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4. Reading – The Many Faces of Genius

Reading Strategies

Readers check their understanding of a text while they read. Throughout the readings in this workbook, you will practice strategies for checking whether you are really thinking about the words on a page.

Visualizing

One strategy is to stop after each paragraph and ask yourself: Can I picture what the text is describing, like a movie playing in my mind? If you can’t picture it, then go back and try to visualize as you re-read the paragraph. If you like to draw, you can even doodle the pictures you see in your mind in the space beside the paragraph.

Topic and Main Idea

Topic

The topic of a text is the person or thing that the text is written about. To find the topic, start by looking at the title of the text. The title The Many Faces of Genius tells us that the topic of this text is about genius.

Main Idea

The main idea is the point the writer is making about the topic. We can figure out the main idea by looking for the point of each paragraph. A text is usually written for one main purpose:

 

Purpose Example
To describe something What is the town of Lunenburg, NS like?
To explain how to do something How do you bake salmon?
To tell a story about something What’s the story of Glooscap?
To compare different things Do you prefer biking or taking the bus? Why?
To explain the advantages or
disadvantages of something		 hat are the advantages of
waking up early?
To summarize something What was the movie Black Panther about?

The Many Faces of Genius

Albert Einstein

Is intelligence something that is measured by success in school? Not always. In 1895, Albert Einstein wrote an exam to get into university. He failed all the non-science parts of the test. Yet Einstein went on to become one of the world’s best-known geniuses. Winston Churchill struggled in school and failed sixth grade. He went on to win a Nobel Prize and be elected prime minister of the United Kingdom twice. Whoopi Goldberg struggled to read and write and eventually dropped out of high school. She went on to win every major award for excellence in show business: the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy.

Whoopi Goldberg

These stories show us that intelligence is more complex than something that can be measured by schoolwork and tests. In fact, intelligence is so complex that scientists cannot even agree on how to define it. Some people think of intelligence as the ability to solve problems, learn new things, or adapt to new situations. Others think of intelligence as the ability to cope in the world.

Being intelligent is often seen as the same as being good at reading, writing, and math. These are the subjects that schools tend to focus on. But people can be intelligent in a variety of different ways. For example, people can be:

  • Picture smart: able to visualize, read maps, and draw
  • Word smart: able to read, write, tell stories, and explain things
  • Logic smart: able to solve puzzles, work with shapes, see patterns, or figure out machines like computers
  • Body smart: able to dance, act, play sports, or work with their hands
  • Music smart: able to pick up a tune or rhythm, sing, play an instrument, or compose music
  • People smart: able to get along with people, understand how others are feeling, or give good advice
  • Self smart: able to sort out their feelings, know their strengths andweaknesses, or make personal decisions
  • Nature smart: able to understand the natural world and their role in it

To learn more about what you are good at, try out the quiz at http://www.literacynet.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html.
This website will also give you ideas for using your strengths to improve your reading and writing skills.

lesson 4 practice

The text has four paragraphs. Find the paragraphs that match each of the main ideas below.

  1. It is difficult to define intelligence. _____
  2. There are different ways to be smart. _____
  3. Intelligent people don’t always do well in school. There are many examples of geniuses who struggled in school. _____
  4. You can find out about your strengths by taking a quiz on the Internet. _____

Lesson 4 What Says?

1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.

Spelling and Sentence Dictation

1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.
1.
2.
3.

Lesson 4 Review

Topic and Main Idea

Topic

The topic of a text is the person or thing that the text is written about. To find the topic, start by looking at the title of the text. The title The Many Faces of Genius tells us that the topic of this text is about genius.

Main Idea

The main idea is the point the writer is making about the topic. We can figure out the main idea by looking for the point of each paragraph. A text is usually written for one main purpose:

Purpose Example
To describe something What is the town of Lunenburg, NS like?
To explain how to do something How do you bake salmon?
To tell a story about something What’s the story of Glooscap?
To compare different things Do you prefer biking or taking the bus? Why?
To explain the advantages or
disadvantages of something		 What are the advantages of
waking up early?
To summarize something What was the movie Black Panther about?

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Reading Essentials 1 Student Workbook Copyright © by Meredith Hutchings, Jocelyn Boyd-Johnson & Nancy Harvey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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