Brittany Schiavo

EDR 317-06
Lesson Plan #5
Creating Inferences
1.1 Learning Outcomes
1) Students will be able to understand what an inference is and how to make an inference.
(CC.1.3.4.B)
2) Students will be able to write their own inference based on the story This is Not My Hat by Jon
Klassen. (CC.1.3.4.B, CC.1.4.4Q)
3) Students will be able to create their own inference based on the story Hard Times for
Honeybees. (CC.1.3.4.B, CC.1.4.4.Q)
1.2 Standards
CC.1.3.4.B Cite relevant details from text to support what the text says explicitly and make
inferences
CC.1.4.4.Q Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely
1.3 Anticipatory Set
Today we are going to practice making inferences. Can anyone tell me what they think
an inference is? Good job, an inference is when we combine what the text says with our
background knowledge to make an inference. We think outside of the box to uncover a deeper
meaning of the story. Sometimes we also can look at the pictures in a story to make an
inference too. Today I am going to read the picture book called This is Not My Hat by Jon
Klassen. Has anyone read this story before? This story is a really funny book and one of my
favorites. While I am reading, I am going to stop to make inferences because good readers
make inferences while they are reading.
(Begin reading the book, and pause after the first page) Hmm so the text says here
This hat is not mine, I just stole it. Well using my background knowledge I know that stealing is
a bad thing, stealing is a crime, so I am going to make an inference and predict that the fish is in
big trouble right now. (Turn the page, read the next page and then pause again) So our little fish
stole the hat from a big fish that was sleeping, using my background knowledge I know that
usually if someone gets something stolen from them they are mad and since the big fish is a lot
bigger than the small fish, I think that the big fish is going to chase after the little fish and want
his hat back. The text doesnt say that yet, but I am using what the text says, the pictures, and
my background knowledge to make inferences. (Continue reading book)
(Stop at the fourth page) So the text says that even when the big fish wakes up, he
probably wont notice that his hat is missing. Can anyone by looking at the pictures or by using
their background knowledge make an inference on what they think will happen? What makes
you think that? (Call on several students) Great job, we can see that the big fish has his eye
open and is looking at his head so he will realize his hat is missing and get angry.
(Continue

reading and then stop after the 8th page) So the the text says the little fish thinks that someone
saw where he went, but wont tell anyone. Can anyone use their background knowledge or the
pictures to make an inference? Good thinking! I know from my previous knowledge that
sometimes it is hard to keep a secret so I think the crab is going to tell the big fish where the
little fish went.
(Stop at the 12th page and hand out a blank hat template to the class) The text says that
the little fish thinks that nobody will ever find him. Can anyone make an inference on if they
think anyone will find the little fish? Great inference, you saw from the picture that the big fish
swam into the seaweed behind the little fish. On your hat, I want everyone to make an inference
right now about the story and what they think will happen next. Will the big fish get his hat back?
Will the little fish get away? Will the big fish and little fish fight? Use your background knowledge
and the pictures in the book to make your inference! Also, when you write your inference, state
why you think that. So for example, I think that the little fish will get away from the big fish
because I know that small little fish can swim really fast. (Give class a few minutes to write down
their inferences) Does anyone want to share what their inference is? (Have a few students
share their inference) Great job, we are going to now finish reading the rest of the book and see
who had correct inferences! (Read the rest of the story) Show a thumbs up if your inference
was right! Show a thumbs up if you liked the story or a thumbs down if you did not. Now that we
were able to practice making inferences with a picture book, we are going to read a fourth grade
level text to try and make inferences with. (Collect each students hat to display on poster)
1.4 Procedures
(Have students return to their seats and pass out Hard Times for Honeybees) Our text
for today is called Hard Times for Honeybees. What do you think this article is going to be
about based on the title? Good job. The article will probably be something about honeybees.
What is our background knowledge on honeybees? In other words, what do we already know
about honeybees? Great job! It seems like we have a good amount of background knowledge
about honeybees, so were going to use that information to help us make inferences throughout
the text.
Now, I want everyone to find a partner. Show me a thumbs up when you have a partner.
With your partner, I want everyone to read through the first two paragraphs. Stop at the end of
those two paragraphs. If you finish early, look through the text that you just read and look for
words or phrases that you dont understand. When youre all finished, give me a thumbs up. Go
ahead and start reading.
Are there any words or phrases that you had trouble understanding? (Clarify anything
the students dont understand.) So now that weve read through the first section, lets read the
question to see if we can make an inference. (Read the question aloud.) So using our
background knowledge and the information from the text, talk with your partner about what your
inference can be. I will call you up by tables, and I want one partner to put a tally mark next to
the inference that they decided on. (Call students up by table. Once students have done their
tallies, go over the inference(s) there were most popular) I see that we have some great ideas,
so lets read on to see if our inference was correct. Turn to your partner again and read the next
two paragraphs together. Give me a thumbs up when youre ready.

