Inference and Drawing Conclusions
Launch Activities
Haines City High School
Creator: Charles Wynne
Watch the video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m1Nubw8XJw
(ten minute clip)
Answer the questions below:
1. Why is this video clip funny?
2. What happens to Lucy in this clip?
3. What do you think is in Vitameatavegamin they don’t
advertise?
4. What time period do you think this takes place in and why?
Inference and Drawing Conclusions
Acquisition
Haines City High School
Creator: Charles Wynne
Essential Vocabulary
 Inference – to infer is to ‘read between the lines’ of the
text, meaning you have to think BEYOND the text and use
your prior knowledge to draw conclusions.
 Prediction – To predict is to make an educated guess as to
what is going to happen next, be discussed next, or what the
effects of the literature may be. Active readers predict as
they read.
 Foreshadowing – author’s usually leave a ‘blue print’ for
the reader to make predictions and inferences; foreshadowing
is when the author hints at what is going to happen, making it
easier to infer and predict.
Making
Connections
Questioning
Drawing
Conclusions
5
Inference
Analysis of Text:
Interpretation/
Judgment
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Background
Knowledge
(schema)
Predictions
Imagination/
Visualization
“Questioning and inferring
work in tandem to enhance
understanding of text.”
~ Harvey & Goudvis
Authors of Strategies That Work
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Readers are able to think
inferentially when they
connect their background of
information, ideas, and
experiences with the text.
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It is important for the reader to
have background knowledge
about a text they are reading if
they are expected to read
inferentially.
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Word Clues
+ Experience
Inference
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Predicting is related
to inferring - - BUT
what’s the difference?
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“When you read, you use all your
senses.
You see things in your
‘mind’s eye’ and hear the sounds you
connect to that about which you are
reading.”
~ Guided Reading the Four Blocks Way
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“Proficient readers use images to
draw conclusions, to create distinct
and unique interpretations of the
text, to recall details significant to the
text, and to recall a text after it has
been read.”
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~ Ellin Keene
“Inferring is the process of taking
that which is stated in text and
extrapolating it to one’s life to create
a wholly original interpretation that,
in turn, becomes part of one’s beliefs
or knowledge.”
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~ Ellin Keene
“Proficient readers
make connections
between conclusions
they draw and other
beliefs or knowledge.”
~ Ellin Keene
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All the processes
work together.
Each works in
concert with
the others to
aid the reader
in comprehending text.
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SIGNAL WORDS
 Infer
 Assume
 Ascertain
 Believe
 Induce
 Deduce
 Suppose
 Speculate
 Surmise
 Interpret
 Imply (implication)
 Derive
 Draw
 Conjecture
Here are some question stems for teaching Inference &
Conclusions…….
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What does the author mean when he says __________?
What can you infer from __________?
Why does it seem probable that __________?
What does the author imply by saying __________?
What does the author mean by this sentence from the
essay?
6. Based on the information in the essay, what might you infer
about __________?
7. On the basis of __________, what can you conclude about
__________?
***Questions for this benchmark can be either multiple-choice or
short-response
Steps to Answering an Inference Question
1.
Consider each of the distracters and look for evidence
to either support it or reject it in these areas
--the text itself (most important)
--your own experience
--your own logic
2.
Exclude any distracters that are not logical
3.
Choose the distracter that requires the shortest leap of logic.
Inference and Drawing Conclusions
Practice and Assessment
Haines City High School
Creator: Charles Wynne
Complete the first column of the chart
What I know about
Arizona immigration
law
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What I learned about
the Arizona
immigration law
What I can predict will
happen with the
Arizona law
Possible Responses
What I know about
Arizona immigration
law
1. Police can arrest
someone just because they
think they are illegal.
2. My parents agree with
the law.
3. I know it is a big debate
in our country.
4. I saw something about
it on Facebook.
5. I know that the U.S. has
bad immigration laws.
What I learned about
the Arizona
immigration law
What I can predict will
happen with the
Arizona law
Watch the video and add to column 2
of your chart
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ltqJ8-FG8
Possible Responses
What I know about
Arizona immigration law
What I learned about the
Arizona immigration law
1. Police can arrest someone 1. The AZ Governor believes the
just because they think they are U.S. Government has been lazy
illegal.
about immigration laws.
2. My parents agree with the
law.
2. Police can act as immigration
“agents.”
3. I know it is a big debate in
our country.
