Reader’s I want to talk to you about my friend who is a lawyer. He was working on this case for weeks and he had to find proof that the defendant was guilty. He used phone records and text messages. He found vehicle registrations in the defendant’s name. He had witness’s testimonies. When he argues his case in the courtroom, he WON!!

His evidence proved that the defendant was guilty. Aaaaand, this made me think of reading. Good readers think about the characters in their books and how they’d be described. They use text evidence from the book to prove their “case.”

Let’s practice! Example: Tim and Bobby were hot and sweaty as they sat outside the principal’s office. Dirt was smeared on both of their faces, and they could hear their teacher’s voice as she told the principal what happened on the playground. Tim sneered at Bobby, and Bobby returned the angry glare. What can you infer that Tim and Bobby were doing on the playground?

Evidence from text: Tim and Bobby sat outside the principal’s office. Dirt was smeared on both of their faces. Tim sneered at Bobby, and Bobby returned the angry glare. What information is directly in the text?

Let’s practice again…. Let’s look back into the story Thunder Cake when the little girl is h iding under her bed.

On this page I can infer that the girl is scared of thunder. The evidence is: * She is hiding under the bed. * Grandma says, “It’s only thunder!”

What is an inference? An inference is something that you think is true based on information that you have. An inference is not directly written in the text. To make an inference, we use evidence from the text, and our prior knowledge Sometimes we have to “read between the lines.” Authors don’t always tell us everything. We need to use textual evidence and prior knowledge to understand the story better.

Readers as you read independently, remember to back up your inferences with text evidence. You must always PROVE your case! I am looking for textual evidence!