and that he needs to clean it. She also sits and talks with him over dinner about her experiences. She is an older woman, and seems to be acting like a mother figure when she takes him to her house. Maybe she is trying to teach him a lesson about how to take care of himself.
Why does Ms. Jones give Rodger this advice?

19. Words from the Wiser You should stop and ask yourself:
“What’s the life lesson, and how might it affect the character?
“And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my pocketbook nor nobody else’s—because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet. I got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.”
Why does Ms. Jones give Rodger this advice?

20. Contrast And Contradictions In “Thank You Ma’am”
You should stop and ask yourself: “Why did the character act this way?”
The boy “barely managed to say “Thank you” before she shut the door. And he never saw her again.” This seems odd that she would spend all that time with him and then shut the door in his face. I expected that she would become an important person in his life, but they never spoke again.

21. Again and Again You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why does this keep showing up again and again?”
Why does Ms. Jones tell the boy over and over again to clean himself up?
Ms. Jones realizes he needs love and his life is hard. She is compassionate because her life is hard.
What is a possible theme for “Thank You Ma’am” ?

22. Memory Moment You should stop and ask yourself:
“Why might this memory be important?”
When the woman is talking to the boy, she pauses and becomes silent before saying that she “has done things, too, which I would not tell you son…” The fact that she is remembering that she has a past that she is ashamed of may be a reason why she has compassion on him, takes him to her house and feeds him.