| NSW Department of Education Literacy and Numeracy Teaching Strategies - Reading

Inference
Stage 4
Learning focus
Students will learn to use background information and clues to infer in both written and visual texts.

Syllabus outcome
The following teaching and learning strategies will assist in covering elements of the following outcomes:
 EN4-1A: responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis,
imaginative expression and pleasure.
 EN4-2A: effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for
responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies.

Year 7 NAPLAN item descriptors

 infers the key idea in an information text  interprets the meaning of a phrase in
 infers the reason for a character’s actions context in a blog post
in a narrative  interprets the meaning of a phrase in
 infers the reason for a character’s actions context in a narrative
in a text  interprets the meaning of a phrase in
 interprets the meaning of a description in a context in an information text
narrative  interprets the meaning of a sentence in a
 interprets the meaning of a description in text
an information text  interprets the meaning of a sentence in
 interprets the meaning of a description in context in a narrative
context in a narrative  interprets the meaning of a technical term
from context in an information text

Literacy Learning Progression guide

Understanding Texts (UnT9-UnT11)
Key: C=comprehension P=process V=vocabulary

UnT9
 justifies an opinion or response by citing evidence from a text (C)
 uses processes such as predicting, confirming prediction, monitoring and connecting relevant
elements of the text to build or repair meaning (P)
 selects reading/viewing pathways appropriate to reading purpose (scans text for key phrase or close
reading for learning) (P)

education.nsw.gov.au
UnT10
 synthesises information from a variety of complex texts (C)
 analyses the author’s perspectives in moderately complex or some sophisticated texts (C)
 selects and cites the most appropriate evidence from a text to support an argument or opinion (P)

UnT11
 derives a generalisation from abstract ideas in texts (C)
 integrates existing understanding with new concepts in texts (C)

Resources
 Film analysis recording sheet - Appendix 1
 Inference tags - Appendix 2
 Inference match and sort - Appendix 3
 Example texts - Appendix 4
 Sample questions - Appendix 5

Background information
Inference is the process of drawing conclusions based on evidence from a text (NSW English K-10 Syllabus,
2012). The conclusions a reader draws from a text needs to be substantiated by evidence from the text and
should be supported by the readers’ prior knowledge, learning or personal experiences and/or other familiar
texts.
The development of inferential understanding of texts requires explicit teaching. Modelling the ‘think aloud’
strategy whilst working with texts enables the students to ‘hear’ the thinking process an accomplished
reader undertakes when reading or viewing material. Students require multiple opportunities to work with
diverse texts to be able to develop and apply inferential understanding and generalise the skill to other
learning experiences.
Inference is also essential for any kind of deep understanding and higher-order analysis.

Making inferences enables the students to:

 provide explanations for ideas that are presented in the text that are not explicitly stated
 offer details or reasons for events that have occurred throughout the text
 recognise the author's point of view or bias
 interpret the language choices (technical and figurative) and how they shape the meaning of the text
 consider and evaluate content that is presented as visuals within the text (where applicable)
 offer conclusions from facts presented in the text
 connect content and meaning of the text to prior knowledge and/or similar texts support inferences
with evidence from the text.

Where to next?
 Literal comprehension
 Author perspective and bias
 Audience and purpose

2 Reading: inference Stage 4

Teaching strategies
Task 1: Ignition task for inference
1. Display and read the following passage to the class:

The snables tramped the mengs to the swip. The swip fropped.
The mengs clambed a sib boogle. The snables gicked and gicked.

In small groups, students then answer the following questions and discuss:

1. What did the snables do to the mengs?

2. What happened to the swip?
3. What kind of boogle did the mengs clamb?
4. What did the snables eventually do?

Students then answer the following questions:

1. How did the snables feel?

2. Predict what might happen next?

These questions require students to use their background knowledge to infer. It is important to use this
task to reinforce the importance of vocabulary and background knowledge to be able to make
predictive inferences and inferences
Task adapted from Kilpatrick, 2015. Essentials of Assessing, Preventing and Overcoming Reading
Difficulties

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Task 2: What is inference?
1. Discuss inference: inference is the process of drawing conclusions using evidence in texts. We use
clues and background knowledge to make an inference.

