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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIyt5pEcE_g

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https://www.cuesta.edu/student/resources/ssc/study_guides/reading_comp/307_read_main_idea.html

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https://www.landmarkoutreach.org/strategies/finding-main-idea/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCz7b7ZlClM

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https://courses.lumenlearning.com/developmentalreading/chapter/making-inferences/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0yZ8z7lt3Q

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https://www.smekenseducation.com/Scaffold-MiniLesson-Concepts-to.html

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https://www.literacyideas.com/getting-the-main-idea

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https://study.com/academy/lesson/facts-vs-opinions-examples-games-activities.html

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https://www.teachervision.com/reading-comprehension/inferences

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https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-main-idea-3212047

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwdDClWP6i4

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https://www.teachervision.com/reading-comprehension/inferences

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How to find the main idea and supporting details - reading skills for beginners

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How to find the main idea and supporting details - reading skills for beginners

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acZzllpIYz4

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https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-find-the-implied-main-idea-3211726

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Introduction to Reading Skills: Making Inferences

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Introduction to Reading Skills: Making Inferences

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acZzllpIYz4

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ngkj2Lx-Ks

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https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/inference

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIyt5pEcE_g

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Inferences

What Is It?

Making an inference involves using what you know to make a guess about what you don't know or reading between the lines. Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said, making the text personal and memorable. Helping students make texts memorable will help them gain more personal pleasure from reading, read the text more critically, and remember and apply what they have read.

Why Is It Important?

Researchers have confirmed that thoughtful, active, proficient readers are metacognitive; they think about their own thinking during reading. They can identify when and why the meaning of the text is unclear to them and can use a variety of strategies to solve comprehension problems or deepen their understanding of a text (Duffy et al. 1987).

Proficient readers use their prior knowledge and textual information to draw conclusions, make critical judgments, and form unique interpretations from text. Inferences may occur in the form of conclusions, predictions, or new ideas (Anderson and Pearson, 1984).

How Can You Make It Happen?

Introduce this strategy by modeling it for students, starting with everyday examples, moving to listening activities, and then to text examples. Tell students that good readers make inferences to understand what they are reading. Emphasize that they will bring their own knowledge of events to the text, so each inference may be unique. For example, you may want to introduce making inferences with an example such as the following.

You got to school this morning and you couldn't find a lesson plan. You were reading it over while having breakfast, so you probably left it on your kitchen table.

Point out that you are making an inference based upon the fact that you know you were working on your lesson plan at home. Discuss situations in which students don't have all of the information and have to make logical guesses, such as figuring out what someone is trying to say, figuring out what is happening in a movie, or figuring who the singer is on the radio. They may need practice identifying the inferences they make in every day life.

Another way to introduce this strategy is to use pictures from a magazine or book cover, and cover a part of the picture. Ask about what is happening in the picture, what the picture is advertising, or what the story will be about. Think aloud as you make connections between the facts and your prior knowledge, using phrases such as, "The picture looks like...I know that..." Next, have students respond to questions about new pictures, citing their reasons for their inferences. Have them cite reasons that are facts along with reason that come from their prior knowledge.

Then, model how good readers make inferences while reading. They use ideas from the book and add their own ideas to them. Read this short passage to students:

The young woman walked a bit hesitantly towards the famous cozy Italian restaurant. She did not believe the excuse her parents gave her for having to meet her at the restaurant instead of at their house. To make matters worse, she was a bit grumpy because she was still catching up on the sleep that she lost during exam time. She noticed some cars that looked familiar in the parking lot. As soon as she walked through the door, she heard, "Surprise!"

Now read it again and when you make an inference, tell students about it and describe how you make the inferences. You may say something such as:

The text says: She did not believe the excuse her parents gave her.
I know: Sometimes if people play practical jokes, others don't believe everything they say. Maybe her parents played practical jokes.

The text says: She was a bit grumpy because she was still catching up on the sleep that she lost during exam time.
I know: I know exams are usually given in school, so she is probably in high school or college.

The text says: She noticed some cars that looked familiar in the parking lot. As soon as she walked through the door, she heard, "Surprise!"
I know: If the cars are familiar, that means people she knows are in the restaurant. This makes me change my inference. If her parents wanted to meet her at the restaurant, and other people she knows are there, maybe it's a surprise party.

