a lesson modeling inferencing for the intermediate grades.

1. To make an inference or not to make an inference, That is the question!

2. What is an inference anyway?

3. To inference is to take a critical look at what you are reading and make an assumption based on your own experiences.

4. When do we use inferencing?

5. While we are reading,we are picturing the story and asking ourselves questions about the story.

6. We find clues in the text and can make judgments, to answer these questions, based on what we know from our experiences.

7. Take a look at this cartoon:

9. First let’s consider Lucy. What do we see? By reading the picture, we can see how the author drew her.

10. What do we know? We know that when people look like that, they are usually angry.

11. We can infer that Lucy is Angry.

12. What do we read? We read that Lucy sighs and then says “Youth never listens.”

13. What do we know? We know that Lucy is a “youth”. We also know that when someone says that someone else “never listens,” It’s an insult.

14. Because Lucy wouldn’t want to insult herself, we can infer that Lucy thinks she is more Mature than Linus and Snoopy.

15. What can you infer from this picture?

16. Right…We can infer that these girls are friends because they are smiling and walking together.

17. Yes… We can also infer that they are shopping because they are in a mall and are carrying bags.

18. What can we infer from this passage?She stumbled down the road, not sure what made her car veer like that. The water was running down her face and dripping off her hair. She suddenly saw the lights of another car. She was sure they would be able to help her.

19. Can you infer what just happened to the woman?Can you infer the setting?

20. Good! Now you know!Good readers visualize, question, and make judgments about what they read.Don’t fly blind, be a good reader!