Inference

Mia stamps her feet and crosses her arms. How do you think she feels? 

• Joyful

• Angry 

• Lonely 

• Tearful

What is wrong with Carol?

• She is upset because she has been waiting on hold for a long time.

• She is sick and calling in to work.

• She hit her head.

• Her coffee is too hot!

Grandpa sees that his chocolate cake is all gone.  Brad has crumbs on his mouth. What do you think happened?

• Brad baked his own cake.

• Brad needs to brush his teeth better.

• Brad ate Grandpa's chocolate cake.

• Brad ate Grandpa

When making an inference, the most important thing is...

• What you know about the topic

• The topic of the text

• The characters in the text

• Being able to prove your inference using evidence from the text.

Many breeds of dogs are used for work. In many cultures dogs are used to herd sheep. The dogs keep the flock from being attacked by animals such as wolves. They also keep sheep from wandering off. Sheepdogs are known for their loyalty and gentleness. Based on your reading of the text, you can INFER that:

• Sheepdogs are not very smart dogs.

• Sheepdogs are gentle and loyal.

• There are many breeds of dogs.

• Wolves are afraid of sheepdogs.

An inference is...

• Text evidence + what you know

• Retelling a text

• Making a guess without evidence

• Information written directly into the text.

Mr. Martin looked at his watch.  Then, he took a bus list out of his bag and looked at it for a moment.  A few minutes later, he looked at his watch again and sighed.
Why does Mr. Martin keep looking at his watch?

• the bus is late

• his watch is broken

• his watch is cool

• his car is out of gas

An inference is...

• Text evidence + background knowledge

• Retelling a text

• Making a guess without evidence

• Information written directly into the text.

Sometimes we have to “read between the lines.” Authors don’t always tell us everything, so the reader has to figure it out.

• True

• False

Rachel was on her way to volunteer at the animal shelter. She was very excited! She really liked dogs. Her brother was allergic to dogs, however, so she was rarely around them. Rachel had a lot of fun playing with the puppies. But after her shift, itchy bumps appeared on her arms. It is likely that:

• Mosquitoes bit Rachel

• Rachel is allergic to dogs, too

• Rachel fell in poison ivy

• Her brother is there too.