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Inferential Reading / Writing Lesson. Kevin Cummins. What is inferential reading?. Inferences are evidence-based guesses. They are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid based on what is actually said.
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Inferential Reading / Writing Lesson Kevin Cummins www.edgalaxy.com
What is inferential reading? • Inferences are evidence-based guesses. They are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid based on what is actually said. • Inferences drawn while reading are much like inferences drawn in everyday life. If your best friend comes in from a blind date and looks utterly miserable, you would probably infer the date was not a success. • Drawing inferences while you read requires exactly the same willingness to look at the evidence and come to a conclusion that has not been expressed in words. Only in reading, the evidence for your inference consists solely of words rather than actual events, expressions, or gestures. • Source dhp.com www.edgalaxy.com
Consider this Example • Consider this statement. “The Senator admitted owning the gun that killed his wife.” • On the face of it this almost a throw away sentence we would not think too deeply about. But we can logically draw the following conclusions from this statement. • There is a Senator. • He owns a gun. • He is married. • His wife is dead. • That gun caused her death. • The Senator admitted owning that gun. • Clearly, the original sentence is a simpler way of conveying all of this information. Writers take note! • Source: www.edgalaxy.com
Becoming a reading detective • So as you can see from the previous example when we read inferentially we must use prior knowledge and at times make an educated assumption to build facts around what is actually being said. • Remember that we read ideas, not just words. • Try to see what you can infer from the following statements write your results in a word document and include the original statement. www.edgalaxy.com
Statement 1 • “The general was forced to surrender his men and arms to the enemy. All of there effort amounted to nothing it seemed.” www.edgalaxy.com
Statement 2 • “Although we are working towards an effective solution to climate change we cannot afford to turn our backs on our workers and mining industry.” www.edgalaxy.com
Statement 3 • The teacher was keen to encourage her students to be healthy and play more out of school sports. www.edgalaxy.com
Implications for Writing. • As writers, we must be aware that our readers will interpret our thoughts. • We must strive to make our meaning as clear as possible. We must provide sufficient examples to make our ideas clear, as well as to short-circuit undesired interpretations. We must recognize what evidence is necessary and sufficient for our purpose, and assure that it is included. • We must choose our terms carefully for accuracy and clarity of meaning, and spell out our exact thoughts in as much detail as possible. • We must recognize biases our readers might bring to the text and explain and support our evidence as much as our conclusions www.edgalaxy.com
Your Task. • On the next slides you are going to view 2 pictures. You are going to infer what is happening in the scene by using evidence from the picture and writing a news report about it. • Use as many pieces of evidence from the pictures as possible and make some educated conclusions based on your evidence. • You need to write 2 brief newspaper articles from these pictures alone to share with your classmates. www.edgalaxy.com
Further reading • http://millermom.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Education&action=print&thread=7252 • http://www.criticalreading.com/inference_reading.htm • www.edgalaxy.com www.edgalaxy.com