2. Reverse charades: This game of charades uses non-verbal communication to which students apply
background information to infer meaning. One student stands at the front of the room, facing the
class. On the board, a noun, verb or adjective is displayed for the class to act out. The student at the
front does not see this word and must guess from the actions of the class what the word is. For
example, the proper noun Harry Potter may have the whole class pretend to hold wands, or, if the
word was snow, students may all pretend to be skiing down a mountain, being cold, or building a
snowman. The class then debriefs and discusses what visual clues / actions were most helpful for a
student to make the inference, how that relates to the student’s background knowledge and how
each different action provides a clue that helps the other actions make sense and become more
useful.
3. Teacher leads discussion that we infer every day – if we walk outside and all the chairs are upturned
and leaves everywhere, we would infer there has been a storm or it has been extremely windy.
When we smell smoke, we infer there is a bushfire nearby, if someone comes to school with a
bandaged arm, we infer they have been in an accident. Discuss similar scenarios and what we can
infer from these.
4. Review background knowledge: Brainstorm elements that make up background knowledge, ideas
include: vocabulary, travel destinations, places visited, interests and hobbies, subject-knowledge,
relationships and family experiences and so on. Students create a mind map detailing things that
make up their background knowledge.
5. Review clues: clues can be found in both images and texts. Both will be explored in the following
tasks.
6. Newsflash!: Students use the newsflash strategy to synthesise their understanding of inference.

4 Reading: inference Stage 4

 Headline

Visual representation Key points

Task 3: What’s going on in this picture?

1. Discuss what clues we can gather from an image, for example, objects, positioning of objects and
characters, facial expressions, setting, lines and vectors, character, character physical features,
colours, and modality of image.
2. The teacher logs on to the New York Times’ ‘What’s Going on in This Picture?’ website
(https://www.nytimes.com/column/learning-whats-going-on-in-this-picture). Updated regularly
throughout each week, a range of images without captions are available for students to use for
inference. Students think, pair, share: what is going on in this picture? What evidence do you see
that supports this? What more can you find? Students use the Newsflash strategy to create a
headline, a visual representation and what vocabulary and key points are expected in the article.
Alternate task: use images from Australian news items or images linked to current unit of learning.
3. Students view Pixar short film ‘For the Birds.’ (pixar.com) Teacher pauses throughout film to give
opportunities for students to ask and answer questions, and infer what is happening using predictive
inferences, background knowledge, and clues from the film. Suggestion: teachers should view film
and establish key places to pause before showing students. Students can record findings in
Appendix 1.

Task 4: Using texts to infer

1. Review inference: inference is the process of drawing conclusions using evidence in texts. We use
clues and background knowledge to make an inference.
 “He slammed the door behind him, making a huge racket! “
 The evidence in the text includes: ‘slammed’ and ‘huge racket’ as well as an exclamation
mark.
 We can infer that the person is angry.

Discuss that when we infer, we are making a conclusion based on something that might not be
explicitly stated and may be referred to as ‘reading between the lines’.

2. Teacher shows inference tags (see Appendix 2) to infer meaning. For example, ’I didn’t do it’. This is
a phrase that will often indicate that, in fact, the character did do it. Discuss types of texts each of
these inference tags might be found and infer the story behind them using prior knowledge and
predictions.
3. Review of the kinds of evidence that might be found in texts that we can make inferences from,
including, quotes, information and visuals. Inferences are conclusions drawn from text details,
quotes, information and visuals based on the reader's consideration and background knowledge of
the world. Inference is directly connected to information found in the text and uses a process of
reasoning to draw logical conclusions regarding 'hidden' meaning or themes.
4. Students work in pairs to fill in missing elements from the ‘Inference match and sort’ (Appendix 3).
When finished, these are cut up and given to another pair to connect.
5. Students are given a range of texts to create their own ‘Inference match and sort’ inference activity
for another pair to complete. Appendix 4 has a variety of text excerpts that can be used, or,
alternatively, teachers can source persuasive, informative and imaginative texts relevant to a current

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

 unit of learning. An important discussion point is the difference in inferring across imaginative,
informative and persuasive texts.

