Mini Lesson Plan Sarah Edison Grade Level/Subject: 5th Grade/Reading Topic: Inferences

Rationale: In previous grades, students were taught to refer to the text when making inferences. Now, they need to learn how to make an inference by quoting from a text. Knowing how to make an inference is important because it helps students fill in missing information so they can understand the text better. Common Core/Essential Standards Reference: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Behavioral Objective: Students will read the text and answer questions to determine whether or not they can make an inference. Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: Students will have previously learned how to answer questions to demonstrate the understanding of a text, while referring to the text. They will acquire the ability to make an inference based on information that is found in the text. Materials/Resources: Copies of the worksheet Pencils Comic Projector (optional)

Focus/Review: The teacher will ask the students what it means to make an inference. S/he will then explain that it means figuring out what the author means even when it isnt written in the book. The comic will be displayed for the students to make inferences about the illustration. The teacher will ask students to volunteer any inferences they have made. Acceptable inferences are things such as: the cat ate the boys homework or that the classroom is an elementary classroom because of the alphabet poster. Objective (as stated for students): Today were going to learn how to make an inference while referring directly to the text. We use this during reading because it helps us fill in the missing information to understand the text better. We do this buy using the clues the author gives us in the book, plus what we already know in our heads to figure out what the author might mean. Teacher Input: Making inferences is important to us because it helps us figure out what the author means even when it isnt written in the book. The teacher will write out the following equation on the board: author clues + what I know = inferences.

S/he will project and then read the first passage from the worksheet aloud to the class. S/he will read the first question aloud: what type of job does Paul work? Well, I know that Paul wore muddy boots home from work, so that must mean that he does some kind of dirty work. He could be a construction worker, a farmer or any number of professions. Im going to assume he is a farmer. Then s/he will read the question, how do you know this? Well, this is where I go back to the text to prove my answer. The teacher will underline the words muddy boots in the passage and write that Paul was wearing muddy boots under the question. Then the teacher will read the next question aloud. Okay so the next question asks me to describe Alice. Im going to go back to the text and underline anything that talked about Alice. I see that she would have a fit if the boots made it inside and that Alice wouldnt eat dinner with Paul until he was presentable. This makes me think that she is a neat and clean person. What relationship do Paul and Alice have? Well I got the impression that they were a married couple, but its true that they could also be mother and son, or just two friends that live together. Im going to say that they are married. I feel this way because the pair are eating dinner together and the fact that Alice does Pauls laundry. Guided Practice: The next passage will be read aloud by the teacher. The teacher ask the first question and ask the students what they think the answer is and have them justify their answer. S/he will do this with the next question as well. The teacher will correct any wrong answers that a student volunteers. Independent Practice: The teacher will have the students read the next two passages and answer the questions alone to turn in at the end of class. Closure: The teacher will ask students for some of their answers and discuss whether they were correct or not. Then s/he will ask the students what an inference is and if they remember the inference equation. Evaluation: The questions from the two passages will be answered and turned into the teacher. Students who answer the 0-2 questions correctly, or who do not justify their answers will need remediation. Students who answer 3 questions correctly and justify their answers have partially mastered making inferences. Students who have 4-5 questions correctly and justify their answers have fully mastered making inferences. Plans for Individual Differences: The passages will be read aloud for struggling students. Reference(s):

Comic:

http://jklimeklanguagearts.wikispaces.com/file/view/303206_full.gif/106260027/303206_full.gif Worksheet: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/reading-worksheets/inferences-worksheet-1.htm

Key: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/reading-worksheets/inferences-worksheet-1-answers.html

Reflection

I enjoyed teaching this lesson. I sat with five students at a table in the back of the room. I first asked the students if they knew what it meant to make an inference. One girl answered and was pretty close to describing it. Then I passed around the comic and it opened the students up a little bit because not only was it funny, but it was a nice way of explaining how inferences are helpful to us. When everyone had seen the picture, I asked them to make an inference based on what they saw. A couple of them told me simultaneously that they had assumed that the cat had eaten the boy's homework. I told them that I could also assume that the classroom was that of an elementary school because of the alphabet poster above the board. After that, I read the first passage from the worksheet as well as the first question. I followed pretty closely to the lesson plan. I told them that I had considered Paul to be a construction worker, or farmer or something, but in the end I wrote down that he was a farmer. I underlined any context clues I found in the text to show how important it is to refer back to the text to justify an answer. Then I answered the actual justification question. I did the same thing with the next question. Afterwards, I read the second passaged and asked the students the questions. I asked them to volunteer any inferences they had made about the passage and to answer the questions, while also justifying their answers. When they gave me context clues, I was able to underline them again. Then I wrote down the answers to the questions. Then I gave the students two passages to practice with on their own. They read through each passage and answered the questions. We discussed the answers and I answered any

questions they had when they were confused about something. The students did really well during the whole lesson. They provided answers aloud and wrote down correct answers. I was impressed with how the students reacted to the activity. They were more talkative than I had imagined. I thought I would be asking questions and have to really pry to get the any answers, but they were excited and wanted to get the questions right. I felt that the students walked away from this lesson with a better understanding on inferences and how to make them. When I checked the students papers to see if they actually understood everything I had taught, I was even more impressed. We talked about their answers aloud after they had completed the worksheet, but I wasnt sure if every one of them understood each and every question. But for the most part, they really made sense! The answers were right and they justified their answers. I think the most successful part of the lesson was getting the students to talk to me. I thought that would be a struggle and it was the easy part. If I had to say that I wish I could have changed anything, I may have changed how long I allowed the students to come up with the answers. I didnt want to be the teacher that said, Times up, turn in your paper now! and scare them away, so I waited until every last word was written, which took up quite a bit of time. One thing that I wish would have been more successful during the lesson would be my closure. While I found it effective, it would have been neat to add something better at the end. I liked using the comic at the beginning, but I wanted to end on a fun note as well.