Lesson Plan Reading: Inferences

Finding the Main Idea

Asking Questions

Reading Comprehension

Summarizing

Inferences

Your learner has identified some learning goals around reading. This lesson plan is designed to introduce your learner to one of the tasks invol involved ved in reading comprehension drawing inferences. Inference refers to drawing conclusions based on your knowledge and understanding of the text you are reading. It is oft often en called reading between the lines. Making inferences means choosing the most likely explanation from the facts you know.
Information on preparing for your lesson can be found in your Tutor Training Manual. READ Saskatoons website (http://www.readsaskatoon.com/volunteers/resources.htm) includes more tips.

Essential Skills practiced in this lesson

Reading Writing Oral Communication Thinking

Learning Objectives
To understand inferences as a tool to enhance reading comprehension To make inferences using pictures (visualizing) To make inferences by reasoning (reading between the lines) To use the cloze technique to make inferences

Essential Skills

Reading

Sample Lesson Plan

Date: _________________ Learners Name: ______________________________

Tutors Name: ________________________________________________ Time: ___________ Materials:

Drawing Inferences activity sheets included in lesson plan Its More Than Words, page 30

http://www.readsaskatoon.com/pubs/more_than_words.pdf

The following websites have some useful templates to photocopy for teaching tools

http://www.havefunteaching.com

Activity

Sample Question

5 Minutes

Warm up:
Conversation about week You are sitting in your car and hear a tire screech, a loud crash and glass breaking. You see nothing, but you infer that there has been a car accident. From your experience you know these sounds almost always mean a car accident.

10 Minutes

Review and Overview:

Discuss learners goals again and write them down in a place both of you can refer to often Explain that making inferences is a strategy to help understand what is being read In this lesson the learner will review three strategies: making inferences using pictures (visualizing), making inferences by reasoning, and using the cloze technique to make inferences

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Essential Skills

Reading

15 Minutes

Lesson Part A Learning skill to be presented:

Reading Writing Oral Communication Thinking

Can you think of other instances in your life where you have inferred something without actually seeing it?

Learning Objective:

To understand inferences as a tool to enhance reading comprehension.

Learning Exercises:

Refer to Its More Than Words, page 30

Read the story about Judith and Dorothy and discuss what the ending of the story could be

10 Minutes

Break

15 Minutes

Lesson Part B
Learning skill to be presented:

Reading Writing Oral Communication Thinking

Ask the learner how they will be able to use the information presented in this lesson.

Learning Objective:

To make inferences using pictures (visualizing); to make inferences by reasoning (reading between the lines); to use the cloze technique to make inferences.
Learning Exercise: Refer to the activity sheets included in lesson

Activities #1-3 included in the lesson plan

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Essential Skills

Reading

5 Minutes

Summary and Homework:

Review work covered in lesson, relate it back to goals, and plan for what learner would like to achieve for next lesson and give homework if learner would like homework. Make sure the homework is based on the skill they would like to build Document this completed task in the Portfolio Items List that was included in the folder you and your learner received at your first meeting

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Essential Skills

Reading

Lesson Part A: Drawing Inferences What is Drawing Inferences? Inference refers to drawing conclusions based on your knowledge and understanding of the text you are reading. It is often called reading between the lines. You do not read the actual event but from what you know, it makes sense to think that it has happened. To infer while reading is to make a guess about something because you have past experience to provide evidence to your conclusion. We make inferences or conclusions in reading but also in other aspects of our life. For example: You are sitting in your car and hear a tire screech, a loud crash and glass breaking. You see nothing, but you infer that there has been a car accident. From your experience you know these sounds almost always mean a car accident. Strategies to Help Draw Inferences:

1. Making Inferences Using Pictures (Visualizing)

We use prior knowledge and our own experien experiences ces to read images. When we see a picture of a man with dark sun glasses and a white cane we can infer that he is seeing impaired. This comprehension strategy helps the learner to be more aware as they are reading. While reading we often visualize the c character haracter or the location of the story or text and this increases our understanding and enjoyment of the story.

2. Making Inferences By Reasoning (Reading Between The Lines)

The writer often tells you more than they say directly by giving hints to read between the lines. Using these clues helps you to better understand what you are reading.

3. Traditional Cloze Technique (page 14 in your Tutor Training Manual)

The cloze technique helps the learner to focus their attention on the clues in the story or text. This technique assists the learner to use their background knowledge and look for context clues to make inferences. The instructional cloze is a technique to help develop comprehension by deleting target words from a text. This technique encourages the learner to think about what word would make sense in the sentence. The cloze technique helps learners to develop comprehension, understand context clues and make predictions.

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Essential Skills

Reading

Activities: 1. Making Inferences Using Pictures Look at the pictures and make inferences based on what you see (adapted from http://www.havefunteaching.com).

1. 2. 3.

1. 2. 3.

1. 2. 3.

1. 2. 3.

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Essential Skills

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2. Making Inferences by Reasoning Read the paragraphs below. Think about when the story takes place. Try to picture the time. Check the best answer that tells when we are in the story.
My mother told me that I had to take out the trash. I put on my coat and mittens and grabbed a flashlight. I flipped on the porch light and headed out to put the trash bags at the curb. I jumped out of bed, threw on my bathing suit and grabbed my flip flops and headed out to the pool. Dad was already out there eating breakfast. Later in the day, mom gave us some ice cream cones. They melted fast. After school, my brother and I put on our boots, hat and gloves and went outside to build a snowman. We had a snowball fight, too. After awhile, we went in and had some hot chocolate that my mom made. Last Saturday night, my cousin slept over at my house. We roasted marshmallows at the bright fire and chased fireflies. We caught 10 fireflies and watched them glow in a jar. Afterwards, we wet them free.

daytime/summer daytime/winter nighttime/summer nighttime/winter daytime/summer daytime/winter nighttime/summer nighttime/winter daytime/summer daytime/winter nighttime/summer nighttime/winter daytime/summer daytime/winter nighttime/summer nighttime/winter

3. Cloze Technique (adapted from www.enchantedlearning.com) Fill in the missing words.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the last night of October. On __________________, many people dress up in ___________________ and go trick or ___________________. Children _______________ up in costumes and go from house to house around their __________________________ collecting _______________. Some people dress up in scary costumes (such as a ________________________), some people dress up in magical costumes (such as a ______________________), some people dress up in pretty costumes (such as a _________________________), and some dress up as an ______________ (such as a bunny). On Halloween, some people like to ______________ a jack-o'-lantern. A __________________________ is a pumpkin that has been hollowed out and then carved into a scary face; a small candle is then placed ___________________ the pumpkin.

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Another Halloween activity is visiting a _________________________ house, a place that has been ____________________ in a spooky way, with pretend ghosts, monsters, spider ___________, mummies, vampires, ________________ cats, and other scary things.

Fill in the missing words.

Last night my sister and I went for a walk around the block. I took my little black and white _____________ with me. Her name is _________________. She is very friendly and likes to greet all _____________ she meets. _________________ often stops to smell the ____________ growing along the walk. One day a _______ stung her on the nose. She was not _______________. I hope she will walk around the block with me tomorrow.

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