Inference Definition:
A judgment based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement.
Making Inferences
• Your inference might be a generalization about a character.
• It might be a prediction about what they’re going to do next.
• It might be a conclusion or an answer to a question you’ve had.
Practice making inferences:
• What you see:
• What you know: wagging is friendly; barking is unfriendly
• Your inference(s) about this car’s owner:
Making Inferences is like being a Detective
1. Look for clues
2. Add them to what you already know
3. Come up with your own conclusion, and you’ ve made an inference
How to help use this strategy: To help your child make connections while they are reading, ask him/ her following questions:
x What does the book remind you of?
x What do you know about the book's topic?
x Does this book remind you of another book?
Ability to Recognize Inferences
In interpreting written material, it is frequently necessary to draw inferences from the facts given. The following exercise measures the extent to which students are able to recognize warranted and unwarranted inferences drawn from a passage:
Directions: Assuming that the information below is true, it is possible to establish other facts using the ones in this paragraph as a basis for reasoning. This is called drawing inferences.
Write the proper symbol in the space provided. Use only the information given in the paragraph as a basis for your responses…
T – if the statement may be inferred as TRUE
F – if the statement may be inferred as UNTRUE
N –if no inference can be drawn about it from the paragraph
Paragraph A
By the close of the thirteenth century there were several famous universities established in Europe, though of course they were very different from modern ones. One of the earliest to be founded was one of the most widely known. This was the University of Bologna, where students from all countries came who wished to have the best training in studying Roman Law. Students especially interested in philosophy and theology went to the University of Paris. Those who wished to study medicine went to the Universities of Montpellier or Salerno.
Questions on Paragraph A
V 1. There were lawsuits between people occasionally in those days.
F 2. The professors were poorly paid.
F 3. In the Middle Ages people were not interested in getting education.
V 4. There were books in Europe at the time.
F 5. Most of the teaching in these medieval universities was very poor.