Fat, four-eyed and useless

Fat, four-eyed and useless

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about using evidence to make inferences about a character.
The text below comes from Fat, Four-eyed and Useless by David Hill.
 
Read the text below to answer questions a)-f)
 
WEDNESDAY
I've written a poem for tomorrow's Writers Group meeting. I rang up Kim, and he's writing something he reckons you call a 'soliloquy'. Never heard of it–but I bet snobby Emma Jensen has. I left something out yesterday. I'll write it down now. I've decided Mum and Dad aren't going to read this journal after all.
 
Why: I joined the Writers Group for other reasons, too.
  1. Because if you don't like sport, there's nothing else to do at lunchtime in winter.
  2. Because there's these couple of Form 2 guys who give Kim and me a hard time. Athol Maxwell hangs around with them. He's good at games and classwork and the girls all reckon he's spunky. Sux! Anyway, these two other guys say "G'day, 8-eyes!" or "Jeez, it's Kim and Ben, the Mini-Men!", or they grab you and grind their knuckles into your arm. It hurts and I always end up yelling. We go to the library to keep away from them.
  3. Because I'm useless at everything else.
Yeah, that's also why I joined. I feel better after writing it down.

Question 2Change answer

  a)  List two things we learn about the storyteller's appearance (what he looks like). b)  Write down the key words from the text that give this information.
1.
2.

Question

c)  i)  Select one word that describes how the storyteller feels about Emma.

    • jealous

    • bullied

    • admiring

    • inferior

    • supported

    • surprised

ii) Write down a piece of text where this feeling is suggested.

Question

d)  i)  Select one word that describes how the storyteller feels about Athol.

    • jealous

    • bullied

    • admiring

    • inferior

    • supported

    • surprised

ii) Write down a piece of text where this feeling is suggested.

Question

e)  i)  Select one word that describes how the storyteller feels about the two guys (who Athol hangs out with).

    • jealous

    • bullied

    • admiring

    • inferior

    • supported

    • surprised

ii) Write down a piece of text where this feeling is suggested.

Question 2Change answer

f)  i)  Describe how the storyteller really feels, deep down inside, about himself. 
 
     ii) Write down two different parts of the text that make you think this is how he feels about himself.
1.   
2.   
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online (with some auto-marking).
  • This assessment could be done with a group or class, as appropriate, at a time that complements the reading of the novel (e.g. prior to).
  • This assessment could be done individually, and then in pairs, with students filling in their new understandings in a different colour. This method shows indivual's prior knowledge and the knowledge they develop through close reading and discussion with others.
  • Provide copies of the book for students to read. Encourage them to check their predictions about characters whilst reading.
Copyright: 
Fat, Four-Eyed and Useless. Text published by Scholastic New Zealand Limited. Copyright David Hill, 1997.
Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
comprehension, inference, character, progressive disclosure, analysis, purpose, point of view
Description of task: 
The assessment focus is on the ability to make inferences about character and justify these with evidence from text.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • reflect critically about character
  • infer ideas and information that are not directly stated in the text

as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.

Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Making sense of text: reading critically, set 4
Reading for literary experience, set 5
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
    Y8 (09/2005)
a) Student identifies 2 facts from the text about the storyteller's appearance:

  • He wears glasses.
  • He's small/short.
 easy
b) Student correctly matches facts in a) to evidence from the text:

  • "[G'day,] 8-eyes"
  • "Mini-Men"
 easy
c), d) and e)
Student identifies how storyteller feels about:
i) Emma: inferior or jealous
i) Athol: jealous
i) The two guys: bullied
 
very easy
moderate
easy
c), d) and e)
Student matches feelings with pieces of evidence from the text:
ii) "I bet snobby Emma Jensen has."
ii) ..."the girls all reckon he's spunky. Sux!"/"He's good at games and classwork"...
ii) "Because there's these couple of Form 2 guys who give Kim and me a hard time."/"We go to the library to keep away from them"/"8-eyes"/"Jeez, it's Kim and Ben, the Mini-Men"...
 
very easy
easy
 
easy
f) i) Student responses could include that the storyteller feels:

  • he's no good at anything/useless, i.e., thinking solely about himself.
  • he's not as good/smart/clever/able as everyone else/attractive to girls/spunky, i.e., thinking about himself in relation to others.
 easy
f) ii) Student matches feelings in e) with two pieces of evidence from the text:

  • "Because I'm useless" ("at everything else"), i.e., thinking solely about himself.
  • ..."he's writing something he reckons you call a 'soliloquy'. Never heard of it".../"He's good at games and classwork".../..."all the girls reckon he's spunky. Sux!" i.e., thinking about himself in relation to others.
 2 pieces of evidence: very difficult

1 piece of evidence: easy
The above results based on a trial sample of 181 Year 8 students.
Diagnostic and formative information: 

An analysis of student responses in the trial of this resource identified one key area of difficulty:

Making inferences

The following examples suggest that the majority of students were not reading between the lines. 60% of trial students interpreted the statements the storyteller made about Athol, e.g., "I suppose it was OK", literally, so their choice at c) ii) as to how Ben feels about Athol, was 'admiring'. Even the tone implied when Ben says "Sux", did not deter those students who identified this part of the text from making a literal interpretation.

Next steps: 

Making inferences

The ability to see other possible interpretations could be developed in texts such as this by using drama. The natural flow between dialogue and monologue lends itself well to this. Simple re-enactments of words or phrases, using different voice tones and expression, would demonstrate how something, said differently, can mean something different. This could be done by getting students to make one word statements, such as "Yes" and/or "No". Scaffold students into this by first suggesting an intention on the part of the speaker, e.g., to be enthusiastic/negative/passive. Brainstorm other possible intentions and demonstrate how saying "Yes" one way, leads to a particular "No" response. Move on to exploring other possible intentions behind the actual text/storyteller's words, e.g., "I suppose it was OK".

  • Exploring Language: A Handbook for Teachers, Ministry of Education, Learning Media, 1996.
  • The Learner as a Reader: Developing Reading Programmes, Ministry of Education, Learning Media, 1996.