3. People who hire or transport
undocumented workers can be
fined or arrested.
4. I saw something about it on 4. Could result in ethnic and racial
Facebook.
profiling
5. I know that the U.S. has
bad immigration laws.
5. President Obama believes this
can lead to unfairness.
What I can predict
will happen with the
Arizona law
Discussion
 What do you think will happen with the Arizona law?
 Why do you think this will happen?
 Do you think the law is fair? Why or why not?
 Do you think it could create racial and ethnic profiling? If so,
how?
 What do you think is the main difference between the
Governor of Arizona’s political beliefs and Barack Obama’s
political beliefs?
Possible Responses
What I know about
Arizona immigration
law
What I learned about the
Arizona immigration law
What I can predict will
happen with the
Arizona law
1. Police can arrest someone 1. The AZ Governor believes the
just because they think they
U.S. Government has been lazy
are illegal.
about immigration laws.
1. The law will go in to
effect and the debate will
become more heated.
2. My parents agree with
the law.
2. Police can act as immigration
“agents.”
2. The U.S. government
will be forced to revisit
immigration policies.
3. I know it is a big debate in
our country.
3. People who hire or transport
undocumented workers can be
fined or arrested.
3. The Arizona law will be
repealed soon.
4. I saw something about it
on Facebook.
4. Could result in ethnic and racial
profiling
4. There will be a lot of
racial and ethnic profiling.
5. I know that the U.S. has
bad immigration laws.
5. President Obama believes this
can lead to unfairness.
5. The debate will keep
racial and ethnic profiling
from happening very often.
Answer the questions based on the photo
 What can you infer
from this photograph?
 Why does it seem probable that
this person is not being
seriously injured ?
 Based on the photo,
what might you infer
about why is person is
covered in bugs?
Answer the questions below about the
photo.
 What emotion(s) is she
feeling
 Why is she feeling this
way?
 Who caused this or what
caused this?
 Etc.
Answer the questions below
What kind of relationship do
the people in the photograph
have? How do you know?
2. Based on the photograph,
what can we assume about the
nature of the discussion?
3. Based on the photograph,
what is the probable reason
for the woman’s upset?
1.
Answer the questions using the political cartoon below.
 Why is this cartoon funny?
 What can you assume about
the artist/creator’s opinion
about environment based on
the commentary in the
cartoon?
What is happening in the passage? And
is the picture appropriate? Why or why
not?
My father lies black and hushed
Beneath white hospital sheets
He collapsed at work
His iron left him
Slow and quiet he sank
Science - Read the article
Bionic Cat Gets Artificial Paws
Oscar the cat may have lost one of his nine lives, but his new
prosthetic paws make him one of the world's few bionic cats.
After losing his two rear paws in a nasty encounter with a
combine harvester last October, the black cat with green eyes was
outfitted with metallic pegs that link the ankles to new prosthetic
feet and mimic the way deer antlers grow through skin. Oscar is
now back on his feet and hopping over hurdles like tissue paper
rolls.
Together with biomedical engineering experts, Fitzpatrick
gave Oscar two metal prosthetic implants, or pegs. Those were
attached to custom-built faux paws that are a bit wobbly, to
imitate a cat's natural walk. But first, he covered the brown
implants with black tape to match Oscar's fur.
Multiple Choice Question
1.
Based on the article, the word bionic probably means:
A. Something with human parts.
B. Something with biological and mechanical parts.
C. Something with only mechanical parts.
D. Something with unnatural elements or parts.
Write down the answer AND your reasoning behind
it. You MAY NOT use a dictionary!!!
Answer
1.
Based on the article, the word bionic probably means:
A. Something with human parts.
B. Something with biological and mechanical parts.
C. Something with only mechanical parts.
D. Something with unnatural elements or parts.
Historical Women in Math
1956 Gloria Ford Gilmer was the first African American
woman to publish a non-Ph.D. mathematics thesis research
paper. Had she not halted her graduate school program at the
University of Wisconsin for marriage, she would have been
the fourth African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in
Mathematics. Some years later, she earned a Doctorate in
Curriculum Instruction. However, during her entire career
she has been a major force and an instrumental figure for the
advancement of African Americans in the Mathematical
Community.
Short Answer Question
 What is the most-likely reason that Gloria Ford Gilmer got a
Doctoral degree in Curriculum Instruction but not in
Mathematics?
