5.6F Inferences

My New Friend Sammy

L. Hernandez

     My first day of fifth grade was terrible. Luke, my best friend since kindergarten, had moved away, and I didn’t know anybody else in my class. My mother noticed how lonely I was and asked one of her coworkers for advice. She suggested that I get a pet. My mother explained that I was allergic to animals with fur and feathers, so her friend thought and thought until she came up with a great idea.

     The following week, my parents took me to a store that only sold fish and reptiles. They let me walk around looking inside all the tanks. I saw lots of colorful fish, turtles, and lizards. Near the back corner of the store, I came across a tank with a beautiful red and orange corn snake. It was about as thick as a pencil and twice as long. He looked like he was smiling, and sometimes he would stick his tongue out as if to say hello. 

     The man who worked there took the snake out so I could get a better look. It was strange to feel his cold skin against mine, but I liked how smooth and shiny it was, his scales glistening like tiny, wet stones.  I told my parents I had found my new best friend, Sammy the Slithering Snake.

     On our way home, I thought about how I would feel if I were Sammy. I wanted him to feel comfortable and welcome in his new home, so I did some research about how to care for corn snakes. I made him a little pool of water so he could swim when he wanted to, and I set up a light bulb in the tank to make sure he didn’t get too cold. Every day, I fed him tiny frozen mice. I also let him slide along my arm and up onto my shoulder. I talked to him and told him stories of things that happened throughout the week, and he seemed to really listen.

     One day, our teacher asked each one of us to talk about our pets. Everybody else in the class had dogs, cats, or hamsters. When it was my turn and, I said I had a snake, the other children gasped in disbelief. I told them all about Sammy. Afterward, during recess, they gathered around me to ask more questions. For the first time that year, I felt happy at school!

The narrator’s actions in paragraph 4 of the story show that he—

• Is no longer allergic to animals

• Is determined to be a good pet owner

• Is determined to be a good son

• Is not very excited about his new pet

Raul’s Long Wait

A. Gautam Alejandro knew better than to continue talking to Lily, who was a fountain of never ending stories. “Listen, I have to-,” he tried to say to his classmate. “And then, my kitty got up from the chair and climbed on my shoulders, like this,” Lily said, showing Alejandro what her kitty Puff did last night. “Lily, Raul is-,” Alejandro tried getting a word in again. He couldn’t just walk away from Lily to get to his car. “Isn’t that the cutest thing? You have to come meet my kitty one day. I live really close to you, you know,” Lily said in one breath. “Want to walk with me that way?” Alejandro finally managed to say what he needed to. He kept thinking about Raul at the pick-up line.

Select the two inferences you can best make based on the story.

• Alejandro is a responsible person.

• Alejandro does not like cats.

• Alejandro, Lily, and Raul are students.

• Lily does not have any friends.

• Lily does not have any siblings.

Sally’s Nightmare: A tale from the Industrial Revolution

A. Gautam

Sally didn’t know she was in a nightmare when she was living in it. While her little brother sold newspaper on street corners, her older brother broke coal in coal mines. And at six-years-old, Sally was a chimney sweeper. She worked long hours in the summer. She had not even begun school yet. She had heard about schools for richer kids. Although mostly boys went to schools then, she had heard girls were also attending schools. Nicholas, Sally’s older brother, knew a boy who went to school. Nicholas never talked about wanting to go to school. However, Sally wondered about it every day.    

“We need money more than education,” he had said to Sally, even though he sounded like didn’t believe it himself.   

“What’s school like?” Sally had asked Nicholas over and over. “Tell me about the inside. What is in the rooms?”   

“How would I know?” Nicholas always said. “I talked to the boy for one minute.”   

Sally waited until papa came home. If she fell asleep, she woke up to the sound of his footsteps, and without fail asked, “Papa, when?”    

Robert knew what his only daughter was asking. Robert knew he didn’t have an answer yet. But, Robert was not going to rest until he saw all of his children going to school. They were not going to be factory workers for the rest of their lives.    

“One day, my moon,” Robert replied. He kissed his child on the forehead and went to bed.

What can the reader conclude based on paragraph 1?

• Only boys could attend school, but girls couldn’t. 

• Girls had more job options than boys. 

• Very few children had even seen a school.

• Children made more money than parents. 

Rights

A. Gautam

“Mama, why aren’t we all equal?” Maria asked her mother at bedtime. She was always a curious child.  

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” Leonora inquired. She always answered all of her kids’ questions. She answered them sincerely and without rushing.  

“You know, Papa can vote, but you can’t,” Maria added.  

“Where did you learn that?” Leonora asked.   

“That is all everyone talks about,” Maria explained. She had waited for two whole days to ask the burning question.   

“Well, sweetheart, we are all equal. Some people say only a few groups of people can do some things and another groups of people can’t. And it will change. You will see,” Leonora explained in a soothing voice. She had a way of simplifying everything and still making sense.  

“So, when I am a woman, I can vote?” Maria asked, now hopeful.  

“Yes. And you can do many things your grandmother and even I couldn’t,” Leonora answered with a smile.  

“That makes me feel better, mama. Will you tell me a story of the old times? Will you tell me a happy story?” Maria asked, finally relaxed and ready for bed.  

“Yes, sweetheart. Yes,” Leonora said as she began to think of a happy story.

What can the reader tell based on the story?

• Maria is afraid to ask her mother about rights. 

• Maria doubts her mother understands a child’s concerns. 

• Maria gets information from outside her home as well.

• Maria gets all the facts only from her mother. 

My Precious Heads

 

I had been working hard for the whole year. At the time of harvest, I started making big plans. I thought about retreating to my sister’s apartment in the city for a long rest. I would do nothing but watch movies and devour popcorn, I thought. I also imagined myself lazily strolling on the warm beaches in the tropics. Dreaming of sand, I dug my toes a little deeper into the soil. It felt moist and firm. Sadly, it was no sand.   

I was surrounded by my green heads - cabbages, cauliflowers, and broccoli. They were the size of a softball and firm to the touch. My crop was not only ready, but it was also my life. Next week, I would carefully pluck out each head and store it indoors. This would take me at least four days, I calculated in my head. The sun had set, and the air was getting colder. All this talk about heads made me dizzy, and I decided to call it a day.

How does the narrator feel about his work? Support your answer with evidence from the story. Write it and then record yourself to share your work.