Students will discover in this session how concluding enhances comprehension of material. At the end of this lesson, students can:
- Deduce implications from a story.
- Utilize textual and visual evidence, together with their own thoughts, to bolster their arguments.
- Elucidate how making inferences from a story helped them grasp it.

- How can literary and factual texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- How does the reading material affect how a text should be interpreted?
- What is the true purpose of this text?

- Evidence: Text or illustrations used to support a reader’s ideas about a text.
- Inference: A guess based on clues in a text or illustrations plus the reader’s ideas.
- Prediction: A reader’s guess about what a text will be about or what will happen in a story.

- Lindsay Barrett George. (2006). In the Garden: Who’s Been Here? Greenwillow Books. Other books in the series include In the Snow, In the Woods, and Around the Pond.
- Additional age-appropriate literary stories that students can use for making inferences based on text evidence include the following:
- Jane Yolen. (2008). Naming Liberty. Philomel.
- Frances Park and Ginger Park. (2000). The Royal Bee. Boyds Mill Press.
- Cynthia Rylant. (2002). Tulip Sees America. Scholastic Inc.
- Eve Bunting. (2001). Dandelions. HMH Books for Young Readers.
- Janell Cannon. (1997). Stellaluna. Sandpiper.
- William Steig. (2011). Brave Irene. Square Fish.
- Jane Yolen. (1987). Owl Moon. Philomel.
- Julie Brinckloe. (1986). Fireflies!. Aladdin.
- Vera B. Williams. (2007). A Chair for My Mother. Greenwillow Books.
- Teachers may substitute other books to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- index cards
- anchor chart from Lessons 1 and 2
- copies of Making Inferences Worksheet (L-2-4-3_Making Inferences Worksheet and KEY)

The purpose of this lesson is to help students become more adept at concluding literary texts.
- Utilize the subsequent checklist to evaluate every student's comprehension:
- Students are able to come to inferences about a tale by identifying evidence in the text and images.
- Students are able to reach implications about a story by fusing their own thoughts with information from the text.
- Students are able to clarify how making inferences aids in the comprehension of a narrative.
- As needed, offer reteaching and chances for more practice.

Direct Instruction, Modeling, Active Participation, and Scaffolding
W: Assist students in honing their ability to draw conclusions that deepen their comprehension of a tale by tying their ideas to textual evidence. 
H: Have kids play the game I'm Packing My Suitcase to practice drawing conclusions. 
E: Show pupils how to draw conclusions by connecting concepts and textual evidence, then progressively give them more responsibility. 
R: Expand on the information covered in earlier classes and utilize that foundation to strengthen students' ability to draw conclusions to enhance their comprehension of literary works. 
E: Monitor students to assess their comprehension of how to use text evidence and their own ideas for coming to inferences while reading literary texts, and provide students with opportunities to exhibit what they have learned. 
T: Give students the chance to apply and reinforce their understanding of making inferences by having them use different literary texts that are appropriate for their level of independent reading. Encourage struggling students to practice concluding their thoughts and the evidence presented in the book. 
O: This lesson's learning exercises include large-group instruction and discussion, small-group inquiry, pair work, and individual application of the material. 

Focus Question: How can we deduce information about a story by using both textual evidence and our own ideas?

Bring up the anchor chart from Lessons 1 and 2 and go over the definitions of evidence and inference with the class.

Say, "Let's play a game called I'm Packing My Suitcase to hone our inference skills. Keep an ear out for hints that will clarify the question for you."

Say, "I'm heading on a trip. I'm putting sunglasses, sunscreen, swimwear, flip-flops, sand toys, and goggles in my suitcase. What's my destination?" Ask pupils to turn to a companion and draw a conclusion about the destination of your trip. Next, ask the class to react as a whole. (to the beach)

"What proof did you utilize to get that conclusion?", you ask your students. (Every item you are packing has a beach application.) "How do you know that stuff is suitable for use at a beach?" Help pupils realize that they came to their conclusion by using both textual evidence and their own thinking.

If there's time, have the students create their own lists to share with the class, or you can repeat the game with different sets of objects.

