Comprehending the Text for class 4

Concept:Identify Location Timeline

Identifying location and timeline is a vital part of reading comprehension for class 4. Students will know how to determine these while reading a story or text. Learn the common mistakes that could occur while identifying location timeline in a text.

In this learning concept, the students will study:

• Definition of timeline and location.
• Identify the time and location in which a story takes place.
• Types of the setting of a story with examples.

This concept has been explained to class 3 students using illustrations, examples, and concept maps. They can evaluate their skills by trying to solve the two worksheets related to reading comprehension for class 4 given at the end of the page. Download the PDF worksheets and check their solutions provided in the same format.

Timeline and location form the setting of a story. Let us have a look at how to identify these aspects of a setting in a story.

Timeline in a Story

A timeline is the order of time which can be in chronological order. It can tell us about a set of events or activities that happened at a particular point in a story. A timeline shows the past, present, and future events of a story. All stories take place at a particular time.

How to Identify Timeline in a Story?

While reading a story, look for information that shows when a story takes place. A timeline gives a timely representation of events that helps you better understand the story better.

• Events of a story are arranged according to the timeline. Mark the important time-related words from the story. For example, many years ago…, hundreds of years ago…, etc.
• Identify the events in the story and when they happened from the first page to the last page of the story. Any major life events that occurred in the past could be mentioned by the author, so do consider that too.
• Make a note of the numerical words such as hours, years and days or months. Time markers hint at the time through various events in the text. For each of the story events, note if the author has mentioned the time of day or weather details. This will help to understand the passage of time in the story.
• In certain stories, the day and time are specifically mentioned. Especially in crime fiction, the date and time also come up as chapter subheadings or even headings.
• Some stories do have references to both the past and future. This helps to remind readers of the passage of time. For example, When the boy was five years old, he would trouble everyone in the palace. But when he grew up to be a King at the age of 20… (About 15 years have passed by in the story)
• Sometimes an upcoming event is mentioned which will happen in a week or a month’s time. This will help you to determine that a week or a month or this many days has passed since the earlier passage when the event takes place in the story.

Examples:

The above text is from the classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It portrays American in the 1930s, specifically the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The narrator of the story, Scout, describes Maycomb as hot, humid and old-fashioned. She also describes the racism evident at the time. This information gives the reader more insights into the situation in a particular period in time.

From the first sentence, we can guess that it is morning. We are able to guess it because Jitesh is just waking up for the day. We also know that the location is his room as the text tells us that he is in his bed. The story doesn’t reveal the time period or moment in history. However, this detail will help you to understand how many hours or days it takes for the events that follow as there would be some indication of it.

Indicators of a Timeline

The following details indicate the timeline of a story. You can look out for these clues that gives more information about the timeline.

What is Location in a Story?

It refers to the geographical location of a story. In simpler words, it tells us the place where the story takes place. Location of a story is also called setting.

How to Identify Location in the Text?

• To describe the setting of a story, the author might include details about the physical landscape surroundings which can serve as a background of the story.
• Location can also be a fictional world created by the writer. It could also tell us about someplace that is visible in a dream only.
• An author might only mention the physical location which is the character’s immediate surroundings, like a house or a room.

Types of Setting

There are three types of setting in the text.

1. Temporal Setting:
   It refers to the era that the story takes place in. It is the general time and place where all the action happens in a story.

         Example:

         The Great Gatsby was set in 1920’s America. This helped to capture the mood, climate,               and setting of that time.

     b. Environmental Setting:
         This shows the geographical area to be specific. This includes details of the geographical              location such as mountains, water, desert, etc. The social and cultural setting such as                 school, community, places of worship etc. and the climate or weather (rains, desert, storm,           forest, etc.

         Example:

         There was a hug mansion at the top of the hill. The winding road from where I stood had             ferns on either side of the road.

     3. Individual setting:
         The location mentioned in the story is about a specific place or a specific surrounding. For           example, Gatsby’s mansion, Myrtle’s apartment, a room or the garden.

