Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
Grade/Content
Area
Lesson Title
State Standards:
GLEs/GSEs
National Content
Standards:
Context of the
Lesson
Opportunities to
Learn
Jessica Medeiros
Tenth Grade
English
Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
R–10–11.1 Accuracy: reading material appropriate for high school with at
least 90-94% accuracy (Local)
R–10–11.2 Fluency: reading with appropriate silent and oral reading
fluency rates as determined by text demands, and purpose for reading
(Local)
R–10–2.1a Using strategies to unlock meaning (e.g., knowledge of word
structure including prefixes/suffixes, common roots, or word origins; or
context clues; or resources including dictionaries, glossaries, or
thesauruses to determine definition, pronunciation, etymology, or usage of
words; or prior knowledge)
R–10–5.3 Making inferences about cause/effect, internal or external
conflicts (e.g., person versus self, person versus person, person versus
nature/society/fate), or the relationship among elements within text (e.g.,
describing the interaction among plot/subplots) (State)
Students will have read Into the Wild and be familiar with the
reoccurring themes of the novel.
They are building on this knowledge to understand how
themes from different texts can be synthesized.
This is one of a series of lessons which will be done using
Into the Wild or the supporting literature to continue to build
connections between texts.
Students in this class are tenth graders of varying reading
abilities. This lesson is designed to accommodate their
different reading levels by using organizers, a film excerpt,
handouts and discussions.
Plans to differentiate instruction:
Use of multi-media in the form of a film excerpt
Handouts
Small group and class discussions
Use of graphic organizers, individual and full class
Accommodations and modifications:
Students with difficulty writing may work orally with me, an
aide or a peer rather than filling in their organizer.
Students with hearing disabilities will have the written poem
to read during the film dialogue.
Students with learning disabilities who are unable to read Into
the Wild will have access to a book on tape, and me, an aide
or a peer will read the selected quotes aloud to them.
Environment factors:
Small group work will require desks organized in blocks of
four
Materials:
25 copies of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild
25 “Dart Board” graphic organizers
25 handouts of selections of quotes from Jack London’s The
Call of the Wild and Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago
25 copies of Sharon Old’s poem excerpt, “I Go Back to May
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Objectives
Instructional
Procedures
Jessica Medeiros
Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
1937”
Film version of Into the Wild
Projector or television with DVD player
4 copies of Doctor Zhivago
4 copies of Call of the Wild
The student will accurately infer meaning from selections
from “I Go Back to May 1937,” The Call of the Wild and
Doctor Zhivago using background knowledge and clues as
well as a “Dart Board” graphic organizer.
The student will accurately compare the themes of one or two
of those texts to those of Into the Wild, analyzing the ideas of
Chris McCandless’ many favored writers and the influence
they had on his choices.
Opening: We have been reading “Into the Wild” for a few
weeks now and I’m pretty sure everyone is just about done
with it. We know a bit about Chris McCandless’ background
and quite a bit about his journey across the country and into
Alaska. Last week we had a discussion about his reasons for
setting out on his own, and most of us decided that he wanted
to live life on his own terms, free from the expectations of
others, and with the opportunity to find his own happiness. A
lot of people share this sentiment, maybe you all know what it
is like to feel like you need to live a certain way to make other
people happy. Chris took drastic measures, but his story is
one that many of us can relate to.
Engagement: I know we haven’t watched the movie yet, but I
want to give you all a little preview and just show you the first
clip from the film. In the clip, Chris is graduating from
college, a time when many people would be thinking about the
future. But in this clip, we see that he is reflecting on his
parents and their relationship, almost regretting that they
ever met each other.
In this scene we are going to be hearing a poem by Sharon
Olds called “I Go Back to May 1937.” We will watch the clip
and if anyone needs to see it again, we can replay it because it
is short, but I want you all to make some quick notes on you
handouts of the poems. (The following instructions will be
written on the board) Underline any words or phrases you
don’t understand. What are some of the main themes of the
poem and what are the phrases that made you think so? Why
would they choose this poem to begin the film? Also, feel free
to write any other relevant thoughts or questions you have
down and we can discuss them later on. Please try to make
some insightful comments because you will be handing this in
as a part of your participation grade. Does everybody have a
handout and something to write with…?
After the film, we will have a brief discussion of the clip
before breaking into small groups of about four students.
In addition to your handouts of the poem you should also have
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Jessica Medeiros
Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
quotes taken from two of Chris McCandless’ favorite books,
“Doctor Zhivago” and “Call of the Wild.” You probably
remember reading about them in our novel and may have
wondered why Chris was so impact by these works. Today I
would like for you to read these quotes and try to infer what it
was about these novels that struck Chris so much. Look for
the themes in the quotes that I have selected from the books
and draw a clear connection to the themes of “Into the Wild.”
Each group also has one copy of “Call of the Wild” and
“Doctor Zhivago,” so you can see the quotes in context or
look up new ones if you are so inclined. You should all have a
graphic organizer which I would like you to fill out as a group
after discussing your selected quotes and making your
inferences. There are four identical “dart boards” on your
organizer, and on each there is a spot for a quote from “Into
the Wild,” and quote from a supporting text, and a bulls eye
in the middle where you record your group’s inference. Let’s
all keep in mind the themes we have been talking about, but
who knows? Maybe someone will think of a theme or make a
connection we haven’t thought of yet, so keep an open mind
and really listen to each other.
