​When Do We Make Inferences?

​We make inferences everyday, in our daily conversations with friends, family, and teachers.

Ex: If your friend comes up to you breathing heavily, sweating, and drinking Gatorade, what can you infer that he's been doing?

• ​When a writer makes you (the reader) figure out information in a story without telling you every last little detail, he/she wants you to make an inference.

• Writers know their readers are SMART!

• Writers want their readers to THINK!

• Writers want their writing to be EXCITING!​

​Why do Writers Leave Information to be Inferred?

​Today was a special day in Ms. Smith’s class. Some of the children were walking around the room, some of them were standing in small groups, and some of them were at their desks, putting finishing touches on cardboard mailboxes. After coloring a cool flame on the side of his racecar mailbox, Johnny hopped off his chair, strutted over to Veronica’s desk, and dropped a small white envelope into her princess castle mailbox. Veronica blushed and played with her hair. While this was happening, Bartleby was frantically trying to put a small white envelope into everyone’s mailbox. After giving one to Ms. Smith, Bartleby pulled out a medium-sized red envelope from his pocket. He blushed and tried to put it in Veronica’s mailbox, but it wouldn’t quite fit. Bartleby struggled with it for a few seconds and then ran off with the envelope. Veronica rolled her eyes and popped her gum.

​Why is today special?

​If you inferred Valentine's day based on these clues, you were correct.

​​Making inferences requires readers to combine what they are reading with what they already know, to reach into their own personal knowledge and apply it

Practice Makes Perfect!

Please go to Commonlit.org & open the article

"The Power of Like"​

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