Inferring

 We have been learning how to make inferences.

To infer meaning, we use what we already know (our personal schema) to add information to the text. The text could be any media (i.e. we could be reading a book or watching a commercial or movie). We use our own information + the information that is given in the text to figure out what the author is saying.

We watched the (multiple award winning) short film, " The Red Balloon" with Mme. LaFlair's class. (Mme. LaFlair's class is a French Immersion Grade 1/2 class). The film has very little spoken word in it. We get all of our meaning by watching the action of the film and by using our past experiences to add extra meaning.
(We  use the pictures in every picture book that we read to infer meaning!). Even when the characters spoke (french) in the film, we didn't need the subtitles because we knew what the characters were saying by their tone of voice!

Please take a half an hour to watch this with your child! (you likely have already seen it -- it has been shown in classrooms around the world for the past... 50+ years!)

We also learned to listen to the music in a film -- the music helps to "warn" us about what might happen next.
The whole class sat with their eyes glued to the screen for this film. It made us laugh, it made us angry and it made us sad....it was magical.....