So was your inference correct? If it was, great job. If you were a little off, thats alright,
too. Sometimes, our inferences arent always perfect. Were there any words or phrases that we
need to clarify in those two paragraphs? (Clarify any confusions.) Now turn to the next page,
and read the next paragraph with your partner. Again, give me a thumbs up when youre
finished.
Are there any words or phrases that anyone wants to go over? (Answer any questions.)
Now, lets try our next inferencing question. (Read the question aloud.) Again, I want you to talk
with your partner about what you think our inference can be for this question.
Again, I will call you up by tables, and I want one partner to put a tally mark next to the
inference that they decided on. (Call students up by table. Once students have done their tallies,
go over the inference(s) there were most popular) Great, we have some good predictions. Read
the next two paragraphs with your partner to see if your inference was correct. Give me a
thumbs up when youre ready.
Was your inference correct? Great! So, again, if your inference was correct, then great
work, but if you were a little off this time, dont worry because inferences arent always perfect.
Now, Id like for you to read the last paragraph with your partner. Give me a thumbs up when
youre finished. Are there any questions about any of the words or phrases in this paragraph or
anywhere else in the article?
At the end, there are a couple review questions and one short answer inferencing
question. You may talk with your partner about the multiple choice questions, but Id like for you
to write two or three sentences on your own to answer the inferencing question. Remember to
support your inference using your background knowledge and information from the text. If you
need help, raise your hand and someone will come to help you.

1.5 Differentiation
The classroom is already differentiated because the students in this reading class are
considered lower level or tier students for fourth graders at Manoa Elementary. However, there
are several students in the classroom that struggle more than others and several students in the
classroom that are able to grasp more than others.
1. For the students that struggle with the lesson, instead of writing full sentences for the short
answer questions attached to the Hard Times for Honeybees article, the students can write their
answer in a bulleted list.
2. For the students who are more advanced with the lesson, they will be encouraged to create
their inferences and respond to the short answer questions independently.
The approaches used above will help meet the reading and writing needs of the students in
many ways. The student who struggles the most in reading/writing is a student named Christina.
Christina has an extremely difficult time turning her thoughts into a three paragraph essay or
even into sentence form. Christina often in her writing repeats ideas and does not provide
enough details or evidence to support her ideas. By allowing Christina to write her ideas in a
bulleted list instead of paragraph essay, it will help Christina be able to write each idea and to
create different ideas since she will be able to see what she is writing in a clear and organized
list.

The overall student population in the classroom lives in a suburban living environment
and share common ethnicity values by all being Caucasian. There is not much diversity in the
classroom in regards to culture, race, language, etc. However, since the fourth grade passage
that was used in this lesson was about honey bees and took place on a farm or a more rural
setting the students needed some more background knowledge. Since all the students live in a
suburban setting, they may not fully understand the plot of the story. This is why throughout the
passage there is a mix of whole class and small group work, various times to clarify words or
phrases the students may not be familiar with, and a teacher think aloud to help paint a picture
in the students minds and allow them to make better connections with the story.
Lastly, the materials chosen were purposely used in order to differentiate in ways that
capitalize on diversity. The lesson starts off in the anticipatory set by using a funny picture book
called This is Not My Hat and then the class moves onto working with a fourth grade passage
called Hard Times For Honey Bees. By starting the lesson with a picture book, it allows for the
students and especially the struggling students, to grasp the concept of making an inference
using an easier text. Then they are able to apply the skill they just practiced with a harder and
more grade appropriate text. The picture book allows the readers to make inferences easier by
not only giving them the text, but by giving them pictures to look at and connect to their
background knowledge. The use of the poster with the definition of an inference on it and the
hats with each of the students inference on them is a visual aid to help the struggling readers
while they are completing the grade level passage. The use of the PowerPoint for tallying up
each groups response to the multiple choice questions also allows struggling learners to
visually see the answers and compare their thinking to what the rest of the class is thinking.
1.6 Closure
As a class we will discuss and go over the multiple choice and short answer questions at
the end of the Hard Time for Honeybees passage to make sure the students all have the correct
answers. The teacher will then ask the class What is an inference? and What words do we
use when creating an inference?. The teachers will help lead the students in a discussion about
how an inference is connecting what the text says and what your background knowledge is and
that some sentence starters for creating an inference are I predict..I think or I believe that..
Tell the students how it is important for good readers to make inferences because it helps the
reader understand the text better and bring new meaning to the text.
1.7 Technology
The PowerPoint that we used helped the students see what their classmates inferences were
so that they can compare. It is also a good way for the teachers to informally assess how the
students are doing and, therefore, to know how to correct any confusions.
1.8 Formative/ Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment:
Formative assessment is happening continuously throughout the lesson. In the
anticipatory set, the teacher is able to determine if the students are achieving the objectives of

