inferrencing

DEVELOPING INFERRING SKILLS USING A VARIETY OT TEXTS AND GENRES

In this session we will become aware of the different ways in which we may infer meaning from various genres of linear and non-linear and texts. We will also practice various techniques which will enable us to arrive at answers which are not explicitly stated in different types of texts.

Before we begin the session, here is a song to tell us more about what inferencing is. You can sing it with your students too.

The Infer Song(sung to the tune of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”)

Sometimes when you’re reading a storyThe words are not all there for you So being a good book detectiveWill help you to find any clue!

Chorus:Infer! Infer!We fill up what’s not in the book, the book!Infer! Infer!It’s taking a much closer look!

Some authors leave clues in their pictures,Some authors leave clues in their text,They give you just part of the storyAnd want you to fill in the rest!

(Repeat chorus)

So when you are reading a storyBe careful to read what is thereBut then figure out what is missing – Now you are inferring with flair!

Power to Infer. Retrieved from www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8203-ch6.pdf on May 20 2009

EP-P2/S4/TM/Inferencing

http://www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8203-ch6.pdf

ACTIVITY 1: Recognizing Types of Inference

Have a look at this extract:

"The men walked down the streets to the mine with their heads bent close to their chests. In groups of five or six they scurried on. It was impossible to recognise individuals from the small gaps between their caps, pulled down over their eyes, and the tightly bound scarves tied tightly over the bottom half of their faces".

Now answer this question:

What was the weather like as the men walked to the mine?

Answer: ________________________________________________

How did you arrive at the answer?

To answer this question you have used the skill of inferring. This is sometimes called 'reading between the lines'. Writers expect you to use this skill to get the most out of any piece of reading.


There are different kinds of inferences we can make:

Inference can be used in several ways to help you respond fully to a piece of reading.

You can infer a general fact or a precise piece of information.

You can infer emotions and feelings of characters in passage.

You can infer information about the author - his/her opinions, feelings, point

of view.

To infer successfully you can:

1. Work out answer from contextual clues or references in the text.

2. Work out answer from the connotations of words used in text.

3. Match something in the text to your own understanding or experience or

knowledge to come up with the correct answer. Note that in cases like these,

the answers CANNOT be found in the text.

Task 1:

Have a look at the following extract and questions and spot how the clues help you come up with the answer.

"Rain lashed against the windows as Jane stamped up and down the room stopping only to check the time on the mantle clock every five minutes. Her book, bought with such enthusiasm the day before, was flung carelessly in the corner beside the abandoned picnic basket.

Jane stamped her feet and began to repeat her earlier tedious complaints against nature. Emily merely smiled to herself and carried on reading the newspaper without as much as a nod of the head".


Question Techniques for Inferring Meaning

Answers

Question 1Question to infer information

What plans had Jane had for the day?

Clue:The abandoned picnic basket.

Question 2(question to infer emotion)How would you describe Jane's mood?

Clue:Unable to sit still, watching the clock, fed-up with reading, complaining

Question 3(question to infer author's opinion or point of view)What expression does the author use to suggest her disapproval of the main character?

Clue:The word choice tedious has negative connotations and suggests disapproval of Jane's tiresome behavior.

ACTIVITY 2: Practising Inferring Skills

This exercise will help you practise the skill of inferring and check you know how to look for clues in a reading passage. Indicate if the clues can or cannot be found in the passage

Here is an extract followed by five statements.

"Only those who were big sized were chosen to play football by the natural team leaders who emerged every playtime. My duty was to sit behind the goal at the river end of the field and pick any balls stupid enough to avoid the grasp of Tam Knight or "Spite" as he was referred to in whispers by most of the lower school.

On occasion this meant removing my boots and socks - if I happened to be wearing any that day. This particular day the water was higher than usual and as I tried to reach the ball which had fallen into the river, I slipped off the slimy rock and fell into the murky wetness.


While this was bad enough, I stood up just in time to see my left boot float down the river and disappear under the bridge.

The roars of laughter and finger pointing were nothing compared to what I would have to endure when I went home bootless!"

BBC Education: Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/english/reading/inference_rev2.shtml on 22 April 2009 .

Question Clues(Indicate if answer can or cannot be

found in the passage)

Answer

1. The narrator was quite small as a child.

True False

2. The narrator enjoyed helping out at playtime.

True False

3. Tam Knight was a popular boy. True False

4. The narrator came from a wealthy family.

True False

5. The narrator had a happy childhood.

True False

Check your answers in groups of four before your trainer confirms the answers with you.