Part 1

Put Lindsay Barrett George's book In the Garden: Who's Been Here? on display. Discuss the narrative title and the cover image. To the anchor chart, add the word prediction. "What is a prediction?", you ask. (A reader's estimation of the subject matter of a work or the plot of a story.) Complete the chart with the definition. Say, "What can you guess about the story based on the title and cover?" Ask students to share the predictions they have made as well as the hints that have guided them.

Say, "The plot of the novel is left up to the reader's imagination. You considered the book title while studying the image on the cover. After that, you put all of those hints together with your own theories to determine the plot of the novel. Let's read the narrative now to see if your predictions came true."

Flip to the first two pages of the story in the book. Present the characters, Jeremy and Christina. Give the pupils time to study the artwork as you read the text aloud. Inquire, "Who is Sonny?" (the dog): "What cues from the text and illustrations help you draw that conclusion?" (Mom asks Christina and Jeremy to take Sonny outdoors. The image depicts a dog and kids outside.)

Read the story's opening paragraph out loud while you turn the page. Say, "In the text, it is written that rains cling to the poppies. The picture's crimson blossoms appear to have raindrops on them. It seems to me that poppies are crimson blossoms."

Say, "According to the text, a guest darts from blossom to blossom, sucking on nectar. In the photo, I see a bee. I am aware that bees feed on blossom nectar. I may conclude that the bee is the visitor the author is referring to based on my theories and the information presented in the graphic."

Point out the question "Who's been here?" at the bottom of the page after reading the remaining material on that particular page. Explain to students that they should conclude who has been eating the seeds in the center of the sunflower using the text's facts, the images, and their views.

Ask the question, "What animal do you think has been there?" Ask pupils to turn to a partner and draw a conclusion together. Students should then present their responses. (A tiny bird or other small animal) Question: "What hints enable you to draw that conclusion?" (The missing seeds are on top of the sunflower, so the animal needs to be light and small. The tiny seeds need to be picked out with a beak, tiny, sharp teeth, or claws.)

To find the solution, turn the page. Discuss the specifics in the example that lend credence to the solution. Make sure your students understand that the chipmunk uses its teeth and keen claws to selectively remove each seed from the sunflower, one at a time, while perched atop it. "How do you know if your inference is correct?", you ask. Describe how an inference is a guess and hence might or might not be accurate.

You instruct, "We will conclude the story and the illustrations as we read the remaining parts, incorporating our ideas as well."

Go back and read the narrative again. As the book poses the question, "Who's been here?" students turn to a partner and conclude. Talk about how the students deduced the identities of the creatures in the garden using both their theories and the textual information.

Tell students that while they might not be familiar with every animal's name, they can still conclude its traits and habits from the text and their ideas. This can be done as they turn the pages to reveal the animals.

Assist students with summarizing the concepts they have learned about drawing conclusions and using textual evidence to back up their arguments. Say, "Readers conclude what they read to make sense of it. When reading a narrative, you utilize your ideas in addition to hints found in the text and visuals to help you comprehend it."

Review the predictions that the students made by examining the book's cover and title. "Did you predict correctly what the book will be about? How are you aware? Teach pupils that while assumptions drawn from the text can be verified, predictions cannot.

Part 2

For further practice, use the Making Inferences Worksheet (L-2-4-3_Making Inferences Worksheet and KEY). This worksheet can be used for both small-group skill reinforcement and large-group instruction. Either way, have a class discussion of the solutions afterward. Although the key offers suggestions for inferences, students' responses may differ. The worksheet's goal is to assist pupils in concluding textual material as well as their views.

Encourage students to put their newly acquired knowledge to use by having them read a book aloud to a partner and draw conclusions once they have finished and discussed the assignment. Walk around the classroom as the pupils are working to see if they can conclude. If assistance or reteaching is required, give it.

Inscribe the subsequent inquiries to the board:

How do you conclude a story?
How might inferences aid in the comprehension of a story?
With the class, go over the questions. Give an index card to every pupil. "Write your name on the card," you say. "Next, write your responses to the two questions."

Gather the index cards so that you can utilize them as a formative evaluation tool to see how well the pupils understood the lessons' topics.

Extension:

Students who are prepared to go above and beyond the basics should select other literary works and present instances of how they deduced information from the narrative. (See the Materials for suggested titles.)
Assign students who require extra learning opportunities to work in small groups with you to read a different story and draw conclusions from both their own thoughts and the text's evidence.