Reading Between the Lines

Understanding Inference

Catherine Delamain, Jill Spring

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351705905
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Suitable for teachers and speech and language therapists working in the fields of language and literacy, and concerned with developing inferencing skills in their students, this book contains a collection of 300 texts which are graded, and lead the student gradually from simple tasks.

Part 1

Action

1. Level 1
2. Level 2
3. Level 3
4. Level 4

Level 1

Find the clues that tell you WHAT’S GOING ON: what people are doing, what’s happening.

Clues might be about:

• What people are doing – eating/running/swimming/flying/playing
• What animals or other creatures are doing
• What is going to happen

Here is an example. The clues are in bold type.

Troy and his friends were playing out in the snow. They made a snowball, and rolled it round and round the garden until it was really huge. Then they made a smaller one, and put it on top of the big one. They stuck two twigs in for arms, and Troy ran indoors and asked his mum for a carrot for the nose. Just then Troy’s dad strolled out into the garden. He told them they could have his old gardening coat and hat. The boys ran to fetch the things from the shed. Now all it needed was stones for the eyes and mouth, and they stuck some on carefully. It looked just great. Troy said he’d seen one that had a pipe in its mouth. Nobody knew anyone who smoked a pipe, so they decided they would just have to make a pretend one.

What were Troy and his friends doing? How do you know?

• The boys were playing in the snow
• They made two big snowballs, a big one with a smaller one on top
• They stuck twigs in for arms
• Ted got a carrot for the nose
• They fetched Dad's old coat and hat to dress it in
• They stuck stones on for eyes and mouth
• They must have been making a snowman

Story 1

Barry stood behind Jordan’s chair and looked over his head into the mirror. ‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘We need to take quite a lot off, I think.’ He fetched a trolley full of brushes and combs and scissors, as well as all sorts of pots and bottles. He combed carefully through Jordan’s hair, to get it into shape, and reached for the scissors. Soon there was a pile of hair on the floor, and a girl came along to sweep it up. Jordan began to think he soon wouldn’t have any left. Then Barry picked up some clippers, and tackled the back of Jordan’s neck. The clippers buzzed and tickled. At last Barry said, ‘There you are, then.’ He held up a mirror behind Jordan’s head. Jordan thought he looked very trendy, and much more grown up.

What was Barry doing? How do you know?

Story 2

Daisy opened the cupboard, and took out flour and sugar. Then she opened the fridge, and took out butter and milk. She weighed everything, and put it into a bowl. Next she took a wooden spoon, and began stirring and beating, until it was all mixed together and lovely and smooth. She ran her finger round the bowl and licked it. Yummy! Then she squeezed the mixture into a big lump, plonked it on the work surface and rolled it flat with a rolling pin. She found the cutters, and cut out star and moon shapes. When she had fitted the shapes on to a baking tray, she popped the tray into the oven. Daisy looked at her watch. She had to remember to take them out in about 10 minutes.

What was Daisy doing? How do you know?

Story 3

The group had only been going for about a quarter of an hour, and already they were beginning to pant and gasp. 'Phew,' Jason said. 'This is going to be harder than we thought.' 'You've done nothing so far,' laughed the Leader. 'We've only come about a quarter of a mile. Look back towards the valley and you'll see 'Well, my legs ache anyway,' said Mike. 'Some bits are really steep.' 'Never mind,' said the leader. 'We'll have a little breather before we carry on. Look up ahead, and think what a great view there will be when we get to the top.' The boys looked up, and could see patches of snow on some of the highest peaks, up above where the trees stopped. After a few minutes, they struggled to their feet and plodded on.

What were the boys doing? How do you know?

Story 4

Jared's new foster mum was great. She had got Jared a hamster, which he had always wanted. It was a gorgeous fluffy creature with toffee-brown coloured fur, and Jared had decided to call it Brownie. The deal was that Jared would do all the work of looking after him. They had bought a lovely big cage, and Brownie seemed to have settled in well. Now it was the first day of Jared's job. He collected a brush and a pan, some hot soapy water and a cloth. Then he opened the cage, and popped Brownie into the box his foster mum had found for him. He put some food in there too, so Brownie wouldn't try to escape. Then he took the dirty water bowl and food dish out of the cage, and set to work

What was Jared going to do? How do you know?

Story 5

It had been raining a lot, and the sports field was pretty wet. The PE teacher said he would go and have a look. When he came back, he had a big smile on his face. ‘The field’s not too bad,’ he said. ‘We can go ahead all right.’ The boys rushed off to change into their sports gear. They found Mr Allen laying a tape on the ground between two pegs. He told the boys to line up side by side behind the tape. ‘Be careful you don’t put a foot over the tape, or we’ll have to start again,’ he said. He put his whistle to his lips, but before he could blow it someone had started to run and had gone over the tape. ‘Start again,’ said Mr Allen. ‘Ready? Steady?’ And he blew a shrill blast on the whistle.

What were the boys getting ready to do? How do you know?

Story 6

Ted looked out of his bedroom window. Something was going on out there. A red van with FIRE' written on the side was parked by the pavement. Two firemen got out. They were carrying a ladder. Then he saw Mrs Grimshaw from Number 19. She was looking very unhappy. It's Tabitha, Mrs Grimshaw was saying. 'She's always going up trees and then she can't get down.' The firemen looked at each other and grinned. 'Don't cry, Ma,' said one of them. 'We might get scratched, but she'll be all right.' The other fireman put his foot on the first rung of the ladder and began to climb. Ted got dressed as fast as he could, ran downstairs and out of the front door, hoping to get there before all the excitement was over.

What were the men going to do? How do you know?

Level 2

Story 1

Tim threw a pile of clothes on the bed. ‘Better start with the most important things first,’ he thought, and began putting in his fleece, ski jacket and ski trousers. ‘Don’t forget the boring things like underpants and socks and wash things,’ called his mum from downstairs. By the time Tim had put all those in and added his DS and iPad to amuse himself on the flight, there wasn’t much room left and he had to sit on the lid to get it shut.

What was Tim doing? How do you know?

Story 2

Looking out of the window, Layla could see Dad going down the garden with a spade. He was carrying something in a carrier bag in his other hand. Layla started crying again, as she thought of her poor little hamster. Now she would never see him again. Dad had promised to put up something to mark his grave, with his name and the date on it.

What was Layla’s dad going to do? How do you know?

Story 3

Johnny put on his hat with the Jolly Roger on it. He found the black eye patch, and pulled the elastic band over his head. When it was on, he really began to look the part. ‘I just need a parrot now,’ he laughed to himself. ‘Just then Mum called up the stairs, ‘Hurry up, Johnny. I can hear Pat’s dad’s car outside. Don’t keep them waiting.’

What was Johnny going to do? How do you know?

Story 4

Grandma made some sandwiches and put them in a plastic bag. She put some buns, biscuits, fruit and chocolates in as well. ‘Don’t forget the rug, the ground may be a bit damp,’ said Grandad, as he picked up the basket of food and carried it to the car.

What were the family going to do? How do you know?

Story 5

A man wearing a balaclava, with a mask over his eyes, walked into the bank. He went up to one of the cashiers behind the grille, and pulled something out of hi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Record sheet