Summary and Inference

A summary is ...

• a collection of details that give a short explanation of what happened

• a complete retelling of a story

Inferencing is ...

• predicting what might happen in a story

• summarizing what happened in a story

• drawing conclusions from the story using textual evidence

Drawing Conclusions (choose two): Maria shivered and rubbed her arms quickly. She could see her breath, and snow fell lightly around her.

• Maria is probably cold

• It is probably Summer

• It is probably Winter

• Maria is probably not cold

Drawing Conclusions: Jose shook like a leaf as he stood in front of the entire school. He cleared his throat, preparing to speak, but struggled to catch his breath. He rubbed his sweaty hands against his pants and began his speech.

• Jose is probably confident

• Jose has probably given many speeches before

• Jose is probably scared or nervous

Drawing Conclusions (choose two): Julia flew out of bed in a hurry and brushed her teeth as fast as she could. She got dressed quickly and grabbed her bag. With no time to eat, she skipped breakfast and ran to school.

• Julia probably overslept

• Julia will probably be on time (not late)

• Julia will probably be late

Drawing Conclusions (choose two): Matthew looked at his report card and sighed. He crumpled it up in his palm and tossed it in the trashcan. Then, he picked up his phone and continued playing a game.

• Matthew probably got good grades

• Matthew probably got bad grades

• Matthew probably plays too many video games

• Matthew probably studies a lot

Summarize (choose the best summary): Maria shivered and rubbed her arms quickly. She could see her breath, and snow fell lightly around her. Sticking out her tongue, Maria caught a flake in her mouth and laughed excitedly.

• Maria is standing outside enjoying the snow.

• Maria rubs her arms. Then she looks at her breath. She watches the snow fall around her. Next she catches a snowflake on her tongue and laughs.

Summarize (choose the best summary): Jose shook like a leaf as he stood in front of the entire school. He cleared his throat, preparing to speak, but struggled to catch his breath. He rubbed his sweaty hands against his pants and began his speech.

• Jose shook nervously. Then he stood in front of the students and cleared this throat. He couldn't breathe well. He rubbed his hands on his pants and gave the speech.

• Jose is giving a speech, and he is very nervous. He clears his throat and rubs his hands anxiously.

Summarize (choose the best summary): Julia flew out of bed in a hurry and brushed her teeth as fast as she could. She got dressed quickly and grabbed her bag. With no time to eat, she skipped breakfast and ran to school.

• Julia was late to school. She hurried to get ready and ran as fast as she could.

• Julia woke up late and got out of bed as fast as she could. She brushed her teeth, got dressed, and grabbed her bag. She skipped breakfast and ran to school.

Summarize (choose the best summary): Matthew looked at his report card and sighed. He crumpled it up in his palm and tossed it in the trashcan. Then, he picked up his phone and continued playing a game.

• Matthew looked his report card and felt disappointed. He threw the card away and played a game on his phone.

• Matthew got bad grades on his report card and decided to play a game instead of studying.