Readers will support their inferences by quoting direct evidence from the text. Week 3 Overview

Scenario: Mom is in the kitchen cooking dinner and all of a sudden she hears glass breaking. Your brother is in the front yard standing behind a tree holding a baseball bat. You are sitting on the front steps with sidewalk chalk listening to your iPod. Who will your mom accuse of breaking the window? What makes you think that? What inferences do you have based on evidence from the text/situation? As you paraphrase, try using direct quotes which verify/support your thinking.

Learner Objectives: As a result in learning, students will: locate evidence to support inferences quote evidence using quotations marks for direct quotes and paraphrasing

Essential Questions: Can you tell me the reasons why you think? What do you think about as you are reading? Why is it important for readers to think during “read to self”?

Vocabulary inference: A conclusion based mainly on references in the text. "I can figure out what an author wants me to think by using evidence from the text." evidence: facts, figures, details, quotations, or other sources of data and information that provide support for claims or an analysis and that can be evaluated by others. paraphrase: restatement of the meaning of the text using other words

Use Text Evidence: When reading informational text, it is important to cite textual evidence to support your analysis of the most important details and examples in a nonfiction text. In addition to citing text evidence to answer comprehension questions, you can also use text evidence to make inferences. When you make inferences, you use what you’ve read in addition to what you already know to fill in information that is not stated in a selection. You can use inferences to better understand a text and answer questions about it. To make inferences, ask yourself what information is missing from a text. Then think about your own experiences and other texts you’ve read to help you answer these questions. Here is a helpful visual to show you how inferring works:

Visual:

Note the kinds of inferences that you might make while reading the text: I will read … I might make inferences about … Biography/Autobiography the subject’s actions, events, the author’s message Informational Text causes and effects, problems and solutions Persuasive Text the author’s message, ideas used to support the author’s message

Practice: In the 1900s, airplanes crossing the deserts of Peru made an amazing discovery. Passengers looked out of the windows and saw immense drawings scratched into the earth. These drawings showed birds, mammals, bugs, and patterns. People on the ground did not know that these drawings existed. They only knew that lines were scratched into the ground. Scientists have studied these images for years. The images raise many questions. How were these lines created and by whom? What was the purpose of these drawings? So far, there have been no solid answers. But scientists do have some theories. Most people believe that the drawings were made by the Nazca people. They lived in that area around 200 BC. They lived in Pampa Colorada, which means Red Plain. The surface there is flat and stony. The surface pebbles are reddish. Only the surface is red, though, while the soil below is much lighter. The lines were made by removing topsoil so that the lighter soil showed through.

One way to gauge comprehension of a passage is to cite text to answer questions. You can do this by explicitly quoting text from the passage to support your answer. This is called using text evidence. Where and when were the drawings discovered? Answer: In the 1900s, airplanes crossing the deserts of Peru made an amazing discovery. Text evidence is also important for making inferences. Writers expect readers to make inferences as they read. To make an inference, combine clues in the text with your own knowledge to figure out what a writer does not tell you directly. You can use a three-column chart to help you organize the information.

Organize: What I Read What I Know Inference These drawings showed birds, mammals, bugs, and patterns. I learned that Native Americans have great respect for animals. The Native Americans who drew these images did so out of honor for the animals that they drew. People on the ground did not know that these drawings existed. I once walked through a corn maze, but, because the maze was so big, I didn’t know that the paths spelled out a word until I saw a picture of it. The drawings were so large that it was difficult to tell they were drawings unless you had a view from above. The images raise many questions. In science classes, I have learned that new discoveries always lead to many questions because scientists like to find answers for new discoveries. Scientists would want to ask questions, such as who created the drawings and when, in order to determine their meanings.