Inference and Conclusion

Inferences

Inferences are: What is in the passage + prior knowledge

You are reading a story that has these three clues in it:

You smell smoke.

You see smoke coming out of a house.

You hear the siren on a fire truck.

*Your background knowledge tells you that when there is smoke, there is fire. Also, you already know when you heard sirens, a fire truck is on its way.

Therefore, the inference made is a house is on fire and

someone as already called the fire department.

Inference Practice

Tommy and Sarah just got off the school bus. Sarah said, “I

smell smoke.” Tommy pointed and yelled, “Sarah, look at

the smoke coming out of that house!” In a moment they both

heard what sounded like a fire engine siren.

The passage suggests that –

A.) The house is on fire, and someone called to report it.

B.) The house is on fire, and no one called to report it.

C.) Someone was burning leaves in the back yard.

D.) This was a fire drill

Do NOT move on until you have answered the practice question

Inference Answer

Tommy and Sarah just got off the school bus. Sarah said, “I

smell smoke.” Tommy pointed and yelled, “Sarah, look at

the smoke coming out of that house!” In a moment they both

heard what sounded like a fire engine siren.

The passage suggests that –

A.) The house is on fire, and someone called to report it.

B.) The house is on fire, and no one called to report it. X

C.) Someone was burning leaves in the back yard. X

D.) This was a fire drill X

Drawing Conclusions

Pretend you are at the store. You see a small child screaming and pulling on his mom’s skirt

as she pushes the cart towards the front of the

store. The closer she gets the louder the child

screams. A lot of things can be wrong with

the little boy, but what do you conclude?

Pretend you are at the doctor’s office to get a shot. That same

little boy you saw at the store is sitting there screaming his

head off just like he did at the front of the store.

What can you conclude this time?

F.) He is still angry about not getting the candy.

G.) He has an ear ache.

H.) He is scared because he is there for a shot.

J.) He just cries a lot.

Review

When people talk, they don’t always say exactly what

they mean. The listener must figure out what the speaker

really means.

Inference in reading is when you need to use the clues

written in a story to draw a conclusion. In other words, you

need to be a “word detective.”

You will not always be right when you draw a conclusion

from a story, but the more you try, the more skilled you will

become. Being a good reader and word detective is a good

thing!

Inferences

Question

Based on the reading of Jurassic Park, what do you think will happen in the story?

• A. The park will be safe
• B. The dinosaurs will escape
• C. The new dinosaurs will be captured
• D. The computer will not have anymore errors