Inferring Character Motivation
Fifth Grade
Reading, ESL
In this support lesson, students will use sentence frames and short texts to make inferences about a character
in order to understand their motivation. Use this as a support for the lesson What's the Theme? Analyzing
Character Motivation.
Objectives
Objectives
Academic
Students will understand that the theme is the central idea or underlying message of the text.
Language
Students will be able to make an inference with sentence structures using sentence frames.
Materials and preparation
Key terms
Vocabulary Cards
Two blank vocabulary cards per student (or
index cards)
Glossary
Class set of Determining a Character’s
Motivation
One copy of Sentence Stems for Making
Inferences
One copy of Stone Soup
Paper for small group brainstorms
One index card per student
Teacher copy of Teach Background Knowledge
Template
Teacher copy of Write Student-Facing Language
Objectives Reference
Class set of Frayer Model (optional)
TIER 1
safety: being protected from harm
fear: being afraid
TIER 2
inference: a conclusion you draw based on reasoning
and evidence
motivation: the reason why a person acts a certain
way
theme: the central message in a story
envy: a feeling of jealousy
approval: agreeing with or accepting something or
someone
revenge: hurting someone who has hurt you
ambition: a strong desire to achieve something
Attachments
Vocabulary Cards: Inferring Character Motivation (PDF)
Glossary: Inferring Character Motivation (PDF)
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Determining a Character's Motivation (PDF)
Sentence Stems for Making Inferences (PDF)
Stone Soup (PDF)
Teach Background Knowledge Template (PDF)
Write Student-Facing Language Objectives Reference (PDF)
Graphic Organizer Template: Frayer Model (PDF)
Introduction (2 minutes)
Tell students that today they will be learning some sentence structures and vocabulary that will help
them make inferences to determine a character's motivation in a story.
Explain that in fifth grade, they will be expected to understand the theme of a story. However, in order to
find the theme, they must first understand what a character wants or the reason for their actions (i.e.,
their motivation).
Building Academic Language
Word (10 minutes)
Use vocabulary cards to introduce the definitions for the words inference, motivation, and theme.
Explain that these are some of the big ideas they will be thinking about in the lesson.
Tell students that they will be studying some additional vocabulary words that will help them describe a
character's motivation. Display the word bank section of the worksheet Determining a Character’s
Motivation and read the words aloud, having students echo you after each word.
Provide students with the Glossary worksheet with student-friendly definitions for some of the words.
Allow students to review it with a partner.
As a model, show students the picture vocabulary cards for two of the motivation words (approval,
envy). Then, hand out two blank vocabulary cards (or index cards) to each student. Instruct them to pick
one word from each column in the word bank (i.e., one "want" word, one "feeling" word). Tell students to
write each word they chose, the definition (using the glossary or a dictionary), and a picture on each of
their vocabulary cards.
After students have finished their two vocabulary cards, have them meet in small groups to share. Then,
invite students to share with the class so that several different words are represented. Make quick
drawings for any words that were not represented with student drawings.
Hand out the worksheet Determining a Character’s Motivation and have students complete the
vocabulary matching exercise in section one with a partner.
Sentence (8 minutes)
Tell students that they will be studying sentence structures and phrases that will help them make
inferences as they read.
Explain that authors do not always explicitly tell why a character is motivated to act a certain way, so a
reader must use clues to infer what they want or feel to determine what their motivation is.
Display the worksheet Sentence Stems for Making Inferences and review the sentence stems with the
class.
Direct students' attention to the picture of three children. Give them time to study the image, then
instruct them to discuss it with a partner. As they discuss, tell students to use the prompts and sentence
stems to make an inference about the characters in the picture.
Call on non-volunteers to share the inferences they made about the picture. Remind students to use the
sentence stems when they share their answers.
Discourse (10 minutes)
Display the story Stone Soup. Read it aloud as students follow along.
Tell students to talk with their partner and make inferences about what motivated the characters to make
stone soup. Remind students to use the sentence stems and the vocabulary words during their
discussion.
