Lesson Plan : Making Inferences In Work
Teacher Name: | Sarah Harper |
Grade: | Grade 4 |
Subject: | Language Arts |
Topic: | Making Inferences |
Content: | � Cooperative Learning Structure � Teammates Consult (Kegan) I chose teammates consult for the cooperative learning portion of this lesson so that the students would engage in discussion with one another to promote higher level thinking. This structure also allows each student to have a responsibility within the group so that they may take ownership and be more likely to participate in the discussion process. � Big Questions � What is an inference? How do we make inferences? � Key Concepts � Inferences are conclusions based on what one knows. In a text, information is given to the reader that the reader can then combine with what they know to make an inference. � Vocabulary � Inference, Conclusion, Generalization |
Goals: | TEKS (10) Reading/comprehension. |
Objectives: | � Content � Students will be able to create their own inferences from pieces of art and from literature. Students will also be able to select an inference that best coincides with a text from a selection of possibilities. � Language � Students will discuss in groups possible inferences they can make from works of art. Students will be able to explain and give examples of inferences to their peers and in writing. |
Materials: | � 8 copies of works of art printed on card stock with three or four inference prompting questions printed on the back. � �Mouths� � Ten inference prompting questions to go along with the text � Information web handouts � Lined paper � Pens or pencils |
Introduction: | What do you know about inferences? o The teacher will write the word �inference� on the board. She will then ask the student to suggest some ideas as to what an inference might be, as the students offer answers they will be written on the board. o The teacher will then combine the information on the board, or add to it, to create an explanation for what an inference is. This explanation will also be written on the board for the students to refer to. |
Development: | o The teacher will give some examples of inferences using children in the classroom. One example might be: Last week I was talking to Rose during recess and she told me she goes to swimming lessons twice a week. From this I can infer that she likes to swim, and maybe she would like to be a professional swimmer. o Continuing the class discussion the teacher will ask the students to try and generate their own inferences from facts she tells about herself. |
Practice: | o The instructor will explain to the class that they will now take what they know about making inferences and work as a team to hone their skill further. o The teacher will explain the activity: Groups of four students will receive an image from the teacher. On the back of each image there are three or four questions. Each group is to (1) Place the image so that all member of the group can look at it together, without saying anything for thirty seconds to a minute. (2) One member of the group reads the first question and the group discusses possible answers. (3) The student to the left of the reader checks to see that all of the teammates understand and agree with the group answer. (4) Each person writes the answer down individually. (5) The students move on to question two with the roles of reader and checker moving one person to the right. o As the teacher explains these steps she will have one group demonstrate for the class to model the activity, and she will also write the directions in simple language on the board for the students to refer to as they need. o This practice will last for forty minutes. When a group finishes a set of questions for a picture they will return it to the teacher and get a new image. The teacher will also be circulating around the groups to monitor progress and assist with comprehension of the activity. o At the end of forty minutes the instructor will call the class back together to discuss what they inferred. The teacher will ask each group what their favorite painting was and two inferences they were able to make and how they made each. |
Accommodations: | o During independent practice, struggling readers will be placed in a group to work with the teacher. The students will read the text aloud all together as the teacher monitors. The teacher will also monitor comprehension as the group reads, stopping a key points to ask questions. The group will then read over each question, asking for any clarification, then they will answer the questions individually. Comprehensible Input - o The entire class will fill in an information web as they read the text for comprehension and to remember key facts from the text.(graphic organizer) o As examples are said, or explanations made throughout the lesson they will be written on the board for the students to look back to. o Each part of the lesson will not only be verbally explained, but also physically shown. |
Checking For Understanding: | o Students will record in their journals and example of a time they use inferences when they were not in school. They will need to provide one example per week for the next four weeks. |
Closure: | o After the students are finished with their reading and inferences, they will turn them in. o The teacher will then lead a closing discussion about the inferences the students made from the reading text. o The class will create their own new definition for an inference to be written on the board. |
Evaluation: | For assessment during this lesson, I first developed a check list of all of the students� names so that I could monitor participation during the discussion part of the lesson. Each student will also turn in a written copy of the answers to the groups discussion questions, as well as written answers and a information web from the text read. From these different sources I hope to see growth in each students inference making ability. In the written work I will look to see if the inferences made are plausible and if they correlate to the explanation given. |
Teacher Reflections: | I am pleased with how the lesson went. I spread the lesson over two days, with the picture activity on the first and the reading on the second. The students seemed to really enjoy looking at all of the different pieces of art I brought for them to use. I tried to find a variety of time periods, subject matter and cultures when I was looking for artwork, so that each student would be able to find a least one piece of art they could connect with. Since many of the students are English language learners I thought I would introduce the idea of inferences with images instead of text so they would not be as overwhelmed. This gave all of the students time to become confident in their abilities to make inferences before they had to make inferences from a text. The Cooperative Learning strategy of teammates consult also worked very well in this lesson, giving each student a chance to have a responsibility in the group as well as gaining confidence in their own ideas through discussing them with their peers. One problem I did have was the noise level of the students during group work kept growing and growing. Next time I do this lesson I would have the students give ideas for rules they should remember as they work in groups before the lesson, or I would assign a volume monitor for each group. |
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