the lesson by how the students are able to participate as a class creating an inference and how
the students do on their own writing their own inference on a hat. In the procedures, the teacher
will be observe how well the students are learning the information by how the students are able
to participate in class discussion and what the students write in the multiple choice questions
and short answer questions. In the closure, the teacher can evaluate if the class has met the
objectives of the lesson by if students are able to correctly answer the closing questions.
Summative Assessment:
Summative assessment could happen at the end of the lesson by turning the closing
questions into an exit slip or quiz. The students could write down their answers to the two
questions What is an inference? and what are some sentence starters when making an
inference? on a piece of paper to hand in to the teacher at the end of the lesson.

1.9 Materials
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Outline of a hat template
Inference poster
Pencils/ Pen
Hard Times for Honeybees article
2.1 Reflection on planning
In preparation for the PSSAs, the fourth graders at Manoa Elementary are focusing on
practicing and using various literacy strategies. I thought a good skill for the students to practice
would be making an inference, because making an inference is a complex thought for some
students, especially since Mrs. DeFruscios class has a handful of low level literacy students
believed the best way to teach this complex idea was through an I do, we do, you do
approach. In the anticipatory set and the procedures, the students listen to the teacher perform
a think aloud, create an inference in small and large group, and then try creating an inference
on their own. This gradual release will help students understand what an inference is and how
to create an inference by being able to see it modeled multiple times. The use of visuals in
creating their inference hat to the story This is Not My Fish will also help appeal to a variety of
learners by giving them something to hands on do and be creative with.
In order to create this lesson, I incorporated information that I learned from multiple
professional resources to help plan the activities for this lesson. These professional resources
include Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competency by Valerie Ellery
and A Technique for Teaching Students to Draw Inferences from Text by Candace A. Poindexter
and Susan Prescott. Ellery states how Comprehension as a strategic process enables readers
to make connections and move beyond literal recall. When teaching the students how to make
an inference, I wanted to make sure they understood the difference between an inference and a
prediction. Throughout the lesson I repeated to the class how an inference is when you connect
what the text says and your background knowledge to come up with a new idea or an inference.
An inference can be a harder skill for students to grasp since they cannot simply just recall what
they read, but have to think outside of the box. Poindexter and Prescott stress the importance of
using multiple teaching strategies in order to teach students how to make an inference. Instead

