Recommended Reading Skills Focus Plan
3 Marking Period Focus: Making Inferences/Drawing Conclusions
Grades 3-5
rd
Refer to LFS Curriculum Map: Analyzing and Interpreting Fiction, Analyzing and Interpreting Non-Fiction
Standards: 1.1.3.A, 1.1.3.D, 1.1.3.G, 1.2.3.A, 1.3.3.A, 1.3.3.F, 1.1.5.A, 1.1.5.D, 1.1.5.G, 1.3.5.A, 1.3.5.F
Inference – figuring out something that is not stated or explained
This complex skill requires more reasoning than factual recall. Skills needed include: thinking critically,
connecting to prior knowledge, questioning, monitoring, looking back in text, visualizing, and using graphic
organizers. To make inferences, students need to use clues from the text as well as what they already
know. At higher grade levels, knowledge areas extend and simple facts have to be inferred. For example,
at a higher level, students need to infer that plants need water and sunlight in order to make nutrients
grow.
Signal words: infer, conclusion, reason, guess, feel, determined, probably, think, happened, believe, clues,
referring, judging, describe
Introducing the Skill:
 Connect to prior knowledge to find out what students already know about inferences.
 Introduce the concept with pictures. Show pictures and ask students what they can tell just by looking
at the pictures. For example, show a picture of a farm. Talk about the characters, the setting and what
is happening in the picture. Ask students to extend thinking by telling what the characters are thinking
or what might happen next.
 Students can also make inferences after watching short role-playing scenarios. If a parent calls “Don’t
forget your umbrella” to a student before they leave for school, the students can infer that the weather
forecast predicted rain.
 Model the thinking used in making inferences using sentences. For example, post the sentence “The
boy was excited as he opened the package.” Model how to infer by explaining that it could have been
the boy’s birthday or Christmas. He could have received a package in the mail or someone could have
brought a package to him.
 Use inference graphic organizers to gather details from the text and from prior knowledge/experiences.
Examples of Inference Lessons:
 Match inferences to pictures.
 Give students facts and ask them to verbalize the inference. (Example: John struck out. The inning was
over. Inference: It was the third out.)
 The Inference Envelope Please (LFS: Reading to Learn 3-5, p. 6). Give each student an envelope. One of
each matching set will have a fact or inference on the outside of the envelope. The other envelope will
have the topic on the outside of the envelope. An index card with the fact or inference will be inside
both envelopes (folded so students cannot read through the envelope). Students read the envelope
and find the person who completes the match of fact/inference topic. Ask students to decide if they
have a fact or inference on the outside of their envelope set. Ask students to predict what will be
written inside of their envelope. When you announce “The Envelope Please”, the students are to open
their envelopes and look at their card.
Examples:
The boy was new in town.
The boy did not have any friends.

Fact
Inference
We did not use suntan lotion.
The reason we were red was sunburn.
Fact
Inference
We have not scored a goal all year.
We need to practice more.
Fact
Inference
I could not read the board.
I need to get my vision checked.
Fact
Inference
I always sneeze when I am near cats.
I might be allergic to cats.
Fact
Inference
The season is fall.
The leaves will change colors.
Fact
Inference
It has not rained all month.
The plants need watered.
Fact
Inference
There was a storm outside.
The electricity might go out.
Fact
Inference
After reading a passage, students can list the facts as well as prior knowledge to make an inference.
Example:
Fact
6-11 servings of breads each day
Fact
2-4 servings of fruit each day
Fact
better to walk instead of ride
Inference
Eating a balanced diet and being active helps you
stay healthy.

Name that Inference: Give each student an index card with a situation to read aloud. Ask other
students to name the inference.
Examples:
o As we entered the house we could sense that someone had been there. Our books had been
thrown from the shelves and the television was gone. (robbery)
o It is quiet here. There are many books on the shelves. Students are busy reading and writing.
Name the inference. (library)
o The ride was quite enjoyable. Our hair blew in the cool autumn air as we rounded each curve of
the mountain. (riding in a car with the top down)
o Darkness was all around. The only available light was from the flicker of a candle which was set
on the mantle. Flashes of lightning still lit up the sky every couple of minutes. (power outage)



Sort it Out: Provide students with scenarios without endings. Ask students to use the Inductive
Reasoning GO to gather facts and inferences and draw conclusions by writing an ending to the scenario.
Identify the basis for each inference.
Students select a famous person and find out as much as they can about that person – their work,
family, hobbies, and events. Ask each student to collect a variety of items to provide clues to this
person’s life. Ask the class to make inferences about the character based on the items collected.
Students should list three facts and three inferences for each person.
Use well-known phrases or metaphors which are often used to describe a person or thing by inferring
something about it. Ask students to describe the inference.
Examples:
o The bear was mad as a “hornet’s nest”.
o Her eyes reminded me of a sky on a cloudy day.
o Her legs felt like Jell-o.
o I could eat a horse.
o That ice cream really ‘hit the spot’.
Prompts: (underlined words may be changed to fit the content)
 How do you know the students are satisfied with their new teacher?
 What probably caused the car to veer off the road?
 Based on the selection, what conclusion can you draw?
 What reasons does the author five you that the child was upset?
 What tells you that Mabel will probably be jealous?
 What clues led you to believe that Austin was joking?
 What do you think might happen when Daniel finds the fire?
 What can you infer from the picture on page 38?
 How can you infer that the author is a healthy eater?
 What is the relationship between volume and mass?
 How would you classify the plants from North America?
 What conclusion can you make from the experiment?
 What do you think will happen if we do not protect our environment?
 How might soldiers feel during the Civil War?
 Information in this passage suggests that the Bill of Rights was needed for which of the following
reasons?
 What do you think was the Judge’s reason for this decision?
 What conclusions can you draw from the population map on page 16?
 What is meant by the Pledge of Allegiance?
 Why should Americans watch the Inaugural Address?
 Why did the author present this information using sequence?
Reference: LFS Reading to Learn : A Handbook for 3-5 Teachers by Carol Brewer and Janette Gann, 2001.