Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions Ms. S. Britt-Keitt

What will you learn? Understanding what inference is. Learn how to look for evidence or clues in a reading and use your background knowledge to base your inference. Understand what a conclusion is. Learn how to look at evidence or clues in a reading to base your conclusion.

What is inference? A logical guess or conclusion based on evidence and prior knowledge. What is in the passage + what you already know = inference.

Let’s Play Detective Sometimes you hear or read the term “making inferences” or “draw conclusions” in an assignment. This means that you have to play detective and figure something out using the clues the reading gives you.

Types of Inference questions What can the reader infer about the character? What inference can be made? What is the mood (feeling created) in the story? What is the character feeling? What is a character doing? What happened in the story? What will happen in the story? When does the story take place? Which of these best describes…?

To make an inference you will need to: 1.) Look for evidence or details from the text. 2.) Use your mind and think about what you already know (background knowledge). 3.) Base your conclusion or make your inference.

For Example… You are reading a story that has these three clues in it: You smell smoke. You see smoke coming out of a house. You hear the siren on a fire truck. *Your background knowledge tells you that when there is smoke, there is fire. Also, you already know when you heard sirens, a fire truck is on its way. Therefore, the inference made is a house is on fire and someone as already called the fire department.

Finding Clues In A Story To Answer Questions Tommy and Sarah just got off the school bus. Sarah said, “I smell smoke.” Tommy pointed and yelled, “Sarah, look at the smoke coming out of that house!” In a moment they both heard what sounded like a fire engine siren. The passage suggests that – A.) The house is on fire, and someone called to report it. B.) The house is on fire, and no one called to report it. C.) Someone was burning leaves in the back yard. D.) This was a fire drill.

What is a conclusion? Evidence from text + evidence from text+ evidence from text = a conclusion

Drawing Conclusions Pretend you are at Wal-Mart. You see a little boy screaming and pulling on his mom’s skirt as she pushes the cart towards the front of the store. The closer she gets the louder the boy screams. A lot of things can be wrong with the little boy, but what do you conclude?

Another Crying Boy Pretend you are at the doctor’s office to get a shot. That same little boy you saw at Wal-Mart is sitting there screaming his head off just like he did at the front of the store. What can you conclude this time? F.) He is still angry about not getting the candy. G.) He has an ear ache. H.) He is scared because he is there for a shot. J.) He just cries a lot.

More Clues Pretend you are at the doctor’s office to get shot. That same little boy you saw at Wal-Mart is sitting there screaming his head off just like he did in the candy aisle. His mom is rocking him in her arms. He keeps pulling at his right ear. What can you conclude this time? A.) He is still angry about not getting the candy. B.) He has an ear ache. C.) He is scared because he is there for a shot. D.) He just cries a lot.

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!