Inferences Citing Evidence

4/20 Skill Lesson: Citing Evidence to Support Inferences

Readers infer from close reading

• What does the text say exactly

• What does the text imply (hints at without saying it directly)

• How do you know?

Open Ended

What does it mean to "infer"?

What do you know about the narrator and Bill? What can you infer about the kid?

What can you infer about the characters and events?

Multiple Choice

Why does Bill want to make the boy's ransom fifteen hundred dollars instead of $2,000?

I never lost my nerve yet till we kidnapped that two-legged skyrocket of a kid. . . . it ain’t human for anybody to give up two thousand dollars for that forty-pound chunk of freckled wildcat

• He knows the boy’s father won’t be able to afford a two-thousand-dollar ransom.

• He believes it’s morally wrong to ask for any ransom at all.

• He thinks the boy is so difficult that his parents might not want to spend much money to get him back.

• He worries that Sam will get nervous and back out of the plan if they ask for too much money.

Read about the unexpected note Sam and Bill receive in response to their ransom request.

Open Ended

Sam and Bill initially wanted a two-thousand-dollar ransom for the boy. Explain why Ebenezer Dorset was able to convince the kidnappers to pay him two hundred and fifty dollars to take back his own son. Cite at least one direct quote from the story to support your explanation.

Multiple Choice

Which statement best explains the reaction of the narrator, Sam, to Ebenezer Dorset’s counter-proposition?

• Sam thinks the counter-proposition is a joke and refuses to take it seriously.

• Sam thinks the amount of money Ebenezer asks for is unfair and he convinces Bill that they should pay a lesser amount.

• At first, Sam is happy about the counter-proposition, but then he gets angry again and asks for even more ransom money.

• Sam is angry about the counter-proposition, but then Bill convinces him that it’s a great offer since the boy is so horrible.

Poll

Select the description that best describes your confidence with inferring.

• I know what it means to infer. I can do it consistently, and I could help someone else do it.

• I know what it means to infer, and I'm able to do it consistently.

• I know what it means to infer, but I'm not sure how to do it.

• I'm not sure what it means to infer.

On today's practice selection -

• Read closely, take notes along the way about what the text tells you and what it suggests

• When answering questions, reread exactly what the text says