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After students have talked, write variations of the inference sentence stems on the board:
"In the story, the author suggests that the wanderers are motivated by ____ because they..."
"The description of the wanderer's actions suggest that they were motivated by ____ because..."
"When the author said ____, it suggests that the characters are motivated by..."
Hand out an index card and tell students to choose a sentence frame from the board. Have them write a
sentence about the characters' motivation on their card, along with their name.
When students have finished their sentence, tell them to pass their card to a new partner (not the person
they talked with).
Write some additional sentence frames on the board:
"I agree that the characters were motiviated by ____, because the author also said..."
"I disagree. I think the characters were motivated by ____, because the author said..."
Tell students to read the card recieved from their partner and respond with an agree/disagree statement,
using the new sentence frames on the board. Provide a student-friendly defintion for the words "agree"
and "disagree" and explain that if they agree, they should find another example from the text to support
the inference. If they disagree, they should state what they think the motivation was and why.
After students have responded to their partner, invite them to discuss their responses together. Then, call
on a pair of students to share their sentences aloud.
Remind students that an inference is based on our own reasoning and evidence, but we will not always
make the same inferences as other people. Explain that whatever inference we make we should be able
to find evidence to support it.
Additional EL adaptations
Beginning
Complete a Frayer Model for the words "motivation" and "inference."
Pre-teach additional vocabulary terms that students will see within texts during the lesson, like
"wanderers" and "ingredients."
Allow beginning ELs to use bilingual resources to define new words throughout the lesson.
Strategically pair beginning ELs with more advanced ELs or students who speak the same home
language.
Advanced
During the discourse level focus, challenge advanced ELs to write sentences using word banks as
supports rather than sentence frames.
Allow advanced ELs to utilize a glossary, thesaurus, and dictionary for help with unfamiliar words.
Choose advanced ELs to share their ideas first in group and class discussions. Ask advanced ELs to add
on, rephrase, or clarify what their peers say in class discussion.
Have advanced ELs repeat instructions and key vocabulary while summarizing important information for
the class.
Formative Assessment of Academic Language (5 minutes)
Direct students' attention to the short story at the bottom of the Determining a Character’s Motivation
worksheet. Do a choral read-aloud with your students.
Instruct students to use the provided sentence frame and the vocabulary they learned to make an
inference about Raoul's motivation in the story.
Allow students to share their responses with a partner before calling on non-volunteers to share their
inferences.
Collect students' completed worksheet to check for understanding.
Review and closing (3 minutes)
Remind students that the words they learned in this lesson are only a few of many motivation words.
Have students form small groups of four. Hand out a sheet of paper to each group and have students
brainstorm as many other motivation words or phrases as they can, writing their ideas on their paper.
Call on students to share the words and phrases they brainstormed. For each word or phrase that is
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shared, draw a quick picture on the board as a visual support.
Explain to students that they can use these and other motivation words when they make inferences
about a character in a story.
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Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: Inferring Character Motivation
inference
motivation
GOAL
A conclusion you draw
based on reasoning
and evidence.
theme
The reason why a
person acts a certain way.
envy
!
The central message
in a story.
A feeling of jealousy.
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Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: Inferring Character Motivation
approval
safety
Agreeing with or accepting
something or someone.
Being protected from harm.
revenge
ambition
Hurting someone who
has hurt you.
A strong desire to
achieve something.
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Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: Inferring Character Motivation
fear
curiosity
Being afraid.
A strong desire to know
or learn something.
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Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Inferring Character Motivation
Word
Definition
inference
A conclusion you draw
based on reasoning
and evidence.
motivation
The reason why a
person acts a certain way.
theme
The central message
in a story.
envy
A feeling of jealousy.
approval
Agreeing with or
accepting something
or someone.
safety
Being protected
from harm.
Visual
GOAL
!
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Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Inferring Character Motivation
Word
Definition
revenge
Hurting someone who
has hurt you.
ambition
A strong desire to
achieve something.
fear
Being afraid.
curiosity
A strong desire to know
or learn something.
