Teachers' Corner Inferential Comprehension Reading Services Center

SUBJECT:	Comprehension - Inferential
COURSE OR GRADE:	K-12
GOALS:	Supports this Learner Characteristic: Has reading skills consistent with reading tasks required.
WHO:	Teachers K-12 Students who have these two learner characteristics in place but who need to develop inferential comprehension: language conventions, vocabulary, and syntax to support learning memory and information retention skills
WHEN:	During each lesson, teacher should ask inferential questions and model the thinking process for deciding an appropriate answer. Also, students should be asked to explain how they reasoned an answer to an inferential question.
TEACHING PROCEDURES/ STUDENT PRACTICE	Reasoning by Inferencing Reciprocal Teaching Justification of Answers QAR Predict-Confirm Passage What? So What? One-Sentence Summary Story Map Graphic Organizers Cloze Comparing
CHECK-UP:	Monitor the students' ability to respond to questions that are similar to the following: Why or how (unstated in the passage) Probably This statement means ___________. It could be concluded ______________________. Tell in your own words. Predict Explain Discuss Review
FOLLOW-UP:	Inferential comprehension such as drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, and constructing unstated main ideas can be difficult for many students. Often students do not notice clue words that may help them organize their answers. Critical to aiding comprehension at the inferential level: Help students answer who, what, where, when, why/how. Model your own thought processes showing how to use background knowledge, illustrations, or reasonable suggestions to fill in the inferential information. It is also important to note that a student's ability to answer inferential information may also be directly linked to his/her language base. ESL students, for example, may have difficulty. If language development is an issue, a Student Assistance Team may be an appropriate step.
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