A shortened version of the Powerpoint from KSRA 2010.

1. Making Inferences,
Making Meaning
Emily Kissner
elkissn@yahoo.com
http://emilykissner.blogspot.com
KSRA
2010

2. About me
• I am the author of two books for Heinemann:
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Retelling, and
The Forest AND the Trees

3. Agenda
1. What is an inference?
2. Reader-based inferences
3. Text-based inferences
4. Animating the process

4. The role of inferences in reading
• As students transition into reading more
complex, difficult text, they need to make
more inferences to understand what is going
on
• In fact, some researchers estimate that a
reader needs to make 12-14 inferences just to
understand a paragraph of text (Weaver and
Kintsch, 1991)

5. Making inferences
• Readers need to draw on their knowledge of
how text works
• Readers need to draw on their knowledge of
the world

6. Text-Based Inferences
A text-based inference is an inference that a
reader makes based on knowledge of how text
works
Kara walked into
the garden. She
saw what looked
like spit on a
goldenrod plant

7. Text-Based Inferences
Who saw the spit on the plant?
Kara walked into
the garden. She
saw what looked
like spit on a
goldenrod plant

8. Text-Based Inferences
Who saw the spit on the plant?
Kara walked into
the garden. She
saw what looked
like spit on a
goldenrod plant

9. Text-Based Inferences
Obviously, it was Kara! You knew this because
you were able to match pronouns with their
antecedents.
Kara walked into
the garden. She
saw what looked
like spit on a
goldenrod plant

10. Resolving pronouns
As more characters move into the mix, the
task of matching pronouns becomes more
difficult
Studies have shown that less-skilled readers often
have trouble matching pronouns to their
antecedents. Think about how this affects their
comprehension!

11. Resolving pronouns
Aunt Jessica must not have heard me, because she was
walking over to the counter. I guess she was telling them
that we wanted to buy a fish.
“I don’t want a fish,” Leah said. “I want a chin-chih-a.
And I will name him Wor-wy. And…”
“Yes, I know,” I said, cutting her off. “Leah, you can’t
get a chinchilla today. They are very expensive. Look, the
sign says 85 dollars. We can’t pay that.” I have to
persuade Leah to do things at least three times a day, so
I’m an expert. Mom says I’m the only one that she listens
to. I lowered my voice, like I was telling her a secret. “But
in the back they have really cool fish. I saw one that’s
blue.”
“Fish are yucky,” Leah said. “I don’t want a fish. I want
a chin-chih-a. And I will name him…”

12. Resolving pronouns
Aunt Jessica must not have heard me, because she was
walking over to the counter. I guess she was telling them
that we wanted to buy a fish.
“I don’t want a fish,” Leah said. “I want a chin-chih-a.
And I will name him Wor-wy. And…”
“Yes, I know,” I said, cutting her off. “Leah, you can’t
get a chinchilla today. They are very expensive. Look, the
sign says 85 dollars. We can’t pay that.” I have to
persuade Leah to do things at least three times a day, so
I’m an expert. Mom says I’m the only one that she listens
to. I lowered my voice, like I was telling her a secret. “But
in the back they have really cool fish. I saw one that’s
blue.”
“Fish are yucky,” Leah said. “I don’t want a fish. I want
a chin-chih-a. And I will name him…”

13. Resolving pronouns
Aunt Jessica must not have heard me, because she was
walking over to the counter. I guess she was telling them
that we wanted to buy a fish.
“I don’t want a fish,” Leah said. “I want a chin-chih-a.
And I will name him Wor-wy. And…”
“Yes, I know,” I said, cutting her off. “Leah, you can’t
get a chinchilla today. They are very expensive. Look, the
sign says 85 dollars. We can’t pay that.” I have to
persuade Leah to do things at least three times a day, so
I’m an expert. Mom says I’m the only one that she listens
to. I lowered my voice, like I was telling her a secret. “But
in the back they have really cool fish. I saw one that’s
blue.”
“Fish are yucky,” Leah said. “I don’t want a fish. I want
a chin-chih-a. And I will name him…”
A reader struggling with pronouns
would have trouble with this very
simple text

14. Helping readers
Researchers test whether readers can match
pronouns by giving readers texts with
internal inconsistencies

15. Helping readers
You can link this kind of inference to the
strategy of self-monitoring by using these
kinds of texts
I walked on board the ship. The captain gave me a stern look. “You
were supposed to come back an hour ago,” he said.
I shrugged. “I had other things to do,” I said.
“Well, you can get started with helping to load the gear,” he said.
“We’re sailing at nightfall.” The captain turned and walked away.
I said, “I’ll get right to it.” He started loading the gear.

16. Helping readers
During read aloud or shared reading, make a
pronoun mistake on purpose to see if students
notice
I walked on board the ship. The captain gave me a stern look. “You
were supposed to come back an hour ago,” he said.
I shrugged. “I had other things to do,” I said.
“Well, you can get started with helping to load the gear,” he said.
“We’re sailing at nightfall.” The captain turned and walked away.
I said, “I’ll get right to it.” He started loading the gear.

17. Tracking dialogue
Tracking dialogue is another kind of text-based
inference
Meg dragged the tent out of the car. Justin
pulled out the tent stakes. “Give that to me!”
Justin said. He grabbed for the tent.
“I can do it!” Meg said back. She pulled on her
side of the tent.
“You do one side, and I’ll do the other,” Justin
grumbled. “Here are five tent stakes for you.”
“Don’t just throw them at me!”
“Then come and get them.”
“Bring them over.”
“I don’t want to!”

