Chapter 5: Learning to make an Inference

Think back to when you were in grade school or high school. Think about all the teachers that told you to make an inference about the reading that you were going over. How many times were you asked to do that? As students, at least for me, I made a lot of inferences in my English classes. As teachers, it is important that we teach our students to make an inference.Most independent readers make inferences effortlessly. They do it without even knowing it.

This chapter foces solely on inferences and the types of them. I personally did not know there were different types of inferences and found it interesting to read about it. I really liked figure 5.1 because it was a chart about all the inferences that could be made on a passage. It gave me a visual on what inferencing really is, and gave a tangible way to teach it. Some students will not know what an inference is, or how to form an inference. I also liked that the section called "Helping Students make Inferences". It went over steps for teachers to use when going over inferences. I find that very valuable to me, being a new teacher. It helps me teach it in an organized way without confusing my students. This chapter turns a common lesson about inferencing into an extraordinary and even a fun way of teaching it.