6 Reading: inference Stage 4

Task 5: Answering inference questions
1. Teacher shows text sample ‘The last great race on Earth’ (Appendix 5) with the key question
displayed:
Which question would this text be useful for answering?
o How many people have participated in the Iditarod?
o How are the dogs trained for the Iditarod?
o What was the most recent controversy in the Iditarod?
o Why was the Iditarod established?
Teacher models how to answer the question by:
- identifying what the question is asking (highlight key words and vocabulary that needs to be
understood – these can be used for scanning text to locate information in paragraphs)
- finding where the answer will be located by scanning for key words
- rereading paragraphs and sections
- rereading potential answers, eliminating responses and choosing between remaining ideas.

Task 6: Temporal and causal relationships

1. Inferring temporal relationships: Ask students to highlight the words in a text linked to the current unit
of learning which show order of events. Students list the events that occurred in chronological order,
and compose a series of sentences that combine this information using conjunctions of time such as
before, previously, after, subsequently, when, just as, although, while, or adverbs such as later,
afterwards, then, at that juncture, ensuing, next, before, previously, after, subsequently, when, just
as, although, while, or adverbs such as later, afterwards, then, at that juncture, ensuing, next.
2. Students review causal vocabulary and how they are used: as a result of, consequently, leading to
and so on. Discuss how these are used to show the connection between a cause and its effect.
Students might colour code the cause and effect within a range of texts linked to current unit of
learning.
3. Inferring causal relationships: When causal words are not evident, students will need to ask
themselves why and how questions to be able to infer reasons for characters' actions and events
that take place in texts. Students work in pairs to highlight cohesive links such as pronouns, different
names for the same person or object, collocations (words that commonly go together) or other ways
in which the ideas in the text are unified.
4. Students then look at the text around those words to see whether one action is causing another.
Students will need to draw on personal experiences and be given any background knowledge which
is outside their experiences.) or other ways in which the ideas in the text are unified. Students then
look at the text around those words to see whether one action is causing another. Students will need
to draw on personal experiences and be given any background knowledge which is outside their
experiences.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Appendix 1
Student copy: Film review
# Evidence in film What we know Inference Predictive inference

8 Reading: inference Stage 4

Appendix 2
Inference tags

I didn’t do it!

The clock had stopped at exactly midnight.

You won’t find a better buy!

Call now, limited stock!

You don’t know what you’re missing.

Call 000!

It is time to renew.

Buy one, get one free!

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Appendix 3
Inference match and sort
Evidence from text Background knowledge What we can infer

The boat limped into the  Limping means to go  The boat is damaged and is
harbour. slowly as there may be a likely to sink
wound

There were at least six pairs  Most people only have one
of sunglasses in the or two pairs or sunglasses
house…somewhere…she
was sure…kind of.

 Garbage bins go out once  He forgot to take the bins out.

per week

 It takes one hour to bake

the cake
 If you use too much heat, it
will burn
The bank’s board decided to
take action.

 There was a newborn baby in

the house.

 The Berlin Wall came

down in 1989

All plants go through a

process of photosynthesis.
Except for fungi.

This is honestly the best hair  Blog posts can be written

conditioner I have ever by anyone
used.  People use hair
conditioner

10 Reading: inference Stage 4

Blank inference match and sort
Evidence from text Background knowledge What we can infer

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Appendix 4
Student copy: example texts
A Pocketful of Rye by Agatha Christie
Harper Publishing
First Published in 1953

Chapter Two

Inspector Neele sat in Mr Fortescue’s sanctum behind Mr Fortescue’s vast sycamore desk. One of his
underlings with a notebook sat unobtrusively against the wall near the door.
Inspector Neele had a smart soldierly appearance with crisp brown hair growing back from a rather low
forehead. When he uttered the phrase ‘just a matter of routine’ those addressed were wont to think
spitefully: ‘And routine is about all you’re capable of!’ They would have been quite wrong. Behind his
unimaginative thinking, and one of his methods of investigation was to propound to himself fantastic theories
of guilt which he applied to such persons as he was interrogating at the time.
Miss Griffith, whom he had once picked out with an unerring eye as being the most suitable person to give
him a succinct account of the events which had led to his being seated where he was, had just left the room
having given him an admirable resume of the morning’s happenings. Inspector Neele propounded to himself
three separate highly coloured reasons why the faithful doyenne of the typists’ room should have poisoned
her employer’s mid-morning cup of tea, and rejected them as unlikely.
He classified Miss Griffith as (a) Not the type of a poisoner, (b) Not in love with her employer, (c) No
pronounced mental instability, (d) Not a woman who cherished grudges. That really seemed to dispose Miss
Griffith except as a source of accurate information.
Inspector Neele glanced at the telephone. He was expecting a call from St Jude’s Hospital at any moment
now.
It was possible, of course, that Mr Fortescue’ sudden illness was due to natural causes, but Dr Isaacs of
Bethnal Green had not thought so and Sir Edwin Sandeman of Harley Street had not thought so.
Inspector Neele pressed a buzzer conveniently situated at his left hand and demanded that Mr Fortescue’s
personal secretary should be sent to him.
Miss Grosvenor had recovered a little of her poise, but not much. She came in apprehensively, with nothing
like the swanlike glide about her motions, and said at once defensively:
‘I didn’t do it!’

