Reading Between the Lines

By the end of the session  Understand what inference and deduction are.  Know why inference and deduction are important skills.  Know how to help your children develop their inference and deduction skills as they progress through the school.

Assessing Reading NC Level 6c 1a 1b 1c

AF1: Use a range of strategies to read for meaning. AF2: Understanding and selection information. Quotation use. AF3: Infer, deduce and interpret from texts. AF4: Structure and organisation of a text. AF5: Use of language – word and sentence level. AF6: Writers’ purposes and viewpoint – overall effect on the reader. AF7: Social, cultural and historical links. Level 1c In some reading usually with support:  I can read simple words by breaking down the words and blending the sounds together e.g. cat.  I can recognise some high frequency words.  I can recognise a full stop in writing.  When a story has been read aloud to me, I can tell an adult what happened in it, in the right order.  I can tell an adult about the main character when the story is read aloud to me.  I can guess what my new book might be about using the title and pictures to help me.  I am beginning to talk about the meaning of parts of a story.  I can understand that stories have pictures to help you understand what a story is about and I can talk about them to an adult.  I am beginning to notice rhymes and certain words a writer chooses to use.  I can tell an adult what I like about a story.  I can tell an adult what usually happens to a bad character in a story. AF1: Use a range of strategies to read for meaning. AF2: Understanding and selection information. Quotation use. AF3: Infer, deduce and interpret from texts. AF4: Structure and organisation of a text. AF5: Use of language – word and sentence level. AF6: Writers’ purposes and viewpoint – overall effect on the reader. AF7: Social, cultural and historical links. Level 4c Across a range of reading:  I can select and summarise the main points of a text.  I understand what a quotation is and can sometimes use one to support my point when answering questions.  I can work out what the characters are like in my reading by how they act and find evidence in the text to back up what I am saying.  I can recognise clues in a text and guess what a character may do next.  I am beginning to make simple comments about why a writer organises a text in a certain way.  I am beginning to understand how a writer’s use of language makes the reader feel e.g. the writer uses question marks to make the reader want to read on.  I am beginning to comment on the writer’s choice of words e.g. the character shouts the word ‘disgraceful’ because he is upset.  I am beginning to understand that a writer has a purpose and viewpoint when writing and I am starting to be able to identify how a writer feels about a subject.  I am beginning to understand how a piece of writing has an effect on the reader.  I am beginning to identify and make simple comments on a text’s historical, social and cultural context.

Inference Inference: is an interpretation that goes beyond the literal information given. Deduction: is an understanding based on the evidence given in the text. e.g. the police find a body with a knife sticking out of it. They can deduce that the person has probably been murdered. They could infer that someone didn’t like that person.

Why are Inference and Deduction Important? They make reading more pleasurable! As adults we naturally make inferences and deductions each time we read a book. We want to read on! We do not become frustrated or reluctant to read because we can decode the text, but really have no sense of the story going on ‘between the lines’

Reading Detectives

CLUES

EVIDENCE

Task one  Look at the cards in envelope one.  Each card relates to a character.  Thinking about the clues and evidence what can you work out about each character from the pictures?

At home  You could put a collection of picture clues or objects in a bag. Ask your children who they think the objects or pictures belong to. Encourage them to explain their thought processes to you.  Get a large picture from a magazine or newspaper. Ask your child to write down words that they would associate with it, justifying each word to you.  The illustrations in the Oxford Reading Tree books are a good discussion tool.

Illustrations  Picture books are suitable for children of all ages and can really help to develop inference and deduction skills.  Encourage your child to answer questions about illustrations.  The illustrations in the Oxford Reading Tree books are a good discussion tool.

1 Why does this man look cross? What do you think he is saying? What is this person doing? Why? Does this person like sweeping the snow? What makes you think that?

Films  In envelope 2 you have some film stills.  What can you infer about the characters in each of the stills?  You can do this at home simply by pausing films and asking your children questions about them.

Using text to infer and deduce In order to be able to infer and deduce from a text children need to be able to decode confidently. The text should not be too hard for them otherwise they will focus all their energies on trying to get a literal meaning and will miss the subtle clues given.

Task 3 In envelope 3 is a text aimed at an average year 3 child. Read the text and then have a go at answering this question on the small whiteboards: Why did mum want the children to keep quiet?

What level was your answer? Level 2: Dad is in bed with a cold and noise will disturb him. Level 3: Dad is probably asleep and may be woken by noise downstairs. If he doesn’t sleep he may not recover as well. Top level 3 children may also pick up on the fact that mum doesn’t want the neighbours to be disturbed.

Have a go – in envelope 4 is a text extract along with some statements that relate to it. Try and find evidence in the text to support each of the statements. You could give your children statements about a text and ask them to find evidence in the text to support each statement. At home

Questioning Asking questions about the text your child is reading encourages them to think more deeply about it. Eventually they begin to ask themselves questions about what they have read. There are some example questions at the back of your child’s Reading Journal. We will put some more on the website.

Example questions What words give you that impression? Why? How do you feel about………? Why? Can you explain why………….? At the end of the story the main character is feeling ……. Does this surprise you? What does this tell you about what ……….was thinking? Do you think this is true/untrue? Why do you think this? What do you think the ………. is thinking? If it were you what would you be thinking? Predict what you think is going to happen next. Why do you think this? Using all the evidence available, can you tell me what you feel about….? Who would you like to meet most in the story? Why? What is your opinion? What evidence do you have to support your view?

Modelling When you listen to your child read aloud make comments about your thought processes: Look back at envelope 4- these are examples of questions you could ask. …And her anger would be terrifying ‘Oh I wonder what mum does when she’s angry that would be so terrifying.’ ‘Well it would have to be something quite bad for him to be terrified.’ ‘You don’t think she hits him do you?’

Any Questions?