Reading pictures

Reading pictures

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about making inferences from illustrations.
Image of characters from The Bad Day
  Look at the picture and answer the questions.

  1. Which of these titles would go best with this picture?

    1. The Softball Game.
    2. The Fight.
    3. The Bad Day.
    4. I Hate School.

      ​
Image of a girl chewing a pencil
  1. Why is the girl probably chewing her pencil?

     

    ______________________________________________________________​

Image of a girl catching a ball in a glove
  1. What do the lines between the girl's glove and the ball show?

     

    ______________________________________________________________

Image of two girls fighting
  1. What are the girls probably fighting about?

     

    ______________________________________________________________​

Image of an angry girl
  1. What are three things about this picture which show the girl is angry?

    1.  

      _________________________________________________________

    2.  

      _________________________________________________________

    3.  

      _________________________________________________________

       
  2. Draw a circle around the picture in which the girl is feeling the most angry.

      Image of a girl chewing a pencil Image of a girl catching a ball in a glove Image of two girls fighting
  3. Most of the pictures have been drawn inside shapes that look like this:​
Image of an empty speech bubble
     What do these shapes show?
 
 
Task administration: 
This task can be completed using pencil and paper.
Copyright: 
Learning Media, School Journal, Part 1, No 2, 1998.
Crown copyright permission for use granted (7/3/2008)
Level:
2
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Viewing
Keywords: 
illustration, comprehension, body language, movement, School Journal, SJ-1-2-1998
Description of task: 
Students unpack a picture, making inferences from its visual cues. SJ-1-2-1998. Text provided.
Answers/responses: 
  Y5 (05/1999)
a) C easy
b) Any 1 of:

•   She does not know the answer/she can not
     do her maths work.
•   She feels worried.
•   She is thinking.

 very easy
c) Any 1 of:

•   She has missed the ball/dropped a catch.
•   The movement of the ball.

 easy
d) Any 1 of:

•   The TV remote.
•   What channel to watch on TV.

 easy
e) Any 3 of:

•   Her teeth (are clenched).
•   Her mouth (is stretched open).
•   Her eyes (are squeezed shut).
•   Her cheeks (are red/flushed). 
•   Her hands (are clenched).
•   Her feet (are tapping).
•   The cloud.
•   The stars.
•   The lightning.

 3 correct –
moderate

2 correct –
easy

1 correct –
very easy
f) The fight with her sister. very easy
g) Any 1 of:

•   She is thinking/remembering/
     daydreaming/imagining.
•   Thought bubbles.
     [Do not accept: "speech bubbles".]

 difficult