An inference needs a clue you can point to

Pause before supplying the interpretation of a short passage. Invite children to identify the words that prompted their idea, then consider whether those clues leave room for another reasonable reading.

Read the visible evidence. Suggest a possible interpretation. State what would make that interpretation less certain.

From textual detail to a tentative conclusion

A character carries a dripping umbrella into a room; rain is plausible, but the text does not state every outdoor detail.

Locate the textual clue before stating the inference. More than one interpretation may be reasonable when the evidence does not settle the question.

An inference is not permission to invent unsupported certainty. Which words support the suggestion?

Highlight the evidence and offer oral answers.

Resources

• Six-Panel Comic Challenge — Use the panels when a visual story sequence supports the task.

Further reading

• Literacy Hub — Teaching reading professional learning

Read next

• When reading stops making sense, name the problem
• Near-synonyms are not interchangeable everywhere
• Question or statement? Start with what the sentence does

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