Making Inferences

Lisa carefully examined the bug sitting on the leaf. She noticed that it had six legs and a hard shell. Lisa had never seen a bug like this before. She grabbed her magnifying glass and camera. 
What can you conclude about Lisa?

• She is helpful.
• She is afraid of bugs.
• She is very curious.
• She is in her science classroom.

When Sarah was telling about her last place finish in the competition, her cheeks turned red and she had trouble looking her friend in the eyes.
How is Sarah feeling?

• Sarah is extremely happy about her competition.
• Sarah is embarrassed about finishing last.
• Sarah is annoyed with her friend.
• Sarah can't remember the details of her competition.

How to Draw Inferences

1. You look for clues in the text, little pieces of information that seem to relate to the missing information or your question.

2. You think about what you already know from your own experience in the real world.

3. You put these two pieces of the puzzle together in a logical way to produce a reasonable conclusion that supplies the missing piece of information or the answer to your question.

Drawing an inference requires your background knowledge and information from the text?

• TRUE

• FALSE

Mia stamps her feet and crosses her arms. What can you infer about how she feels?

• Joyful

• Angry

• Lonely

• Tearful

Rachel was on her way to volunteer at the animal shelter.  She was very excited!  She really liked dogs.  Her brother was allergic to dogs, however, so she was rarely around them.  Rachel had a lot of fun playing with the puppies.  But after her shift, itchy bumps appeared on her arms.
It is likely that:

• Mosquitoes bit Rachel
• Rachel is allergic to dogs, too
• Rachel fell in poison ivy

An INFERENCE is...

• A logical conclusion
• A guess based on evidence
• Both

Sam and his brother Tim each have their own rooms. Sam likes to make his bed every morning, but Tim never makes his bed. Sam folds all his clothes before putting them away, but Tim leaves all of his clothes on the floor.
What word can be used to describe Tim?

• Neat
• Mean
• Young
• Messy

Max was baking some cookies, but then he got an important phone call. He returned a few minutes later to a smoke filled kitchen. What can you infer?

• The oven has turned off.
• Max forgot about the cookies and they are burning.
• A candle was blown out in the kitchen.
• The cookies are cooling on the baking pan.

Leah's mother ices the cake. She puts eight candles on the cake. After she sets the cake on the table, everyone sings to Leah. The lit candles make her face glow. Leah blows out the candles and smiles.
What can you infer about what day it is?

• Leah did well on a test.
• It is Leah's mom's birthday
• It is Leah's birthday.
• Leah's favorite food is cake.

Until 1996 the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world, with more than a hundred stories.

The Sears Tower is probably...

• as tall as the Empire State Building

• no longer the tallest building in the world

• taller than any other building

• still the highest building in the world