Welcome to The Literacy Cookbook

(AKA Literal Comprehension)

Paraphrasing means “translating literally” or “putting something in your own words.”  This requires you to:

• Unpack vocabulary (attack roots; use prior knowledge and context clues).
• Unpack syntax and grammar (unpack clauses and phrases; pay attention to punctuation).
• Draw inferences from idioms. 

NEW: For a useful strategy, see How to Paraphrase-3rd grade Practice, How to Paraphrase-MS Practice, How to Paraphrase-HS Practice.  For tips on how to create critical reading questions, see How to Create Critical Reading Questions: A Recipe.

See also Rewordify.com, a powerful, free, online software that intelligently simplifies difficult English, for faster comprehension (IN OTHER WORDS, it paraphrases for you).

• Facts
• In other words
• According to the story/passage
• What does this mean?
• Plot-related
• Paraphrase

(AKA Extended Reasoning)

Inference entails drawing a conclusion, making a prediction/guess, or figuring something out.  To do this, you need facts/information, and you need to ask questions about the given information.  See the comprehension process described below for more explanation.

NEW: Paraphrasing and Inference Organizer AND Quotations to Paraphrasing and Inference in the Download Zone will help students practice these skills.  Also check out Character Traits: Quote and Explain and Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER, Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL, and Question-Inference-Evidence & Explanation ORGANIZER MODEL LESSON PLAN

Here's a fun way to invite students to apply their inference skills: Read "The Conversation Piece" by Ned Guymon (which originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1950) and figure out what is going on in this dialogue.

• Infer
• Suggest
• Conclude
• Because/why
• Most likely
• Probably

A) amused 
B) less experienced 
C) taking the same route 
D) sent in a different direction

Vocabulary in context requires you to infer meaning of words using the context and your prior knowledge.

• What does ____ mean in this context?
• Based on the passage, what does ____ mean?

(AKA Summarizing)

1. The yearly festival in Pamplona, Spain, always includes the Running of the Bulls.
2. Running alongside the bulls as they are moved from the corral to the bullring in Pamplona, Spain, has become an exciting and dangerous sport.
3. The bravest runners carry newspapers with which they touch the bulls as they run through the streets.
4. The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, has been going on for about three hundred years.

• After reading the article/passage/story…
• The central idea
• The theme
• This passage is mostly about
• The author would probably agree
• The best summary

 
INFERENCE(S) -> EXPLANATION 

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???
+
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE/
SKILLS 

­

+

Paraphrase, etc.  This “text” may confirm or challenge your prior knowledge/previous inferences.

FOR EXAMPLE: If the next sentence says, "He had had a fever all day," your prior inference is confirmed.  If, however, the next sentence is "He should've bought the shoes with velcro straps," you would correct your incorrect prior assumption/inference.

 INFERENCE(S)

-> EXPLANATION 

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Draw inferences in response to your questions, and support them with explanations.  These infererences and explanations join your prior knowledge/skills.

FOR EXAMPLE: Given no additional information about the man who collapsed (no mention of shoelaces or attackers) and knowing that healthy people are generally able to stand up without falling down, you might infer that he fell down BECAUSE HE WAS SICK.  NOTE: You will continue to think this until new information challenges your thinking.

 
???
+
PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE/
SKILLS 

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Ask questions based on paraphrasing/translation and your prior knowledge/skills.

FOR EXAMPLE: Given the case of the falling man, you might ask, "WHY did he collapse?"  You might recall prior instances of seeing people tripping over shoelaces, fainting, or being knocked down.

YOU APPLY IT/

THEM TO 

“TEXT.” 

^
^

• Unpack vocabulary.
• Unpack grammar/syntax.
• INFER from idioms.

FOR EXAMPLE: Given the text "The man fell down," you could paraphrase this as "He collapsed."  For a useful strategy, see How to Paraphrase-3rd grade Practice, How to Paraphrase-MS Practice, How to Paraphrase-HS Practice in the Download Zone.

YOU HAVE 

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE/
SKILLS. 

 ^
^

Start here. 

You approach the "text" with your prior knowledge, which includes:

• Previous experiences
• Context
• Texts read/academic content knowledge
• Knowledge of conventions (genre, grammar, syntax)

NOTE: If your "prior knowledge" is incorrect, it will affect your ability to process the "text."

FOR EXAMPLE: If you believe that 5 times 5 is 30, then when faced with a math word problem requiring the multiplication of 5 x 5, you will not solve the problem correctly.