Making Inferences

Inference  Take what you know and make a guess!  Draw personal meaning from text (words) or pictures.  You use clues to come to your own conclusion.

Make an Inference!  What does this image tell me?

Question…  What did I already know that helped me make that inference?  Did I use picture or written clues?

Help Me Make an Inference!

More Questions…  Did you use words, graphs, or picture clues to help you make a guess about what that cartoon meant?

Try Again!  Can he draw more than tigers? Look up words you Look up words you don’t know!

Make 1 more Inference

How Do Good Readers Make Inferences?  They use: 1. Word/text clues 2. Picture clues 3. Define unknown words 4. Look for emotion (feelings) 5. Use what they already know 6. Look for explanations for events 7. ASK themselves questions!

Make Another Inference  Miss White has recess duty. Jacob finds a frog, picks it up, and runs over to show it to Miss White. Miss White screams, jumps, and runs as fast as she can into the school.  What can you infer from this passage?  What are the “clues” in this passage?

Game Time!  Let’s play a game to find out how good we are at making inferences: What Can You Infer? What Can You Infer?

Authors vs. Readers  Authors Imply, Readers Infer.  Authors make implications that readers have to infer.  What do I mean by these statements?  Good Readers are Detectives who are always looking out for clues to help them better understand stories and pictures.

Finding Clues In A Story. Maria was on the flag squad that performed at half time during football games. It was the first game that her grandparents and uncle Luigi attended. Maria waved her flag while looking for her family in the large crowd. Just as she spotted her grandmother, her greatest fear came true. She lost her grip on the flag, and it started to fall. Even though she caught it quickly, Maria’s face became red. She felt as if she had made a horrible mistake and everyone were staring at her. The passage suggests that Maria almost dropped her flag partly because she -- A was thinking about the football game B wasn’t strong enough C was looking for her family D was frightened by a loud noise

A Famous Texan Claudia Taylor was born in Texas in As a young child she was given the name Lady Bird. When she grew up, she married Lyndon Johnson who became president of the United States. Lady Bird wanted to do something to make the country more beautiful. In 1965 she set up a Committee for a More Beautiful Capitol. They met once a month and discussed ideas and made plans. Flowers and bushes were planted all around the city. Everyone was encouraged to plant flowers on their property. School yards and playgrounds were improved. Based on information in the passage, the reader can tell that Lady Bird’s work helped make the country – F friendlier G prettier H louder J bigger

Oak School’s New Band Program HELP OUR SCHOOL Oak school is starting a new band program. We need all kinds of instruments. They can be in any condition. Sam’s music shop has volunteered to fix any broken or damaged instruments. Please check your closets and garage. You might have an old instrument that is just taking up space. The new band program will put it to good use. Thank you. The passage suggests that musical instruments that are “just taking up space” in closets and garages – A are heavy B can be useful C are new D can be harmful

The Tasmanian Devil One of the rarest animals in the world is the Tasmanian Devil. I’m not talking about the one you see in cartoons, but the real wolf-like animal that lives on the island of Tasmania. Every few years someone claims to see one, but they never have proof. A few years ago, some scientists who were studying plants found a skeleton, teeth and some skin in a remote area of Tasmania. They were excited as they believed they had found the remains of the rare Tasmanian Devil. They drew a picture of what they thought the animal may have looked like when it was alive. The scientists then sent the picture along with the skeleton, teeth and skin to Washington D.C. What did the scientists probably do with the skeleton, teeth and bones? F Sent them to a country with more experienced scientists. G Made clothing, jewelry, and other ornaments out of them H Studied them carefully and compared them to other animals J Sold them to museums that displayed them

A Quick Review When people talk, they don’t always say exactly what they mean. The listener must figure out what the speaker really means. Inference in reading is when you need to use the clues written in a story to draw a conclusion. In other words, you need to be a “word detective.” You will not always be right when you draw a conclusion from a story, but the more you try, the more skilled you will become. Being a good reader and word detective is a good thing!