Essential
Skills/Concepts Related to RL 6.1/RI 6.1
Making
Inferences
SOMETIMES AN AUTHOR doesn’t tell
you exactly what’s happening, but gives you clues so you can figure it out
yourself. An inference is a logical guess you make based on facts in the text
plus what you already know from life. Maybe you or a friend has had a similar
experience. Or maybe you read about something similar in a book or saw it in a
movie. You can put the facts and personal knowledge together to figure out
what’s going on and why characters act or feel the way they do.
Example
A
soaked Randy slipped inside the door and put his dripping umbrella in the
corner. As he crossed the room to our table, his shoes made a squishy,
squeaking sound. “What a day!” he moaned as he plopped into a chair and grabbed
a menu.
The author didn’t state what the
weather was like or where the people were, but you can infer the answers. Clues
in the text and your own experiences help you infer that a soaked Randy and
dripping umbrella indicate it’s raining outside. Randy going to a table and
getting a menu helps you infer he’s in a restaurant! Some people call making an
inference “reading between the lines.”
Making inferences helps good
readers better understand the text. Inferring also builds readers’ interest as
they continue reading to find out if their inferences were or weren’t correct. An
inference chart can help you track guesses as you read. List details you find
in the text, what you already know, and what you infer from them.
The text says
. . .
|
I know . . .
|
So I infer
that . . .
|
Randy is wet.
shoes squish
and squeak.
he has
umbrella.
|
you use
umbrellas in rain.
you get soaked
in rainstorms.
|
it’s raining
hard.
|
he comes
inside.
he goes to
“our” table.
he grabs a
menu.
|
restaurants
have menus.
restaurants
have tables.
people share
tables in restaurants.
|
he’s in a
restaurant.
|
Essential
Skills/Concepts Related to RL 6.1/RI 6.1
Drawing
Conclusions
AFTER YOU MAKE one or more
inferences, you can draw a conclusion—a decision based on facts and inferences.
Drawing a conclusion is kind of like solving a mystery. You put together clues,
or facts, from the text and all the inferences you made as you read it. Then
you decide what’s true. But be careful: Sometimes readers “jump to
conclusions,” or make decisions, before they have all the facts.
Example
Bo
heard a classmate say she’s going to Rome on summer vacation. He knows there’s
a famous city named Rome in Italy. So Bo sighs and says to a friend, “Dad says
the price of gas is so high that we can’t go away this summer. I wish I were
going someplace really interesting . . . like Italy!”
Did Bo have enough information to
draw that conclusion? No, he could infer that she meant Italy, but his inference
was wrong. He jumped to that conclusion before he had all the facts. Imagine
his surprise when he later finds out the girl always spends summers in Rome,
Ohio!
Now, imagine you’re the person in
this story. What inferences can you make? What conclusion can you draw when you
have all the facts?
Example
I
couldn’t believe it! I was set to go home and reached for my new jacket. But it
was gone! I hunted for it everywhere around my locker. Suddenly I saw this kid
walking out of school wearing a jacket just like mine! “Hey!” I yelled, “Wait
up!”
Could you infer that the other
kid took your missing jacket? Yes, but you be wrong and would be jumping to a
conclusion. You need to ask questions and maybe examine the jacket. You do, and
discover it looks like yours, but it’s not. But you can conclude that the other
kid has really good fashion sense, like you!
Essential
Skills/Concepts Related to RL 6.1
Author’s
Purpose
AN AUTHOR’S PURPOSE is why he or
she wrote something. It might be to:
•
inform readers.
Example
Every
president except George Washington has lived in the White House. However,
Washington did help design the building.
•
teach readers how to do something.
Example
To
do a waltz jump, take off from the outside edge of one skate, make a half turn,
and land on the outside edge of the other blade.
•
entertain or amuse readers.
Example
The
cat leaped just as Pam came in with a bowl of milk. Pam went down and the milk
went up . . . and then down, on her head!
·
persuade
readers to do something.
Example
Good
citizens donate old clothes to charity. It may be hard to give up a favorite
outgrown sweater, but we have needy people in our community. Why not let your
old sweater keep another kid warm this winter instead of hanging it in the back
of your closet?
Sometimes an author has more than
one purpose, such as wanting to inform readers but be entertaining at the same
time!
To identify an author’s purpose,
ask yourself questions like:
Did
I find out something new?
Did
I learn how to do something?
How
did this make me feel happy, sad, scared, or excited?
Did
the author try to get me to do something or think a certain way?
Extension
Activity for RL 6.1
Create
a Narrative Pyramid for the Chapter. Cite
textual evidence (page numbers) as you complete the pyramid.
NARRATIVE
PYRAMID
1. Character’s
Name
2.
Two words describing the character
3. Three
words describing the setting
4. Four
words stating the problem
5. Five
words describing one event from the story
6. Six
words describing another event from the story
7. Seven
words describing a third event
8. Eight
words describing a solution to the problem
Extension
Activity for RI 6.1
Select
one poem from the list and write a poem based on the article. Remember to utilize textual evidence.
ABC
Poems
The
ABC or alphabet poems have the first line of each line of the poem based on a
section of the alphabet or all 26 letters. Usually, the ABC poems have five
lines starting with A and ending with E.
Acrostic
Poems
Acrostic
poems spell a word with the first letter of each line of the poem. The length
of the lines can vary.
Ballads
The
ballad means "dance songs." Ballads usually tell a story, using four
line quatrain stanza with an ABCB rhyme scheme where lines two and four rhyme.
Some ballads have more than one quatrain.
Cinquain
A
cinquain is a five-line poem. Line one has one word and is the title. Line two
describes the title in two words. Line three uses three words to express action.
Line four uses four words to express a feeling. Line five uses one word that
restates the title.
Concrete
Poems
A
fun type of poetry to write is shape poetry or concrete poems. These types of
poems take the shape of the topic of the poem. Poems can come in the shape of
popsicles, umbrellas, baseballs, light bulbs, etc.
Free
Verse Poem
A
free verse poem means that it does not follow any rigid rules of rhyme, pattern
or meter. However, a great free verse poem will have some type of rhythm. It
will also use poetic devices, such as metaphors, similes, personification,
onomatopoeia, etc.
Haiku
The
haiku is a three line poem that has 5 syllables in line one, 7 syllables in
line two and, 3 syllables in line three. The lines do not rhyme. Classic haiku
poetry focuses on nature.
Limerick
A
limerick poem is a five-line humorous poem that has a set number of syllables
and a rhyme scheme. There are 10 syllables in lines one, two and five. These
three lines also rhyme and have the same rhythm. In lines three and four, there
are 5 to 7 syllables that have the same rhythm and rhyme. The rhyme pattern is
AABBA.
