J. Michael Woody

1. TEACHING THE STEPS
INFERENCING IN FICTION AND
NONFICTION TEXT

2. You make inferences in fiction about:
EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

3. Inferences in fiction

4. MAKING INFERENCES ABOUT
CHARACTER
• Read a small chunk: STOP • THINK •
TALK/WRITE
• Think about characters actions, dialogue,
relationships
• What is a smart guess I could make (inference)
about the character
• What evidence do I have to support my
inference?

5. You make inferences in nonfiction about:
EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT

6. What can you inference about this photograph?
(Visual Example)

7. What can you inference about this photograph?
(Visual Example)

8. MAKING INFERENCES FROM FACTS
• Read a small chunk of text and underline a fact that is presented
• Come up with possible inferences about that fact OR
• If you have problems, then think about questions the fact raises
• Try to think of possible answers to your questions (these
answers will be your inferences)
• Think about each inference – give each one a rating (see below)
• Choose the inferences that have a 3 or 4 rating (these are the
best ones)
• Keep reading the text and underline evidence that supports your
inference
1 = Not Likely 2 = Possibly 3 = Very Likely 4 = Almost Certain

9. MAKING INFERENCES FROM FACTS
FACTS: deal with pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and
which are open to discovery or verification. The key word here is “verification”. A
fact is a statement that can be ‘verified’. A fact is either true or false. Facts are
statements that may involve numbers, natural phenomena, dates etc. The
characteristics of the statements classified as facts are:
• Made after observation or experience. An event cannot become a fact unless it
has occurred.
• Confined to what one observes; cannot be made about the future.
• Limited number possible.
• Not perception dependent. A fact will be agreed to by every person. It does not
change from person to person.
• Tends to bring people together in agreement.

10. Example 1:
FACT
A football field is 100 yards long.

11. Example 2:
FACT
This oil spill has now obtained the dubious
distinction of being the worst oil spill in US
history, surpassing the damage done by the
Exxon Valdez tanker that spilled 11 million
gallons of oil into the ecologically sensitive
Prince William Sound in 1989.

12. EXAMPLE: NONFICTION
 Think about the fact presented
 Come up with possible inferences
 If you have problems, then think about questions the
fact raises
 Try to think of possible answers to your questions
 These will be your inferences
 Think about each inference – give each one a rating
 Choose the inferences that have a 3 or 4 rating
 What evidence from the text can support your
answer?
1 = Not Likely 2 = Possibly 3 = Very Likely 4 = Almost Certain