InferringInferring A strategy that helps us read between the lines or “see beneath the surface…”

When Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, showed this “masterpiece” to the grownups and asked them whether this drawing frightened them, they answered: “Frightened. Why should anyone be frightened by a hat?”

So if it’s not a hat, what is it…? Yes, when we look beneath the surface of the hat, we see what the author intended us to see -- a boa constrictor digesting an elephant!

Can you now see the elephant? It is seeing beneath the surface or reading between the lines that makes reading more interesting…

Predicting/InferringPredicting/Inferring Reading strategies to help construct meaning

Making an inference to create meaning not directly stated in text Process of combining current text information + one’s own experiences

In other words… TextBackground Knowledge Inference

Types of Inferences Text-to-text Connecting one part of a text to another, i.e., remembering what was read earlier to connect to current reading

Text-to-self/World Connecting text information to our own experiences and knowledge of the world, i.e., applying what we read and learn to past or present situations, problems, and contexts in the world

Text-to-other-texts Connecting text information to another text by the same author or a similar topic written by someone else

Let’s practice… Use text clues and background knowledge to “read between the lines” to predict what will happen next in the following short story text…

“Caught White Handed” What do you predict from this title? Why? Read on…

For twenty-five years, our hero had managed to avoid being caught. He would saunter into the room, casually open the box, and take out the elixir. In an instant, the deed was done. If he heard the queen coming, he would duck behind the door and act as if he were searching for a hidden item.

Think aloud… Hmm, “the hero” has been doing whatever this is for 25 years without being caught. Is he really a hero, I wonder? “An elixir,” I think I know what that is, but maybe I’ll find out for sure if I read on. And can we infer from “the queen” that the hero is a prince? Regardless, I predict he’s going to get caught.

He was proud of his good ears and quick reflexes. Even so, he wondered if his luck would run out. She was kind, yet very strict with those who broke the rules of conduct in the castle.

Think aloud… I am even more sure now that “the hero” is going to get caught. However, I’m wondering how serious his “offence” can be. He’s been doing it for 25 years without getting caught so it doesn’t seem like his bad deed has had much of an effect on other people in “the castle” – whatever that is.

What evidence are we basing our predictions on? From what we’ve just read, do we need to confirm or adjust our thinking? What in the world is an elixir? Let’s read on…

Then on a fateful night in May, he walked past the queen into the kitchen. She was asleep on her throne, snoring louder than a dragon with a chest cold. “Easy,” he thought, “just another evening.”

Think aloud So now we know that the “queen” can’t really be a queen because queens don’t sleep next to the kitchen! We also know that “fateful” means he’s about to get caught.

Then, just as he lifted the bottle high and put his mouth to the opening, he realized that the snoring had ceased for more than ten seconds…but it was too late. She came around the corner and gasped. She was flabbergasted.

What have you inferred so far? What details support your inference? Now, let’s clarify our understanding…

“How long have you been drinking milk out of the bottle like that?” his mother exclaimed with shock, bracing herself against the kitchen door and fighting a smile. He muttered, “Quite a long time,” to avoid telling her “More than two decades, or, “Since before color TV.” Source: Zwiers, 1999.

So an elixir is… ? And the queen was whom…? And the castle was what…? And the purpose of the figurative language was…?

Resources Tovani, Chris, Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Beers, Kylene, When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers Can Do Zwiers, Jeff, Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12 Strong, Silver, Perini & Tuculescu, Reading for Academic Success