Understanding Inferences

Understanding Inferences

Inference

An inference means taking what you already know (background knowledge) PLUS what the author tells us in the text (EVIDENCE).

More about inferences

You make inferences all the time when you read. When you make an inference, you think about your understanding of a text, think about your own experiences, and then conclude certain information based on these two factors. Since authors do not always tell readers directly everything that takes place in a story or text, good readers take what details the author does offer, and they infer, or assume, certain conclusions. Making inferences helps you understand the text and allows you to make predictions, using text evidence to support your understanding.

Please look at the following photos and decide what you think is happening in them.

• The author uses inferences in these photos  by having you guess what really happened without specifically telling you.

• On the slide after the photo, you will have to choose what you think happened, so pay attention and don't yell out what you think happened to everyone else in the Google Meet.

Multiple Choice

What was happening in that past photo?

• The boy loved his lunch.

• The boy wasn't excited to eat his lunch.

How did you know that?

Multiple Choice

What could you infer in that last picture?

• The man was excited to reach the top.

• The man was scared he would fall off of the ledge.

How do you know that?

Multiple Choice

What could you infer in the last photo?

• The girls are worried about her.

• The girls want to ask her to sit with them at lunch.

• The girls are talking badly about her.

• The girls want her to be friends with them.

-Why do you think this?

-What details in the photo tell you this?

-How do you think the girl on the floor feels?-

Multiple Choice

What inference can you draw from the last photo?

• The people are swimming in the ocean enjoying themselves.

• There is a very bad storm and destruction is taking place.

• They are on a family vacation.

What details tell you that is what is taking place?