TEACHING THE STEPS

INFERENCING IN FICTION AND NONFICTION TEXT

EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

You make inferences in fiction about:

Inferences in fiction

MAKING INFERENCES ABOUT CHARACTER

• Read a small chunk: STOP • THINK • TALK/WRITE

• Think about characters actions, dialogue, relationships

• What is a smart guess I could make (inference) about the character

• What evidence do I have to support my inference?

You make inferences in nonfiction about:

EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

What can you inference about this photograph?(Visual Example)

What can you inference about this photograph?(Visual Example)

MAKING INFERENCES FROM FACTS

1. Read a small chunk of text and underline a fact that is presented 2. Come up with possible inferences about that fact OR 3. If you have problems, then think about questions the fact raises4. Try to think of possible answers to your questions (these answers

will be your inferences)5. Think about each inference – give each one a rating (see below) 6. Choose the inferences that have a 3 or 4 rating (these are the

best ones) 7. Keep reading the text and underline evidence that supports your

inference

1 = Not Likely 2 = Possibly 3 = Very Likely 4 = Almost Certain

MAKING INFERENCES FROM FACTS FACTS: deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification. The key word here is “verification”. A fact is a statement that can be ‘verified’. A fact is either true or false. Facts are statements that may involve numbers, natural phenomena, dates etc. The characteristics of the statements classified as facts are:

• Made after observation or experience. An event cannot become a fact unless it has occurred.

• Confined to what one observes; cannot be made about the future.• Limited number possible.• Not perception dependent. A fact will be agreed to by every person. It does not

change from person to person.• Tends to bring people together in agreement.

Example 1:

FACT

A football field is 100 yards long.

Example 2:

FACTThis oil spill has now obtained the dubious distinction of being the worst oil spill in US history, surpassing the damage done by the Exxon Valdez tanker that spilled 11 million gallons of oil into the ecologically sensitive

Prince William Sound in 1989.

EXAMPLE: NONFICTIONThink about the fact presentedCome up with possible inferencesIf you have problems, then think about questions the

fact raisesTry to think of possible answers to your questionsThese will be your inferencesThink about each inference – give each one a ratingChoose the inferences that have a 3 or 4 ratingWhat evidence from the text can support your answer?

1 = Not Likely 2 = Possibly 3 = Very Likely 4 = Almost Certain