Visual
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Name
Date
Determining a Character’s Motivation
Motivation is the reason someone does something.
Motivation can come from what someone wants or what someone feels.
Motivation Word Bank
Why is the character acting like this?
What do they want?
What do they feel?
safety
food
approval
money
friendship
revenge
love
anger
ambition
fear
curiosity
envy
Section 1: Match each character’s actions to their motivation.
Hannah invited everyone to her birthday party.
ambition
Jorge decided to try out for the baseball team.
envy
Peter sold some of his toys at a garage sale.
friendship
Uma took the pink pencil, even though it didn’t belong to her.
money
Section 2: Describe how you act when you want or feel something.
When I want food, I _____________________________________________________________.
When I feel angry, I _____________________________________________________________.
When I feel curious, I ____________________________________________________________.
Section 3: Read the short story and determine the main character’s motivation.
It was almost time for the 5th grade science fair. Raoul was excited to begin his project. He really
wanted to build a volcano and make it explode. He had been reading about volcanoes all year, and
he was excited to show off what he had learned. However, as the big day approached, Raoul’s
teacher, Mr. Hunt, posted a list of suggested topics and volcanoes were not on the list. That afternoon, Mr. Hunt called him over and asked, “Raoul, how would you like to do your science project on
the water cycle?” Raoul frowned. He really wanted to tell Mr. Hunt his idea, but he was nervous that
his teacher wouldn’t like it, so he didn’t say anything. After school Raoul went to the library to find
books about the water cycle. He wasn’t very interested in his new topic, but he didn’t want to upset
Mr. Hunt.
I think Raoul was motivated to ________________________________________________________
because he (wanted/felt) ____________________________________________________________.
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Name
Date
Sentence Stems for Making Inferences
An inference is a conclusion you draw based on your own reasoning and evidence found in a reading
passage. So, if the author doesn’t tell you something, but you make an educated guess based on a clue in
the story, you’ve made an inference. Here are some sentence stems you can use when you talk or write
about a story.
Inference Sentence Stems
This means that...
This makes me reach the conclusion that...
This suggests...
The description of ______ suggests that...
This made me think _________ because...
In the story, the author suggests….
Practice with a picture! Study the picture and make an inference.
What is going on here?
I think the kids are ________________________
________________________________________.
What do you see that makes you think that?
I see ____________________________________
________________________________________.
______________________________________________________________________________________.
Now try it with a story. Read the story and make an inference.
Hui Yin stood up tall and smiled. People clapped and cheered as she took a bow. She looked into the
crowd and spotted her parents in the front row. They smiled and tossed red roses onto the stage. Then, a
man in a suit handed her a large blue ribbon. Hui Yin gasped and held the ribbon up for her parents to see.
She pinned the ribbon to her dress and rushed off the stage to hug her family.
In the story, the author suggests that Hui Yin ___________________________________________ because
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
Image: © The Moon and the Cap / Pratham Books / Flickr / Outline / CC-BY 2.0
This picture made me think _________________________________________________________because
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Name:
Date:
STONE SOUP
One day, in a small village next to a flowing river, two hungry wanderers showed up looking
for ingredients to make a delicious soup. Since the two had no money, none of the villagers
were willing to give them any vegetables or meat. With no ingredients, the two went down to
the river and filled their pot with water. They then placed a large stone in the pot and began
boiling the water. Soon, a curious villager asked them what they were doing. One of the men
answered, “We are cooking stone soup, but we are still missing a few ingredients to finish it
properly.” The villager said she did not mind giving them some ingredients, if she could have
some as well. The two men said they would be happy to share with the entire village once the
soup was ready. After the word spread, many villagers brought spices, vegetables and meat to
add to the soup. In the end, everyone enjoyed the hearty soup!
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Teach Background Knowledge
Lesson Topic:
Choose a topic from the main content
lesson that will help ELs understand the
main content lesson. Your non-ELs will
already have knowledge about this topic.
