We practiced this many times throughout the short story "Thank You, M'am" written by Langston Hughes. We read it aloud together, stopping to notice and note as a class, with elbow partners, and then finally by ourselves on a sticky note. Students were told that they not only need to stop and recognize when a character is acting in a way that surprises them, but they also need to answer the question "why is the character doing that?" That is the question that will push the students' thinking more deeply about the characters, plot, and conflict.
If you read aloud to your child, or if they read aloud to you, and you get to a point where a character does something that surprises you, talk about it with your child and ask "why do you think the character did that?"
Here is the chart we talked about today and some of the sticky notes that were put on our "Jot Lot." We have some great thinkers in here!
I attached their sticky note to a quick feedback form. If both boxes are checked, then the student hit both learning targets for reading today. Hooray! Some students didn't explain their thoughts on the big question- Why is the character doing that?- and they will have one box checked. Very few students didn't follow the example and write about a part where the character surprised them and why the character did that. They will have no boxes checked. This is just a quick check to see how they are doing with it. Take a peek at your child's when it comes home to see if the learning targets were hit.