By modeling your thought process, students can see how you took the information from the text, along with what you knew already and your own ideas, to make inferences. Point out which facts came from the text and which came from your background knowledge. Then put them all together to make the inference that it might be a surprise party.

To make the process more explicit, use a graphic organizer to record students' answers. Ask students to record the facts that are stated in the text, along with their background knowledge. Have students keep in mind that they can change or modify their inferences as they read. Point out that they were able to make an inference based on their knowledge of surprise parties. Have students practice this strategy and use a graphic organizer while reading text.

How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?

Allow students to share a wide range of interpretations when reading fiction. Make sure the classroom is a safe and non-critical place for students to share their background knowledge, keeping in mind that there may be as many different interpretations as there are students.

Use a variety of genres to practice making inferences. When students read non-fiction, there are fewer inferences or interpretations that are usually made from the text. Discuss how the inferences and conclusions are different when reading science articles, poetry, novels, or historical documents. Have students practice justifying their interpretations, being explicit about which parts of the text they used to gain facts, and the background knowledge they used to make the inference.

Challenge students by having them write a paragraph including facts and inferred facts. Have them exchange their paragraphs and make inferences based on the information in the paragraphs. Ask each student to complete a graphic organizer for their peer's story, and have them discuss their inferences and how they arrived at them.

For younger students, you may generate some questions about a text as a group, place students in pairs, and have pairs work together to fill out the graphic organizer.

When Can You Use It?

Reading:

Have students read a newspaper editorial. Have them infer at least two things that were not explicitly stated by the author. Then have students draw a conclusion about the topic. Ask students to make inferences and draw conclusions from a particular novel you are reading in class.

Have students make inferences about where or when a photograph was taken. Provide photographs of unfamiliar geographic areas, buildings, or landscapes.

Writing:

Have students write a paragraph that describes something they are familiar with — an object, a situation, a place — without explicitly stating what it is. Pair students and have them exchange their papers and infer what their partner's paragraph is describing. Have them list the inferences that led them to their conclusion.

Lesson Plans
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing

This lesson is designed to teach primary students to make inferences as a reading comprehension strategy. In this lesson, students will draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the pictures in the book to articulate (verbalize) the inference the author is making in the text. This is the first of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

This lesson is designed to help primary students establish the skill of making inferences. In this lesson, students draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the text to make inferences. This is the second of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.

This lesson is designed to expand primary students' skill of making inferences. In this lesson, students will draw on their prior knowledge and use the information from the text to make inferences. This is the third of a set of lessons designed to teach students how to make inferences.

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Inferences | Reading Comprehension Exercise

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Making an inference involves using what you know to make a guess about what you don't know or reading between the lines. Readers who make inferences use the clues in the text along with their own experiences to help them figure out what is not directly said, making the text personal and memorable.

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https://www.literacyideas.com/teaching-fact-and-opinion

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https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/guesthomepage.html

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Teaching Resources and Lesson Plans - Teaching Ideas 4U by Amy Mezni

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There are a few basic reading strategies that will help students improve their reading comprehension. Teaching students how to identify the main idea of a text is an effective way to increase their understanding of the reading. The main idea is exactly what it says, the main or most important idea that the reader should take away from reading the passage. In other words, it is the point that the author wants the reader to understand.

Teaching Main Idea

Before teaching students how to identify the main idea, teachers should make sure that students already understand a few other reading concepts. This will help prevent students from confusing the reading concepts.

Topic - whom or what the passage is about

Topic Sentence - the sentence in the paragraph that states the main idea

Author's Purpose - what the author wants the reader to understand

Theme - a subject or topic that is repeated throughout a text or multiple texts

Once students understand these topics, they are ready to begin main idea.

Visual Clues

For some books and passages, teaching students to look at visual clues is a great way to determine the main idea. For example, if a text has photographs or illustrations, the reader should think about what is being shown. A book that is about the life cycle of a frog should have images of an egg, tadpole, frog, etc. Another visual clue is the title. The title usually tells the reader what the passage will be about. Back to the life cycle of a frog - if it is about a frog, the title will probably mention frogs.