Total Lesson Time:
(20 - 30 minutes)
Student-Facing Language
Objective:
Example: I can learn new vocabulary
using pictures and sentence frames.
Student ELP Level(s):
Consider each student’s ELP level and
their academic strengths when choosing
scaffolds for the lesson.
Potential Scaffolds:
Choose some of these material supports
and instructional scaffolds based on each
EL’s individual strengths and needs.
Groupings (pairs, small-groups, a teacher-led group)
Word banks, word wall, and bilingual glossaries
Sentence frames, sentence stems, and paragraph frames
Home language materials
Reduced linguistic load, repetition, rephrasing and modeling
Practice new academic skills with familiar topics
Materials & Resources List
List the materials you’ll use in the lesson.
Key Vocabulary Words (5-8 words)
List the words with student-friendly
definitions in English. Provide
definitions in student’s home language
when appropriate.
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Introduction
Access EL’s prior knowledge about the
lesson topic with a brief comprehension
check.
Potential activities:
Creating captions for images
Opinionnaires
Carousel brainstorming
Conversations with sentence starters
Time estimate for Introduction
(3 - 5 minutes)
Explicit Instruction of
Background Knowledge
Model a learning activity that embeds
the teaching of academic language and
background knowledge.
Potential activities:
Lunch brunch discussion
Teacher-created, adjusted text and
questions
Brief videos or visuals
Text-based instruction
Home-language connections
Pre-teach a small number of
vocabulary words
Show real-world objects
Complete word family or bilingual
glossaries
Word walls or word bank creation
Time Estimate for Explicit Instruction
(4 - 6 minutes)
Guided Practice
Provide an opportunity for students (in
pairs or small groups) to practice the skill
or information taught during Explicit
Instruction, offering appropriate
scaffolds as needed.
Time Estimate for Guided Practice
(5 - 7 minutes)
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Formative Assessment
Ask students to show comprehension of
new background knowledge and
associated skills through an oral or
written task. Provide appropriate
scaffolds dependent on their ELP level.
Potential assessments:
Act out concepts
Hands on tasks
Drawings, models, or graphs
Graphic organizer completion
Captions of images
Reading response or content
area logs
Retellings
Role plays
Audio or video recordings
Oral interviews
Time estimate for Assessment
(5 - 7 minutes)
Review and Closing
Refer to the student objective and relate
information to future lessons. Allow
students to share thoughts about
whether they reached their objective
and/or mention lingering questions.
Provide sentence stems or frames for their
discussion.
Time estimate for Review and Closing
(3 - 5 minutes)
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Write Student-Facing Language Objectives
A teacher-facing language objective:
A student-facing language objective:
begins with “Students will be able to...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds.
is intended to guide the teacher’s lesson planning
and instruction.
begins with “I can...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds.
is easy to understand for students at all levels of
English proficiency.
Steps to convert a teacher-facing objective to a student-facing objective:
1.
2.
Replace “Students will be able to” with “I can.”
Simplify challenging words but maintain key vocabulary words you’ll address in the lesson.
Students will be able to describe a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language
Function
Grammar
Structure
Support/
Scaffold
I can talk about a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language
Function
Language Functions
locate
show
sort
tell
contrast
create
describe
ask questions
brainstorm
classify
identify
infer
interpret
collect
compare
Grammar
Structure
Support/
Scaffold
Supports/Scaffolds
Grammar Structures
nouns
modals
verb forms
conjunctions
sentence structure
pronouns
comparatives
adverbs
academic vocabulary
adjectives
phrases
prepositions
complex sentences
graphic organizers
teacher modeling
word banks/walls
sentence starters
strategic grouping
home language supports
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Name: ______________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________
Frayer Model
Directions: Write your vocabulary word in the “Vocabulary Term” oval. Complete the rest of the
sections for the vocabulary term in your own words.
Definition:
Sentence:
Vocabulary Term:
Examples:
Non-Examples:
Image Representation:
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