of strictly using the text, I wanted to incorporate other teaching strategies like using the
PowerPoint for visual and kinesthetic learners and creating the inference poster.
Specific steps in the lesson were used in order to help plan for the students to make
connections between this learning and the students prior background knowledge. In the
anticipatory set the students are asked what they already know about making an inference and
how are some ways they can start a sentence when they are writing an inference. This
information is then turned into a poster that is displayed in the classroom for the remainder of
the lesson. This gives the students an opportunity to think about what they have already learned
about the topic and gives the teacher the opportunity to judge how well the students understand
the topic. Before planning this lesson, I collaborated with my cooperating teacher to makes sure
this lesson matched the students demonstrated strengths and needs. My teacher explained
how making an inference would be a good skill to touch on since it is a skill that the students will
need to use during the PSSAs. We looked at previous writing samples and comprehensive unit
test to determine that there was a large amount of struggling learners in the class that needed
improvement on making inferences. My cooperating teacher told me how she likes to create
lessons in an I do, we do, you do format to help the struggling readers see the skill modeled,
practice the skill, and then use the skill. My cooperating teacher also helped me incorporate the
use of multiple teaching materials like using a picture book, creating a poster, and using a
PowerPoint to help meet the learning needs of the students.
My cooperating teacher tends to only use technology to show the kids a workbook page
or an online video. The students mostly work independently or in small groups on worksheets
during their reading/writing time. During the lesson I used PowerPoint, which is a common
program to use, but I used it in an interactive way. Each group was able to come up to the board
and put a tally mark next to the answer they believed was correct. This new feature with the
technology allows the class to compare answers, and is a form of data collection for the teacher
to see how students are doing. By modeling how to use technology in an interactive way will
hopefully allow my cooperating teacher to use technology in a more meaningful way too.
When creating small groups for the students to work in, I simply decided it was best for
the students to pair up with a partner at their current table. This ensures that everyone will have
a partner and there will be no drama on picking partners or having someone left out like has
happened various times before in the classroom. The tables are already designed with a variety
of learners at each and have students together that work productively while having students that
often cause ruckus separated. I made sure to create a low-risk, respectful, and positive social
environment for all learners by giving each student the opportunity to discuss with their partner
various times and then each student the opportunity to share their ideas and thinking with the
whole class. When coming up and writing a tally on the board, I also made sure each time a
different student came up to the board so this way all the students who wanted to where given a
chance. This ensured that there was equal opportunity for all students to participate.
I also planned to model appropriate social behaviors by making sure I responded to
students answers in a positive way and gave constructive feedback. Throughout my planning of
the lesson I made sure to show fair-mindedness, empathy, and ethical behavior and
collaboration with other professionals by co-teaching the lesson. Myself and a fellow practicum
student taught the lesson together by breaking up the lesson. I taught mainly the anticipatory set
of the lesson and she taught mainly the procedure part of the lesson. However, we both were

still apart of and participating in each others teaching by adding to discussion, handing out
materials, and walking around to be involved in groups discussions.

2.2 Reflection on teaching

After reflecting on teaching the lesson, there are many things that went well in the lesson
and a few things that could have been improved. The students seemed to enjoy the lesson by
actively participating throughout the lesson, by each student creating their own unique inference
on a hat, and by each student being able to answers the questions to the fourth grade passage
correctly or correctly with some assistance. The formative assessments that were used
throughout this lesson made it clear that the class overall met the objectives of the lesson. The
class was able to describe what an inference is, create their own inferences, and come up to the
board and put a tally mark next to the correct inference. On a whole, the PowerPoint showed
how for the four multiple choice questions, most of the groups picked the correct answers with
only 1-2 students picking the wrong answer. The lesson included several forms of formal
assessments that were adequate and informative so I was able to determine the class met the
objectives of the lesson and ready to move on.
The main part of the lesson that could have been improved was the self-management of
the classroom. The students were so excited to get the opportunity to discuss with partners and
then come up to the board, that the noise level was getting loud and it was difficult to get the
classes attention when it was time for the teacher to talk. Classroom management is a skill that
teachers constantly perfect and keep changing. It definitely will be a skill that I will need to work
on more and have more control in as I continue my field experiences. For Mrs. DeFruscios
classroom, I think next time I will try clapping to get the classrooms attention because that is
what Mrs. DeFruscio usually does on a daily basis.
After teaching this lesson, I think it shows that I am very capable of creating engaging
and appropriate lessons, but an area that I need further professional development and growth in
is managing a classroom and just having the act of teaching being automatic. The only way to
get better on these goals is to continue to have more experience in the classroom teaching! The
more you are in control of the classroom, the better you become controlling the classroom and
learning what works and what does not work. For my next lesson, I plan on using clapping as a
signal for the student stop what they are doing and pay attention.
References:
Candace A. Poindexter and Susan Prescott (May, 1986). A Technique for Teaching Students to
Draw Inferences from Text, Vol.39, No.9, pp 908-911 The Reading Teacher Published by: Wiley
on behalf of the International Reading Association Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199267
Ellery, V. (2009). Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competency 2nd
edition.
Klassen, J. (2012). This is not my hat. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick Press.