The GIST Strategy

A commonly used strategy for teaching main idea is GIST. GIST helps students to understand that the main idea of a passage is not a summary - something many students mix up. A summary is longer than the main idea. With GIST, students narrow down the main idea to one sentence, ranging from 10 - 20 words depending upon the grade level. That one sentence should state the ONE key idea that the reader should understand from the passage. GIST can be broken down into three steps:

Step 1 - Determine who or what is the focus of the text.

Step 2 - What is the most important thing about the who or the what from step one?

Step 3 - Write a sentence using the answers from steps one ad two. That sentence is the main idea!

Mentor Texts for Main Idea

Every book or reading passage has a main idea, but it is easier to identify in some texts. Nonfiction articles, such as a magazine or newspaper article, will have strong main ideas. In addition, there are a number of picture books that are excellent mentor texts for teaching main idea, including:

Evaluating Students

When it comes to teaching reading strategies, there can be pressure for grading students on the strategy. In my opinion, I feel that grading students to heavily on whether or not they can apply a strategy can really backfire. Why are you teaching the strategies? You want students to improve their reading comprehension. A struggling reader is just going to shut down if they know they are going to be graded on every step.

Instead of grading students on their application of the strategy, use your evaluation to help you create reading groups. Students that clearly understand the strategy could be groups together and taught the next strategy. Students that seem to be catching on could be placed together to practice for more practice. Your readers that just are not getting it could be in a group to work with you on the strategy. Remember, the end goal is to increase their reading comprehension, and that is what is most likely being graded. The reading strategy is a means to reach the end goal.

My school has been teaching these reading strategies, and the teachers wanted resources to hep students remember the strategies. They also wanted to have a way to evaluate students' understanding of the strategies. In order to meet the teacher needs, I created a resource for each strategy. The resources come in printable and interactive notebook formats, and the strategy is taught over five days. If you are interested, you can find the main idea unit in my store.

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How to Find the Main Idea in 3 Easy Steps

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There are a few basic reading strategies that will help students improve their reading comprehension. Teaching students how to identify the main idea of a text is an effective way to increase their understanding of the reading. The main idea is exactly what it says, the main or most important idea that the reader should take away from reading the passage.

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https://youtu.be/42SJTk2XSi4

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https://uj.ac.za.libguides.com/c.php?g=581225&p=4012268

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https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/factopinion.htm

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How to Identify Fact vs. Opinion in Writing & Research

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https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/100/Hasty-Generalization

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http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/hasty_generalization_examples/495/

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https://www.ereadingworksheets.com/free-reading-worksheets/reading-comprehension-worksheets/context-clues-worksheets/

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https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/100/Hasty-Generalization

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https://researchguides.njit.edu/evaluate/bias

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An Introduction to Understanding Vocabulary Words in Context

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One of the most important reading skills is understanding vocabulary words in context. Here’s how to master the skill with practice questions, too.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMgyi2jEU4

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https://www.thoughtco.com/understanding-vocabulary-words-in-context-3211741

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http://www.softschools.com/examples/fallacies/hasty_generalization_examples/495/

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https://study.com/academy/lesson/teaching-vocabulary-in-context.html

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https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/26829/quiz-how-good-are-you-at-detecting-bias-with-lesson-plan

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOCwhnu2c0

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https://study.com/academy/lesson/teaching-vocabulary-in-context.html

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Reading for Thinking - Online Practice:
Detecting Bias

Copyright © 2005 Laraine Flemming.
General distribution outside the classroom and redistribution are strictly prohibited.

Directions: Click the appropriate button to indicate the presence or absence of bias in each passage. Then click the "Submit" button.

Evaluating Bias:

c. The author reveals no personal bias.

Evaluating Bias:

Evaluating Bias:

Evaluating Bias:

Evaluating Bias:

Last change made to this page: 2/14/08

RfT: Online practice

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Copyright © 2005 Laraine Flemming. General distribution outside the classroom and redistribution are strictly prohibited. Directions: Click the appropriate button to indicate the presence or absence of bias in each passage. Then click the "Submit" button. Evaluating Bias: c. The author reveals no personal bias.