The groups will work for about 20 minutes or so, depending
on how much time they need for reading the quotes and
making inferences. During group work I will be circulating,
answering vocabulary questions, making sure everyone is
participating and being respectful, and offering help to groups
or individuals who are struggling.
Following group work, a leader from each group, (in my
hypothetical classroom groups are set and the group leader
will rotate within the group, so everyone gets a turn), will
present their quotes and connections, which I will write on an
overhead transparency. Students will turn in their graphic
organizers and marked-up poem for a participation grade and
also as an indication of their grasp of making inferences and
actively reading.
Closure: Today you guys did a great job making inferences
between a few different kinds of texts, but you may be
wondering why I made you do it. While it may have seemed
hard at first to look at different quotes from different books
and make connections between them, you were really just
doing something that you do every day without thinking about
it. Making inferences is just a fancy phrase for reading
between the lines. You make inferences all the time. For
example, you may see balloons on a mailbox and a row of
cars parked on the street. What do you think is happening?
Kids would probably say “a birthday party,” or something like
that. Right. And what would you think if you saw a car by the
side of the highway with the hood up? Kids would say that the
car is probably broken down. Right, now I did not tell you any
of this, you just figured it out based on the clues I gave you.
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Assessment
Jessica Medeiros
Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
Can you think of any more scenarios where you might make
inferences without even thinking? We could spend a few
minutes thinking of more scenarios and taking turns sharing
and answering a couple. You guys can see that we do this all
the time, but some of you may not have done this much with
books. It really isn’t very different from the kind of inferences
that you make in your daily lives, it just may take a little
longer because you haven’t been practicing it all of the time.
But trust me, once you can make inferences with literature,
making inferences in you everyday life will be a snap. It
makes you a better thinker and, allows you to figure out
solutions or situations without having all of the information,
and that’s pretty powerful.
The students will work in small groups to discuss the themes
of the different texts and how they relate to each other. The
students will work together to fill out graphic organizers,
citing specific and relevant quotes from the texts and making
inferences and connections.
We will go around the room and a leader from each group will
briefly expand on the information on their organizer,
explaining it to the rest of the class.
The student will receive full credit for accurate inferences,
synthesis and group participation, which will be based on
their organizers and marked poem handouts
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Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
Name:
I Go Back to May 1937 (from The Gold Cell)
By Sharon Olds
I see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges,
I see my father strolling out
under the ochre sandstone arch, the
red tiles glinting like bent
plates of blood behind his head, I
see my mother with a few light books at her hip
standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks with the
wrought-iron gate still open behind her, its
sword-tips black in the May air,
they are about to graduate, they are about to get married,
they are kids, they are dumb, all they know is they are
innocent, they would never hurt anybody.
I want to go up to them and say Stop,
don't do it--she's the wrong woman,
he's the wrong man, you are going to do things
you cannot imagine you would ever do,
you are going to do bad things to children,
you are going to suffer in ways you never heard of,
you are going to want to die. I want to go
up to them there in the late May sunlight and say it,
her hungry pretty blank face turning to me,
her pitiful beautiful untouched body,
his arrogant handsome blind face turning to me,
his pitiful beautiful untouched body,
but I don't do it. I want to live. I
take them up like the male and female
paper dolls and bang them together
at the hips like chips of flint as if to
strike sparks from them, I say
Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it.
Jessica Medeiros
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Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
From Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago
Man is born to life, not to prepare for life.
Chapter 9, Section 14
No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with
compassion. The more we love, the more the object of our love seems to be to be a victim.
(Ivan Ivanovich), Chapter 11, Section 7
Everything established, settled, everything to do with home and order and the common ground, has crumbled
into dust and has been swept away in the general upheaval and reorganization of the whole of society. The
whole human way of life has been destroyed and ruined. All that's left is the bare, shivering human soul,
stripped to the last shred, the naked force of the human psyche for which nothing has changed because it was
always cold and shivering and reaching out to its nearest neighbor, as cold and lonely as itself.
(Lara, describing life in Communist Russia), Chapter 13, Section 12
I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life
hasn't revealed its beauty to them.
(Zhivago), in Chapter 13, Section 12
From Jack London’s Call of the Wild
"In this manner had fought forgotten ancestors. They quickened the old life within him, the old tricks which
they had stamped into the heredity of the breed were his tricks... And when, on the still cold nights, he pointed
his nose at a star and howled long and wolflike, it was his ancestors, dead and dust, pointing nose at star and
howling down through the centuries and through him."
Chapter 2
"He was older than the days he had seen and the breaths he had drawn. He linked the past with the present, and
the eternity behind him throbbed through him in a mighty rhythm to which he swayed as the tides and seasons
swayed."
Chapter 6
"Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking softly or
defiantly... Irresistible impulses seized him. he would be lying in camp, dozing lazily in the heat of the day,
when suddenly his head would lift and his ears cock up, intent and listening, and he would spring on his feet
and dash away, and on and on, for hours, though the forest aisles."
Chapter 7
"It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was
aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what."
Chapter 7
Jessica Medeiros
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Exploring the Wild World of Inferences
Into the Wild Quote
Supporting Text Quote
Inference
Into the Wild Quote
Supporting Text Quote
Inference
Jessica Medeiros
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