Exceptions

Short stories can have settings such as a breakfast table or a room. It need not be a specific geographic location.

Example:

1. Let’s say an argument occurs at the table during breakfast. The wife and husband or dad and son disagree over something. They’re having toast with eggs. This is also a setting which indicates the time and place.

Concept : Summarise Text

Summarising helps to understand and learn vital information by reducing the text to its main ideas and necessary details. In this chapter, students will become adept to summarise paragraphs. It is a major aspect of reading comprehension strategies.

In this learning concept, the students will learn:

• Important aspects of summary writing.
• Points to remember while summarising a text.
• To create a summary.

Every concept is explained to class 4 students with the help of examples, illustrations, and concept maps. Once you have gone through a concept thoroughly, choose the best summary worksheets to assess your learning, given at the end of the page. Download the worksheets and check your answers with the solutions provided in PDF format.

Definition:

• Summarizing the passage or a story means the presentation of the most important facts or ideas about a text in short.
• Summarizing is an important skill, but sometimes it is difficult to concise the story short.

What Must a Summary Include?

There are several steps that help make a good summary - some parts should be included and some should not. Let us take a look at what should be included in a summary.

No.	Must Include	Must Avoid
1.	Information from the passage like dates, events, names, etc.	Must not have your opinion.
2.	Include only important information.	Not to be copied the same sentence from the text or passage.
3.	What is the story about? What does the main character want?	Do not write information that is not given in the story.
4.	Identifying the problem and the solution mentioned in the passage.

Examples:

Once upon a time, there was lived in a faraway village outside the village a shepherd boy. He would go to the village often to watch over a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, “Wolf! Wolf!” and when his neighbours came to help him. He laughed at them, for they were fooled by him. The shepherd’s boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf!” again, he fooled the villages. As there was no wolf, the shepherd’s boy had a good laugh on seeing the disappointed look on the villager’s face.

After a few days, the Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: “Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep;” but no one paid any attention to his cries, nor did they help him. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure destroyed the whole flock.

The moral of the story is that there is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.

Points you should focus on in a Story

a) Who is the main character in the story?

• The story is about a boy who cried wolf.

b) What does the main character want?

• The main character lied for amusement.

c) What was the main problem that the main character experienced?

• There was actually a wolf who attacked the sheep, and no villagers came to help.

d) How does the character solve the problem?

• When he shouted for help by crying wolf, no villagers came for help.

e) How does the story conclude (ends)?

• There were no sheep left, and the boy learned a lesson.

How to Summarize a Short Story?

When writing a summary of a story, it’s important to cover these elements in your own words.

There are five elements of a story:

• Character
• Setting
• Conflict
• Resolution
• Plot

The following process will help you summarize:

1. State the main idea or gist of the story.
2. Mention the setting of the story.
3. Mention the main characters of the story.
4. Give the problem of the story.

To show the sequence of events, use words like first, then, next, and finally.

Examples:

Sequencing Words	When to use it?
First	What happened first? Includes the main character and main event /action.
Then	What important things happened during the event?
Finally	what were the results of the event? Now write about how the problem was solved.
Conclude the story in short.

Common Mistakes

1. Summarizing is generally retelling another author’s words in a shorter paragraph. When writing something that another author wrote, ensure that you do not copy the same words.
2. Do not use too many quotations. When you are summarizing another author’s story, the main aim is to write their story in your own words. So do not use too many direct quotations. The aim of writing summaries is that the reader needs to read less yet get the basic meaning or have a simplified version of the original story. You can also rephrase the quotes and put them into your own words.
3. When you are writing a summary, do not give your personal opinion on the story or text. Opinions must be avoided as they change from person to person. A summary will only include rephrasing the original.
4. Do not forget to mention the main points of the story in your summary. Sometimes while writing a summary, students might get distracted by concentrating on small details. Your aim is to present to the readers a better idea of what the story is about. Do not focus on minor details, but focus on how the story progresses.