Read realistic fiction with illustrations
Key Notes :
📘 Understanding Realistic Fiction
- Realistic fiction is a made-up story that could happen in real life.
- Characters are people you might meet and events are believable.
- It often includes real-life problems and emotions.
🧑🤝🧑 Relatable Characters and Settings
- Characters behave in ways that real people would.
- The setting is a real place or a place that feels familiar, like a school, home, or park.
🎯 Purpose of Reading Realistic Fiction
- Helps readers understand feelings and learn life lessons.
- Encourages empathy by letting you see the world through others’ eyes.
- Shows how people solve everyday problems.
🖼️ Role of Illustrations
- Support the text by showing important moments in the story.
- Help visualize characters, settings, and emotions.
- Make the story more engaging and easier to understand.
📖 How to Read Realistic Fiction with Illustrations
- Preview the pictures to get an idea of the story.
- As you read, use the illustrations to confirm or predict what’s happening.
- Look at facial expressions and details in pictures to understand how characters feel.
🔍 Comprehension Tips
- Ask: Could this happen in real life?
- Think about the problem and solution in the story.
- Identify the main idea and moral or lesson.
Learn with an example
➡️ Read the first part of the story.
Inside Marshall Maple
Ken watched his mum’s van disappear down the farm’s wooded driveway. He patted his pockets for his extra pens. For the third time, he checked that his phone was recording correctly. His notebook of questions was, of course, already in his hand.
Ken had landed a fabulous scoop for his first story for the school newspaper. Everyone loved the Marshall Family Maple Farm products. Crowds flocked to their booth at the farmers’ market every week, snapping up their delicious maple syrup and prize-winning maple sweets.
Lots of people would read Ken’s article, so he wanted it to be perfect. He already had his headline: ‘Inside Marshall Maple’. And he had spent hours crafting his questions for Alexa Marshall, the family’s youngest daughter, to answer this morning.
As Ken checked his notes, Alexa flung the front door open. Startled, he dropped his notebook. ‘Hi, Ken!’ Alexa cried. ‘Welcome to our farm!’
What does Ken’s behaviour as he waits for Alexa tell you about him?
- He takes projects seriously and likes to plan ahead.
- He likes to wait until the last minute to do his work.
- He enjoys coming up with new ideas on the spot.
- He prefers to let others take the lead on projects.
Think about these details about Ken:
- Ken makes sure that he has everything he needs to talk to Alexa.
- He checks three times that his phone is working and recording.
- He spent hours writing his questions, and he wants his article ‘to be perfect.’
These details show you that Ken takes projects seriously and likes to plan ahead.
➡️ Read the first part of the story.
New in Town
‘I heard she rode camels all over Egypt, including inside the pyramids!’ Caleb told Jerome.
‘I heard she lived in the queen’s palace in England,’ Jerome added. He wasn’t sure it was true, but it was fun to see Caleb’s eyes widen.
Buzzy chatter filled the air as Jerome and his classmates waited outside the bus. Their upcoming field trip to Somerville Mill was overshadowed by a more important event. Today, a new student was joining their class, and apparently, she was a world traveller.
‘Class,’ called Ms Jones, walking towards them with a girl trailing behind her. ‘This is our new student, Anya.’
Craning his neck, Jerome thought he’d never seen someone look so reluctant to be somewhere. Anya stood slightly behind Ms Jones, staring down at her own shoes. They were fancy shoes, shiny and blue, and they matched her pleated skirt. No one dresses like that here, thought Jerome.
Look at the word in bold. How does Anya seem to Jerome? Use context clues in nearby text to help you figure out the meaning of the word reluctant:
- She seems like she is excited about the field trip.
- She seems like she is unhappy with how her shoes look.
- She seems like she is nervous about being introduced.
- She seems like she is interested in her new classmates.
The following context clues help you figure out the meaning of the word reluctant:
‘Class,’ called Ms Jones, walking towards them with a girl trailing behind her. ‘This is our new student, Anya.’
Craning his neck, Jerome thought he’d never seen someone look so reluctant to be somewhere. Anya stood slightly behind Ms Jones, staring down at her own shoes. They were fancy shoes, shiny and blue, and they matched her pleated skirt. No one dresses like that here, thought Jerome.
Ms Jones brings Anya to meet the class. Anya walks behind the teacher and does not look up.
Using these clues, you can guess that reluctant means ‘worried or unexcited about doing something’. So, Jerome thinks that Anya seems like she is nervous about being introduced.
➡️ Read the first part of the story.
New in own
‘I heard she rode camels all over Egypt, including inside the pyramids!’ Caleb told Jerome.
‘I heard she lived in the queen’s palace in England,’ Jerome added. He wasn’t sure it was true, but it was fun to see Caleb’s eyes widen.
Buzzy chatter filled the air as Jerome and his classmates waited outside the bus. Their upcoming field trip to Somerville Mill was overshadowed by a more important event. Today, a new student was joining their class, and apparently, she was a world traveller.
‘Class,’ called Ms Jones, walking towards them with a girl trailing behind her. ‘This is our new student, Anya.’
Craning his neck, Jerome thought he’d never seen someone look so reluctant to be somewhere. Anya stood slightly behind Ms Jones, staring down at her own shoes. They were fancy shoes, shiny and blue, and they matched her pleated skirt. No one dresses like that here, thought Jerome.
Look at the word in bold. How does Anya seem to Jerome? Use context clues in nearby text to help you figure out the meaning of the word reluctant:
- She seems like she is excited about the field trip.
- She seems like she is interested in her new classmates.
- She seems like she is nervous about being introduced.
- She seems like she is unhappy with how her shoes look.
The following context clues help you figure out the meaning of the word reluctant:
‘Class,’ called Ms Jones, walking towards them with a girl trailing behind her. ‘This is our new student, Anya.’
Craning his neck, Jerome thought he’d never seen someone look so reluctant to be somewhere. Anya stood slightly behind Ms Jones, staring down at her own shoes. They were fancy shoes, shiny and blue, and they matched her pleated skirt. No one dresses like that here, thought Jerome.
Ms Jones brings Anya to meet the class. Anya walks behind the teacher and does not look up.
Using these clues, you can guess that reluctant means ‘worried or unexcited about doing something’. So, Jerome thinks that Anya seems like she is nervous about being introduced.
let’s practice!
Read the first part of the story.
The Missing Phone
‘What’s the big rush?’ Hazel asked her friend Fareed.
‘I have to get home. Track of Time isn’t going to play itself! Hey, where’s my phone?’ Fareed rummaged through his locker with increasing alarm, then turned to Hazel. ‘It’s gone.’
‘Are you sure?’ Hazel peered over Fareed’s shoulder. ‘Huh. Did you leave your locker open today?’
Fareed rubbed his forehead. ‘Maybe for a minute. When I went to tell you about the new Track of Time strategy, remember?’
‘Aha!’ Hazel pointed at Fareed. ‘I knew that video game was trouble! Why are you so into catching monsters in mousetraps, anyway?’
‘I keep telling you! It’s a competition against time. See, there are these clues, and—’
‘Whose locker is next to yours?’ Hazel interrupted.
‘Annie’s.”The only clues we need to worry about are the ones about your phone mystery,’ Hazel announced. ‘And Annie might have them. Let’s find her.’