Social Studies – Read the article
Quran doesn’t call for stoning, experts insist
International outcry - and the pleas of a devoted son - seem to have
saved an Iranian woman from being stoned to death for adultery.
But while Sakineh Mohammedie Ashitani has been granted a
reprieve, she is not the only woman sentenced to be stoned for adultery
in Iran. There have been at least six sentences carried out since 2006, says
Ann Harrison, an Iran expert at Amnesty International in London.
Adultery is the only crime that carries such a penalty in Iranian law,
she said.
Only a handful of countries have laws calling for stoning, and Iran is
the only one that carries out executions that way, Amnesty International
records suggest.
That is because Islam doesn't really want the punishment to be
carried out, says Ziba Mir-Hosseini, an Iranian-born campaigner against
the practice.
Multiple Choice Question
 Based on the information in the article, what can we assume
the author means by the phrase, “Adultery is the only crime
that carries such a penalty in Iranian law, she said?”
A. That the punishment is not harsh enough.
B. That adultery is the only crime problem in Iran.
C. That even murderers are not tortured as much as adulterers.
D. That few women commit adultery in Iran.
E. A and B
C and D
G. None of the above
F.
Multiple Choice Question ANSWER
 Based on the information in the article, what can we assume
the author means by the phrase, “Adultery is the only crime
that carries such a penalty in Iranian law, she said?”
A. That the punishment is not harsh enough.
B. That adultery is the only crime problem in Iran.
C. That even murderers are not tortured as much as
D.
E.
F.
G.
adulterers.
That few women commit adultery in Iran.
A and B
C and D
None of the above
Multiple Choice Question
 Based on the article, what is the author’s point of view?
A. Iranian women deserve to be stoned to death for committing
adulterous acts against their husbands.
B. Male adulterers are not punished as badly as female adulterers
in Iran.
C. Iran is one of the few places where a stoning law is still in
effect for adultery crimes.
D. No one deserves this type of punishment.
English – Read the excerpt below.
It is a Friday, market day. My mother, my father, and
me, we cross into Dajabon, the first Dominican town across
the river. My mother wants to buy cooking pots made by a
Haitian pot maker named Moy who lives there, the best pot
maker in the area. There is a gleam to Moy's pots that makes
you think you are getting a gem. They never darken even
after they have been used on outdoor cooking fires for years.
In the afternoon, as we set out to wade across the river
again with our two new shiny pots, it starts to rain in the
mountains, far upstream. The air is heavy and moist; a wide
rainbow arc creeps away from the sky, dark rain clouds
moving in to take its place.
Short Answer Questions
 What is the narrator’s attitude towards the changing
weather? How did you make this determination?
 What type of climate does the narrator live in? How do you
know this?
 What can you infer about Moy’s pots? What makes them
special?
 What can you predict will happen next?
Read the excerpt of “Verses upon the Burning of our
House” by Anne Bradstreet
In silent night when rest I took,
For sorrow near I did not look,
I waken'd was with thund'ring noise
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
That fearful sound of "fire" and "fire,"
Let no man know is my Desire.
I starting up, the light did spy,
And to my God my heart did cry
To straighten me in my Distress
And not to leave me succourless.
Multiple Choice Questions
1.
2.
3.
During which time period would it appear the poet lived?
A. 300 – 100 B.C.
B. 1600 – 1700 A.D.
C. 1950 – 1970 A.D.
D. 2001 - present
Based on the context, what can we assume the word piteous means?
A. Pathetic
B. Depressed
C. Ecstatic
D. Sorrowful
Based on the context, what meaning does the poet intend to convey in
using the word succourless?
A. Helpless
B. Pathetic
C. Hopeful
D. Dreaded
Answers
1.
2.
3.
During which time period would it appear the poet lived?
A. 300 – 100 B.C.
B. 1600 – 1700 A.D.
C. 1950 – 1970 A.D.
D. 2001 - present
Based on the context, what can we assume the word piteous means?
A. Pathetic
B. Depressed
C. Ecstatic
D. Sorrowful
Based on the context, what meaning does the poet intend to convey in
using the word succourless?
A. Helpless
B. Pathetic
C. Hopeful
D. Dreaded
Inference and Drawing Conclusions
Extending and Refining
Haines City High School
Creator: Charles Wynne
Review Several of the Brain Boosters
Critical Thinking Activities
 http://school.discoveryeducation.com/brainboosters/
 THEN: Write your own Brain Booster activity and have a
friend take it to see if they can come up with the right
answer.