Jump to Main Content
Decrease font size Reset font size Increase font size
Balanced Literacy Diet
   Twitter   Facebook   Pinterest   YouTube

Inferring Matters

Consolidating an Understanding of Inferences (Virtual Tour)

Inferring Matters Cover Photo

recipe video    Print this Recipe

Stage of Literacy Development:

Stage 3: Literacy for Growth

Ages:

9-12

Grade Range:

4th  5th  6th 

Food Groups:

Primary:
Reading Comprehension Strategies

Transcript

The board we are standing in front of now is the board that demonstrates or visualizes our current unit of study. In this case we are currently studying inferring with the class. To start our unit of study, we firstly look at different text and start to discuss as a group, how we're going to infer meaning from each of the text. We identify five different strategies as a group, and for each of the strategies we look at a different text and try to employ each of the strategies into our understanding of inferring and use that strategy to make inferences as we read the text.

Five strategies that the students and I identified as quality inferring strategies are context clues, text clues, asking guiding questions, understanding the meaning of language and inferring themes in the stories and the fiction and non-fiction stories that we read. For each of the strategies we employ, we choose different text. Starting from the beginning we do focus on non-fiction text. I find it easier for students to pull information and make inferences and determinations about what they are reading.

As we get deeper into the year, one of the authors we study is Eve Bunting and we read several books by Eve Bunting to take a look at how we can start to employ these strategies. The reasons that I chose these books for the students is that I feel the students really connect with these books. Bunting's stories tend to be historical fiction, about fictitious characters who experience things that actually happened in our history. For example, in the story of Cheyenne Again, the character, a native North American is placed in a residential school. I find that these stories become very meaningful for stories and help them understand how we employ these strategies for inferring because there's an emotional piece, a social justice piece for these kids and a connection.

Related References


Activity Objective

The goal of Inferring Matters: Consolidating an Understanding of Inferences (Virtual Tour) is to provide students with opportunities to expand their understanding of inferences by connecting evidence from the text to their own knowledge and experiences.

Quick Tips

Additional Comments:

- Displaying a variety of materials and texts about making inferences helps students understand that inferring is an important strategy to using during reading.
- Use fiction, non-fiction, posters, images and other forms of media to practice inferring.
- Model how to make inferences while you read aloud.


Other Recipes by this Teacher

Act it Out!: True Story of the Three Little Pigs Builds Understanding of Point of View (Virtual Tour) Act it Out!: True Story of the Three Little Pigs Builds Understanding of Point of View (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th
Interactive Whiteboard: A Forum for Student Learning (Virtual Tour) Interactive Whiteboard: A Forum for Student Learning (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th
Student Response System: An Interactive Tool for Assessment (Virtual Tour) Student Response System: An Interactive Tool for Assessment (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th
A Continuum of Literacy Learning: Components of a Literacy Program (Virtual Tour) A Continuum of Literacy Learning: Components of a Literacy Program (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th
Read, Write, Share: Planning for Book Talks Using the Promethean Board (Virtual Tour) Read, Write, Share: Planning for Book Talks Using the Promethean Board (Virtual Tour)
4th - 6th