12 Reading: inference Stage 4

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Penguin Books
First Published in 1847

Chapter 1

THERE was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless
shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs Reed, when there was no company, dined early)
the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor
exercise was now out of the question.
I was glad of it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons; dreadful to me was the coming
home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the
nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of y physical inferiority to Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed.
The said Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clustered round their mamma in the drawing-room: she lay
reclined on a sofa by the fireside, and with her darlings about her (for the time neither quarrelling nor crying)
looked perfectly happy. Me, she had dispensed from joining the group, saying, ‘She regretted to be under
the necessity of keeping me at a distance; but that until she heard from Bessie, and could discover her own
observation that I was endeavouring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a
more attractive and sprightly manner – something lighter, franker, more natural, as it were- she really must
exclude me from privileges intended only for contented, happy little children.
‘What does Bessie say I have done?’ I asked.
‘Jane, I don’t like cavillers or questioners; besides, there is something truly forbidding in a child taking up her
elders in that manner. Be seated somewhere; and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent.’
A small breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room, I slipped in there. It contained a bookcase; I soon
possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored with pictures. I mounted into the
window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk; and, having drawn the red moreen curtain
nearly close, I was shrined in double retirement.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

In the blood: An excerpt from: Moths that drink elephants’ tears and other zoological curiosities – Matt
Walker Portrait Publishing – 2006
Domestic cats have three different type of blood group, A, B and AB. But they lack the equivalent of the
human blood group O. By far the most common blood type in domestic cars is blood type A, but the
prevalence of different blood types varies with geographical location. For instance, all cats in Finland have
blood type A, whereas only three-quarters of Australian cars are blood type A. The prevalence of different
blood types also varies with breed.

Country % of cats that are type A % of cats that are type B

Finland 100 0
USA 99 1
England 97 3
Germany 93 7
Italy 89 11
France 85 15
Australia 73 26
Transfusion Medicine Reviews, vol. 18, 2004, p.117

Pure cat breeds in USA % frequency of type B cats

Siamese 0
Oriental shorthair 0
Burmese 0
Tonkinese 0
Russian Blue 0
Maine Coon Less than 5
Norwegian forest cat Less than 5
Blood type in cats has no effect on coat colour or gender. But I can affect survival of kittens. For instance, if
a female cat of blood type B is bred with a male of blood type A, between 75% to 100% of their offspring will
be blood group A. But if these kittens nurse milk from their mother within 24 hours of birth, they may die.
This is because kittens of type A or AB that nurse from a type B other ingest antibodies against type A blood
in their mother’s milk. About a day after ingestion, these antibodies are absorbed by the kitten’s stomach
and gastrointestinal tract. Hemolysis, or the breaking open of blood cells, ensues, which can be fatal. A vet
can tell when this may have happened to an otherwise healthy-looking kitten by looking at the cat’s tail.
Necrosis at the tip of the tail is a sign that hemolysis has taken place. However, after 24 hours have passes,
antibodies do not cross the kitten’s intestinal lining and the youngster can safely drink its mother’s milk.

14 Reading: inference Stage 4

 The School Magazine © State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2019.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

 © State of New South Wales (Department of Education), 2019.

16 Reading: inference Stage 4

Appendix 5
Answering inference questions

Year 7 NAPLAN Reading Magazine, 2009 ACARA

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24