Focus Question: How can we use text evidence and our ideas to make inferences that help us understand a story?
Direct students’ attention to the anchor chart used in Lessons 1 and 2 and review the meanings of inference and evidence.
Say, “Let’s practice our skills of making inferences by playing a game called I’m Packing My Suitcase. Listen for clues that will help you answer the question.”
Say, “I am going on a trip. I’m packing my suitcase with these items: goggles, flip-flops, sand toys, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a swimsuit. Where am I going?” Have students turn to a partner and make an inference about where you are going on your trip. Then have students respond as a group. (to the beach)
Ask, “What evidence did you use to make that inference?” (All the things you are packing can be used at a beach.) “How do you know those things can be used at a beach?” Guide students to understand that they used their own ideas plus text evidence to make the inference.
As time allows, repeat the game with other groups of items or invite students to make up their own lists to share with the group.
Part 1
Display the book In the Garden: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George. Talk about the cover art and the story title. Add the term prediction to the anchor chart. Ask, “What is a prediction?” (A reader’s guess about what a text will be about or what will happen in a story.) Add the definition to the chart. Say, “Based on the title and cover, what prediction can you make about the story?” Have students share their predictions and the clues that helped them make those predictions.
Say, “The author doesn’t tell you what the story will be about. You looked at the illustration on the cover and thought about the book title. Then you combined all of those clues with your own ideas to predict what the story will be about. Now let’s read the story to find out if your predictions are correct.”
Open the book to the first two pages of the story. Introduce the characters—Christina and Jeremy. Read the text aloud, allowing time for students to explore the illustration. Ask, “Who is Sonny?”(the dog) “What clues from the words and illustrations help you make that inference?” (Mom asks Jeremy and Christina to put Sonny outside. The picture shows a dog with the children outside. )
Think aloud as you read the first paragraph on the next page of the story. Say, “The text says raindrops cling to the poppies. I see raindrops on the red flowers in the picture. I can make an inference that poppies are red flowers.”
Say, “The text says a visitor darts from blossom to blossom, sucking nectar from the flowers. I see a bee in the picture. I know bees suck nectar from flowers. Based on my ideas and evidence from the illustration, I can make an inference that the bee is the visitor the author is talking about.”
Read the rest of the text on that page and point out the question “Who’s been here?” at the bottom of the page. Explain that students should use the evidence in the text and the illustrations and their own ideas to make an inference about who has been eating the seeds in the middle of the sunflower.
Ask, “What animal do you think has been there?” Have students turn to a partner and make an inference. Then have students share their answers. (a small bird or other small animal) Ask, “What clues help you make that inference?” (The missing seeds are on the top of the sunflower, so the animal must be small and light; the seeds are tiny, so the animal must have a beak or small, sharp teeth or claws to pick them out.)
Turn the page to find the answer. Talk about the details in the illustration that support the answer. Be sure students notice that the chipmunk sits on the top of the sunflower and uses its sharp claws and teeth to pick out the seeds, one at a time. Ask, “How do you know if your inference is correct?” Explain that because an inference is a guess, it may or may not be correct.
Say, “As we read the rest of the story, we will make inferences based on evidence in the story and the illustrations plus our own ideas.”
Continue reading the story. Each time the text asks “Who’s been here,” have students turn to a partner and make an inference. Discuss how students use their own ideas plus text evidence to figure out the animals that were in the garden.
As you turn the pages to reveal the animals, explain that students may not know the names of all the animals, but they can make an inference about the characteristics or habits of the animals based on their ideas and text evidence.
Help students summarize what they have learned about making inferences and using text evidence to support their thinking. Say, “Readers make inferences to make sense of what they are reading. As you read a story, you use clues from the text and the illustrations plus your own ideas to help you understand the story.”
Return to the predictions students made by looking at the title and cover of the book. Ask, “Were your predictions about the book correct? How do you know?” Guide students to understand that we can prove predictions based on the text, but inferences cannot be proved.
Part 2
Use the Making Inferences Worksheet (L-2-4-3_Making Inferences Worksheet and KEY.doc) to provide additional practice. You may choose to use this worksheet for large-group instruction or for small-group reinforcement of skills. In either case, follow up with a class discussion of answers. The KEY provides suggested inferences, but students’ answers may vary. The purpose of the worksheet is to help students use text evidence plus their own ideas to make inferences.
After students have completed and discussed the worksheet, have them apply their skills by working with a partner to read a text and make inferences. While students are working, circulate around the room to observe whether they are able to make inferences. Provide support or reteaching where needed.
Write the following questions on the board:
- How do you make inferences about a story?
- How do inferences help you understand a story?
Read the questions with students. Give each student an index card. Say, “Write your name on the card. Then write answers to the two questions.”
Collect the index cards to use as a formative assessment to check for students’ understanding of the concepts presented in this lesson.
Extension:
- Have students who are ready to go beyond the standard choose other literary texts and share examples of how they made inferences to understand the story. (See suggested titles in Materials.)
- Have students who need additional opportunities for learning work in a small group with you to read another story and make inferences based on text evidence and their own ideas.
