Program Synopsis
In this episode, Mrs. Pingel uses a movement activity to introduce her students to the strategy of inferring. When the class receives letters from their French Canadian pen pals, Lizzy realizes she needs to infer to understand hers. She soon finds herself inside a letter filled with humor and adventure. She later uses inferring to solve a mystery in her own attic.

Featured text:
Lizzy's Pen Pal Letter

Other texts mentioned:
Inferring Clue Cards

Teaching Suggestions:

• Think about how you want to use this program. How does it fit into your teaching plan?
  1. Use it to introduce inferring.
  2. As a follow-up or review.
  3. To support students who are having difficulty making inferences.

Before viewing:

• Set a purpose for watching the video. Explain that students will be trying the strategy themselves after they watch the video.
• Ask students to watch for something specific in the program, for example:
  1. Why do you think they use the magnifying glass as a symbol for inferring?
  2. What does Lizzy do when she can't infer the meaning of something in her letter?
  3. What is the difference between inferring and guessing?

During viewing:

• Pause the video during teachable moments. There are many spots in this episode for your students to interact by making their own inferences before they hear the answers from the video. For example:
  1. After Mrs. Pingel does her pantomime (before the students in the video have guessed).
     Ask students to infer Mrs. Pingel's identity. Follow up by asking what clues they used to make their inference. Students can see how their inferences and clues compare with the students in the video.
  2. After Julia has read her last clue: "Some of the people screamed, but they were having fun."
     Ask students to infer their own answer.
  3. During the fantasy, after Lizzy has made several tries at inferring the meaning of "bateleur." (after baseball player, bowler, and chef)
     Ask students if they can infer the meaning of the word. Discuss how you often need to put together several different clues in a text to come up with a correct inference.

After viewing:

• If you posed questions before viewing, discuss the students' answers
• Discuss Lizzy's attitude toward trying to understand a difficult text (wanted help from the teacher at first, used the strategy to figure it out on her own, frustrated sometimes, kept looking for more clues, looked like she was having fun, etc.)
• Have students do the Inferring activity in the student area of the Web site. Discuss how you can make different inferences from the same text, depending on your purpose for reading or your own prior knowledge.
• If your students have taken reading comprehension tests (standardized assessments that include comprehension questions...), choose several questions that require inferring and work through them using the inferring techniques they have learned.
• Model making inferences during your read-aloud time. Be sure to point out the clues you use to help you make your inferences.
• Try some of the lesson plans on this site.
• Listen to the Inferring song.

Preview Clips

Intro to Inferring clip Notice how Mrs. Pingel introduces a reading strategy using a movement activity. Students can learn the strategy and participate in the activity regardless of their reading proficiency. Try it yourself: Try the Move to Infer lesson plan. Using another subject, like art, music or dance/movement can be a great way to help students get comfortable with a strategy before they attempt to use with text. Notice how the teacher repeats the vocabulary and process of inferring until the students begin to pick it up themselves "What clues did you use to infer..." "How did that clue help you?" Notice how she probes students: "Why is that movement a clue?" Metacognition clip Notice how Mrs. Pingel helps students think about their own thinking — metacognition — by having them explicitly recognize different strategies that they are using. Try it yourself: Begin to notice when your students are using different strategies and point it out to them; or better yet get them to point it out to each other! (You might want to make strategy pointers like those in Mrs. Pingel's classroom for this. Just print the Into the Book icons and attach them to pencils or dowels. To watch a teacher in a real classroom modeling this, watch Behind the Lesson: Using Strategies Together. Clues clip Notice how the magnifying glass highlights clues that can help make an inference. This is to help show students what is going on in the mind of the proficient reader as they identify clues in the text. Try it yourself: Let your students practice inferring using this activity. Use these Inferring Cards or write your own. Keep trying clip Notice how Lizzy doesn't get it right the first time, but she keeps trying. Try it yourself: Let students know that sometimes they may make bad inferences like Lizzy. Readers can't always make a correct inference the first time. They may need to use several clues together, and their own personal knowledge, to come up with a valid inference.