Deepening Interpretation Skills

Helping kids interpret figurative language is a “gatekeeper thinking skill,” according to Jeff Zwiers (Developing Academic Thinking Skills 6-12, 2004). What he means by this is that students must hone this skill in order to be successful in high school and beyond, both in academic and real-world settings. In this increasing complex, information-rich world, it’s up to us as teachers to help our students gain the ability to see beyond the literal, to connect to their background knowledge, to understand context, and to make that “leap” of thinking into interpretation.
Zwiers suggests that we give students frames or prompts, using academic language, to push their thinking into interpretation.
Here are just a few suggestions from his book (pp. 150-151).

Some common expressions used when interpreting:
• It really means . . . because. . .
• This is analogous to . . .
• This part means . . .
• For us in modern times, it could mean that . . .
• This . . . teaches us that . . .
• The . . . is like a . . . because . . .
• This is not literature—that’s the author’s way to describe how . . .
• This is similar to my life in . . .
• From the part where . . . I infer that . . .

Prompts that encourage students to interpret when speaking or writing:
• Explain how the concrete idea of . . . helps to describe the abstract concept of . . .
• Compare . . . with . . .
• Create a metaphor for . . .
• What can this (event, etc.) teach us about how to act today?
• What did his/her/their actions mean?
• Change the end of the story.
• What did he really mean by . . . ?
• Write an entry from the diary of . . . ?
• Come up with ways in which these two very different concepts are similar.
• Imagine you are . . . and map out your strategy for . . .