18. Tracking dialogue
To help students track dialogue, try giving them
pictures of the characters to point to as they read
Meg dragged the tent out of the car. Justin
pulled out the tent stakes. “Give that to me!”
Justin said. He grabbed for the tent.
“I can do it!” Meg said back. She pulled on her
side of the tent.
“You do one side, and I’ll do the other,” Justin
grumbled. “Here are five tent stakes for you.”
“Don’t just throw them at me!”
“Then come and get them.”
“Bring them over.”
“I don’t want to!”

19. Tracking dialogue
If you are working with a photocopied text,
you can highlight different characters’
dialogue with different colors

20. Text-based inferences
The chicken said, “Who stole my Halloween
candy?”
“Not me,” said the sheep.
“Then why do you have a candy wrapper in
your hand?”
“Um…well….”
“I knew it was you! Hand it over!”
You can use puppets to act out dialogue

21. Text-based inferences
The chicken said, “Who stole my Halloween
candy?”
“Not me,” said the sheep.
“Then why do you have a candy wrapper in
your hand?”
“Um…well….”
“I knew it was you! Hand it over!”

22. What have you learned?
What have you learned about text-based
inferences? What might help you in the
classroom?

23. Reader-based inferences
Reader-based inferences depend on a reader’s
background knowledge of the world
What season is it
in this picture?
How do you
know?

24. Reader-based inferences
It’s easy to see how students can have trouble
with these inferences. If their background
knowledge is lacking, or if they have different
experiences than the author does, they may
not make the expected inference

25. Reader-based inferences
As you work with students, always ask:
What were the text clues that made you think
this? How did you use your background
knowledge?

26. Character Inferences
Some important
reader-based inferences
involve characters—
their traits, their
emotions, their
motives, what they will
do next

27. Character Inferences
Character emotion skits can help students to see how they use text clues
to infer emotions

28. Character Inferences
Students can also practice writing dialogue to
show character traits. When they do this, they
realize how much a reader can learn from
dialogue!

29. Inferences and Visualizing
Visualizing is a kind of inference…authors
never tell all of the details needed to create a
visual image

30. Inferences and Visualizing
For students who are having trouble with
making inferences, visualizing is a good place
to start
Dalton and his mom walked down the path. Dalton
stared around him. A monkey screeched from a cage. A
sign with pictures of different animals and arrows
loomed in front of them. “Where shall we start?” asked
Mom. Dalton didn’t know. It all looked like fun!

31. Inferences and Visualizing
For students who are having trouble with
making inferences, visualizing is a good place
to start
Dalton and his mom walked down the path. Dalton
stared around him. A monkey screeched from a cage. A
sign with pictures of different animals and arrows
loomed in front of them. “Where shall we start?” asked
Mom. Dalton didn’t know. It all looked like fun!
Where is Dalton? How did you know?

32. Inferences and Visualizing
For students who are having trouble with
making inferences, visualizing is a good place
to start
Dalton and his mom walked down the path. Dalton
stared around him. A monkey screeched from a cage. A
sign with pictures of different animals and arrows
loomed in front of them. “Where shall we start?” asked
Mom. Dalton didn’t know. It all looked like fun!
What else might Dalton see or do?

33. Inferences and Visualizing
You can see how a mental image gives a
reader new information to use to make
inferences
To find out if kids are
visualizing, you can try a
quick visualizing
assessment. Simply give
kids a descriptive passage,
and have them sketch
what they visualize.

34. Inferences and Visualizing
From The Forest and the Trees by Emily Kissner

35. Inferences and Visualizing
Unexpected detail

36. Inferences and Visualizing
Which picture shows a better
understanding of the text? Which pulls
on background knowledge?

37. Improving Visualizing
• Use stories with a pay-off for visualizing
• Work with readers to cope with texts that
have no pictures
• Look for unexpected or critical details…like
the shiny doorbell, these are often big signals
of what is important

38. Animating the Process
We’ve looked at text-based inferences and
reader-based inferences…but the real key to
inference success is within the reader

39. Animating the Process
A student can know all about HOW to make
inferences…but still NOT actually make them

40. Questions lead to inferences
Every teacher struggles with students who
seem to understand how to make inferences,
but does not actually do so

41. Questions lead to inferences
Giving students opportunities to ask questions
and speculate on answers is a way to build
curiosity

42. Looking at photographs
Share photos with your students…either from
your own collection or another source

43. Old Documents
Old documents are another way to stimulate
curiosity and get kids making inferences…in
spite of themselves!

44. Old Documents
PDF versions of old documents are available
from a variety of sources, including the
National Archives
But real documents
do have a special
appeal. Old letters
and scrapbook pages
are also good
sources!

45. Making Inferences: A Quick Guide

46. Making meaning
At the end of the day, making inferences is all
about making meaning from text
By helping students
to understand text-
based inferences,
reader-based
inferences, and
visualizing, we can
help them to build
meaning

47. Making meaning
More resources can be found at my blog:
http://emilykissner.blogspot.com
Classroom-ready
assessments and tools can be
found in my book The Forest
AND The Trees: Helping
Readers Identify Details in
Texts and Tests