Good Readers Infer!

Today in class we learned about making inferences. This is something we do all the time when we are reading, enjoying movies, or even watching television commercials. To infer you need to find clues in the text and look for evidence in the pictures. You also use your background knowledge and pull from your past experiences to "read between the lines."

Here's a movie about inferences to help you understand the concept.

Got it?

Okay, let's give this a try.

What can you infer from this picture?

Mrs. Sol's response: I can see the boy has a blue tongue. From my past experience, I know that kids usually have blue tongues when they are eating something blue. I infer that the boy in the picture recently ate a blue popsicle, lollipop or candy (and he's happy about it). 

Now, use the same skills to infer details from a text passage...

Why is Jacob upset?

Jacob walked out of the shopping mall with his arms full of bags and the sun shining on him. As he approached his car, he started awkwardly feeling around his pockets with his arm full of bags. He did not find what he was looking for so he transferred the bags on one arm to the other arm, which already had bags. Jacob had a lot of bags on one arm. He still couldn't find what he was looking for. Now he dropped the bags and plunged both hands desperately into all of the pockets on his jeans. With a look of despair, Jacob ran to his car. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Then he saw something on the passenger seat of the car. He stopped looking and pulled his phone out of his pocket.


Based on evidence given in the text, why do you think Jacob is upset? What happened? What can you infer from the information you have?

Finally, here's a commercial that you may have seen.

What does the boy think when the car starts?

This commercial tells a story, but without words. Can you infer enough information to answer the question? Inferencing skills you must have, young padawan. 

Here are some fun resources to help you practice your inferencing skills.

Detective's Notebook Game

Inference Practice

5 Fun Inference Activities
Readquarium

Keep up the great work!

Captain Connections!

This week in language arts we had a special guest. Captain Connections!

Captain Connections is an expert when it comes to connecting what we read to our past experiences.

There are three types of connections we can make when we are reading: text to text, text to self, and text to world. The descriptions are listed below. Making connections helps with reading comprehension and it makes the story more enjoyable

 Here are a few prompts to help you think of a connection to text. 

If you're asked to make a connection and you can't think of one, you can always start with,

"If that happened to me, I would..."

or something along those lines.

 

We learned about citing text when answering text-based questions, right? Well, you can use the same method for writing about text connections! Here is a variation on the R.A.C.E. method we discussed earlier. 

 The RA part of your answer can come from one of the Super Connection Starters above. 

Here's an example of a thorough written connection. You can click on it to enlarge the text.

In class this week, we read a passage from Henry Huggins, by Beverly Cleary.

Then students were asked to make a connection and write about it!

 

Here are three student connections I'd like to share with you:

According to this passage, Henry Huggins led a mostly normal life until something surprising happened one day. In paragraph three, Henry "thought he would eat the ice cream cone, get on the bus, drop his dime in the slot, and ride home. That is not what happened." I felt like Henry when I found out that I had brain cancer six months ago. Life was normal until POW! Everything changed in an instant.  - By Makenzie

In the text Henry thought, "I wish something exciting would happen." Nothing has ever happened to me like this because my life is always full of adventure.  However, if I were Henry, I would find a way to make my life exciting.    - By Oracle

I can relate to the text about Henry Huggins in my own life.  In the passage it says, "Every Wednesday Henry rode downtown on the bus to go swimming at the Y.M.C.A".  This reminded me of when I lived in Hawaii and after school,  I would go to swim practice.  The passage brought back memories of the long swims and really long days.  The good part is that I became a really good swimmer.                -  By Hayden

 

Excellent work kids! Three different connections to the same text!

For a printable version of our Captain Connections notebook pages, click here. 

For the complete PowerPoint lesson, visit my TpT store!

Remember to make super connections when you are reading for an assignment or for pleasure!

It's Super!