MAKING INFERENCES

Karen Silvestri

What is happening here?

Making an Inference

Use any information you can get from the photo or the text and make guesses based on that information.

This is called REASONING. INFERENCE is a reasoned guess about

what you don’t know made on the basis of what you do know.

What is happening here?

Make an informed guess!

The man is under a sink. There are tools next to him. There is a puddle of water on the floor.

We can INFER from the details in the picture that the sink is leaking and the man is fixing the sink.

Steps to Making Inferences

Figure out the Main Idea, Key Details, and Organizational Pattern

Notice Details – especially those that are unusual or stand out.

Look up unfamiliar words.

Add up the FACTS.

Consider the author’s purpose

Consider this sentence.

Half of the public education classrooms in the United Sates are now hooked up to the Internet.

Can we INFER the following?Children are more computer literate than their

parents were when they were in school.

Half of the public education classrooms in the United Sates are now hooked up to the Internet.

Can we INFER the following?Students now have access to current world

news and happenings.

Half of the public education classrooms in the United Sates are now hooked up to the Internet.

Can we INFER the following?Books are no longer considered the sole

source of information on a subject.

Half of the public education classrooms in the United Sates are now hooked up to the Internet.

Can we INFER the following?Teachers have become better teachers now

that they have Internet access.