ACTIVITY 3: Consolidating Inferring Skills

Read the questions to give you some idea of the answers to look for in the text on the following page.

Then, read the text in order to infer some of the answers.

1. What clues are there in this account by the teacher that the child in this passage is not an ordinary child?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/english/reading/inference_rev2.shtml

2. In what ways is she probably different? (Note that you are never directly told. You need to infer).

3. What makes you think so?


Session 4 Handout: Activity 3

She reads books such as ordinary children of her age read and enjoy. I remember

distinctly when she first attempted to read a little story. She had learned the printed

letters, using slips on which the words were printed in raised letters; but these sentences

had no special relation to one another. One morning we caught a mouse, and it occurred to

me, with a live mouse and a live cat to stimulate her interest, that I might arrange some

sentences to form a little story, and thus give her a new conception of the use of language.

So I put the following sentences in the frame, and gave it to Helen: The cat is on

the box. A mouse is in the box. The cat can see the mouse. The cat would like to eat

the mouse. Do not let the cat get the mouse! The cat can have some milk, and the

mouse can have some cake.'

The word “the” she did not know, and of course she wished it explained. At that

stage of her advancement it would have been impossible to explain its use, and so I did

not try, but moved her finger on to the next word, which she recognised with a bright

smile. Then, as I put her hand upon Puss sitting on the box, she made a little

exclamation of surprise, and the rest of the sentence became perfectly clear to her.

When she had read the words of the second sentence, I showed her that there

really was a mouse in the box. She then moved her finger to the next line with an

expression of eager interest. The cat can see the mouse.' Here I made the cat look at

the mouse and let Helen feel the cat. Her expression showed that she was perplexed,

I called her attention to the following line, and although she knew only the three

words, cat, eat and mouse, she caught the idea. She pulled the cat away and put her

on the floor, at the same time covering the box with the frame. When she read 'Do not

let the cat get the mouse!' she recognised the negation in the sentence and seemed to

know that the cat must not get the mouse. Get and let were new words.

She was familiar with the words of the last sentence, and was delighted when

allowed to act them out. By signs she made me understand that she wished another

story, and I gave her a book containing very simple stories. She ran her fingers along


the lines of raised letters, finding the words she knew and guessing at the meaning of

others.

Floyd, J. (2007). Study Skills for Higher Education: English for Academic Success. Selangor August Publishing


ACTIVITY 4: Inferring Meaning From Non-Linear Texts

What is commonly known as “text” can also include graphics, images, cartoons which appear in various genres like movie reviews, book blurbs, newspaper headlines, jokes and others. Learning how to understand graphical elements in various genres will help us to gain more from our reading.

Task 1: Reading a Movie Review

This activity is based on content from a movie-review website called “Rotten Tomatoes”. Why do you think this particular name was chosen?

Look at the screen-shot of the review below which was taken from the website:

The reviews are categorized into two tomato categories “Fresh” and “Rotten”.

What could “Fresh” and “Rotten” could possibly mean? Circle your answers.

“Tomatoes” Reviews

Fresh Positive/Negative

Rotten Positive/Negative

What does a “tomatometer” do? How do you know?

Did “Night at the Museum receive a positive review?

Would you still see “Night at the Museum” after you have read the review? Why?

Look at the review below of another movie – “Up”


Is this a positive review? How do we know this?

What are some words from the text that helped you arrive at the answer?

Below is the synopsis of the movie. Would you watch “Up” after you have read the review?

Synopsis: From Disney•Pixar comes Up, a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. From the Academy Award®-nominated director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.), Disney•Pixar’s Up invites you on a hilarious journey into a lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth. UP will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D in select theaters. --© Disney Pixar

From: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Will “Up” feature live actors or would it likely be an animated feature? How do you know that? What does this show about the role that prior knowledge plays in helping us to make correct inferences?


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Task 2: Practising Inference Skills through Cartoons

What is happening in the scene below?

What are Some of Calvin’s characteristics? What clues are there in the cartoon to suggest that?

Is Susie similar of different from Calvin? How do you know this?

Is the Hobbes (the tiger) smart?


Based in the cartoon above and below, do you think Calvin someone who does well at school? How do you know this?

What do you think happens in the next scene? Predict what happens next.


Does the following frame meet your expectations?

All cartoons from: Watterson, B. (1995). Calvin and Hobbes: Scientific Progress Goes Boink. Pp. 24, 25,26. Kansas City: Andrews and MacMeel

Activity 5:

In groups of four, discuss the following:

How do we use our inferring skills in situations other than reading?

What can you do to help your students improve their inferring skills?
