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Improve My Child’s Reading Comprehension Skills (Part 3 – Inferring/Thinking) TutorGiant.com 1. What is Inferring? Inferring (also known as thinking) is absorbing what is known from clues from the text, and thinking about the theme, moral, making speculations, and predictions. It is one of the most powerful reading comprehension strategies. When readers infer, they are thinking to themselves, “I think…because”, and “Maybe… because” It is crucial for students to always include the word ‘because’ when making an inference. By adding the word ‘because’, students will learn to express their thoughts and provide supporting evidence from the text. Writers do not always write exactly what they mean nor do they ‘bridge concepts together”. The reader must make ‘guesses’ and create their own meaning from the text. Inferring is taking what is written and making discoveries. 2. Background Knowledge It is important for students to have prior knowledge because inferring can only come from a student’s background knowledge and the text clues. The more a student reads, the broader his/her background knowledge will be, and he/she will have better chances on making logical inferences. 3. Strategies at Home Younger students can learn to infer by using pictures to help gain meaning. When you are reading a story with your child, you can model inferring strategies. During the story, you can point out a part of the picture and say, “I think…because,” Then, have your child to the same. As your child gets older, use the text instead of pictures as a tool for this reading comprehension strategy. You can also use these strategies to predict upcoming events in the story or informational text. For younger children, you can make inferences based on the cover. For older students, you can suggest that they make inferences based on headings and subheadings. Have your child predict what information the paragraph will contain based on the heading. Morals and themes can be inferred after reading the story. Fables, legends, and myths are excellent tools for inferring. You can ask your child, “What was the story really about?” Make sure your child tells you why by giving proof from the text and explaining their thinking. Have your child practice inferring on a regular basis. Making inferences is the first step to critical and higher order thinking and improving your child's reading comprehension skills. ©Tutorgiant.com Tutorgiant.com provides complete Reading Comprehension lessons with worksheets. See some of the lessons in our video library. |
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