This document provides a checklist for observing a student's use of inferring strategies. The checklist includes strategies such as blending background knowledge with text cues to make inferences, making simple logical inferences, making more complex inferences that require problem solving, providing reasons for complex inferences, visualizing from descriptions, making inferences about word meanings from context, making inferences about literary language, and understanding jokes and word plays. The checklist can be used to track whether a student employs each strategy independently or with support such as prompts from a teacher.

1. INferrINg STrATegY CHeCKLIST
Name: Date:
OBSERVED STRATEGY USE: ON OWN WITH SUPPORT: PROMPTS WHERE AND
WHEN
• blends relevant background • What do you think?
knowledge with visual and text • How do you know?
cues to make inferences • What clues does the diagram/author
give you about . . . ?
• makes simple logical inferences, • What do you think?
e.g., ‘The computer screen was • Why do you think that?
blank. Its power cable hadn’t
been connected.’ (‘Its’ refers to
the computer.)
• makes inferences that require • What do you think . . . ?
more problem solving and • What do you think the author means?
creativity, e.g., inferring what a • What do you think he/she is feeling?
character is feeling or thinking • What does the chart tell you
from a text, picture, or video clip about . . . ?
(fiction) or inferring how a game
is played from a text, diagram,
or podcast (non-fiction)
• provides reasons for more • What did that conversation tell us
complex inferences about the characters?
• Why do you think that?
• What gives you that impression of the
author’s viewpoint?
• visualizes from the author’s • Can you picture that in your head?
descriptions in fiction and • Think of how it would look . . . and
non-fiction texts (e.g., describes what sounds you may hear.
personal mind pictures created • How did the author picture this
from the text and background person/scene?
knowledge)
• make inferences about word • Did the author give us any clues to
meanings from context help us work out this word?
• What did the author mean here?
• make inferences about the • The author gives us a word picture
meaning of literary language here. I’m wondering what he/she
(e.g., similes, metaphors, and means?
idioms) • Can you picture . . . ?
• understands jokes and word • Why is that so funny?
plays • What did the author do to make us
laugh?
COMMENTS:
© 2009 Scholastic Canada Ltd. GRADE 6 INFERRING STRATEGY UNIT 81