making inferences
we make inferences every day for example
you might see balloons tied to the fence
of a house and hear the sound of excited
children
and infer that there is a birthday party
going on
or you might notice your dog whimpering
and sitting by the door
and infer that it wants to go outside
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when we use clues to make an educated
guess
we're inferring
let's practice our inferring skills
using this picture
what can you see some of these might be
clues that could be used to make
inferences
i can see the woman's eating popcorn
there's a tv remote in her hand
and i notice that she is laying on a
couch and laughing
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from these clues i infer that she is
watching the television at home
probably a movie because she's eating
popcorn
she's laughing which tells me it's
probably not a scary movie
perhaps a comedy
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my inference could be wrong but based on
the clues
i think this is a pretty good guess
inferring is a very important skill in
reading because it helps us get a better
understanding of the texts we read
to infer in reading we use clues from
the text
and combine them with things we already
know
take this sentence as an example mrs
lee sat at her desk waiting for the
children to finish their work
look at these clues she's sitting at a
desk
and she's waiting for children to finish
their work even though the author
doesn't tell me directly
i can infer that mrs lee is a teacher
now we'll read through a short passage
of text and try to answer some questions
that require us to make inferences
follow along as i read
tina noticed everyone was already in
their seats
it took a moment but eventually her eyes
adjusted to the darkness
and she found what she was looking for
guided by the strip of lights on either
side of the aisle
she began making her way towards the
back
excuse me she whispered as she stepped
carefully between the row of seats
where have you been martha whispered
tina held up a large soft drink with two
straws
martha smiled
now for the first question where are
they
the author hasn't told us directly but
has left clues
can you find any to help answer the
question
here are some clues i found everyone in
their seats
darkness lights on the aisle
soft drink from these clues i can infer
they're in a movie theater
the second question why did martha smile
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i noticed just before martha smiled tina
held up a soft drink
the author made a point of telling us
there were two straws
i infer that martha was pleased that
tina had bought a soft drink to share
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let's try a different text follow along
as i read
gwen groaned as she leaned forward and
grabbed a box of tissues
she had been up most of the night
sniffling
gwen placed them on the pillow beside
her her son had told her he would stop
by at six in the evening
gwen looked at the clock and inside she
thought about getting up and going to
watch some tv
but she had watched enough tv over the
past two days to last her a lifetime
instead gwen gazed out the window to the
busy street below
look at the following clues what
inference can you make
i can infer that gwen is feeling unwell
how long do you think gwen has been sick
is there a clue
that helps you answer this
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i noticed this clue it says she has
watched a lot of tv
over the past two days i infer that she
has been sick for a couple of days
last question where does gwen live
the clue is here she looked out of her
window and down onto the busy street
i infer she lives in a city
remember whenever you're reading look
out for clues the author has dropped for
you to find
combine these clues with things you
already know to make inferences
easyteaching.net
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