• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Implicit meaning and inference; Command of evidence (SAT/ACT)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. "Of course I'm not worried," said Oren, checking his phone for the fifth time in a minute. What does Oren's action reveal? (He is bored. / He is more worried than he admits. / He is calm. / His phone is broken.) → He is more worried than he admits.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
2. Grandfather's chair still stood by the fire. Nobody sat in it, though the cat sometimes curled up there, as if keeping it warm. What can be inferred? (The fire is never lit. / Grandfather has died or gone, and the family still feels his absence. / The chair is broken. / Grandfather dislikes cats.) → Grandfather has died or gone, and the family still feels his absence.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
3. When the results were read out, Dana congratulated the winner warmly, then spent the rest of the evening very interested in the pattern on the carpet. What does the writer imply about Dana? (She dislikes the winner. / She won the competition. / She is fascinated by carpets. / She is hiding her disappointment.) → She is hiding her disappointment.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Completing a text logically (SAT Inferences). Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: In a study, students who explained a concept aloud to a classmate later remembered it better than students who reread their notes for the same length of time. This finding suggests that ___ Which choice most logically completes the text?
• Step 1: The correct completion is the conclusion the evidence in the text best supports.
• Step 2: The explaining group remembered more, with time held equal.
• Step 3: So the answer is: actively explaining material may strengthen memory more than passive review.
• Answer: actively explaining material may strengthen memory more than passive review.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. A novelist's early manuscripts contain long descriptive passages that were cut from the published versions. Her editor's letters repeatedly urge her to 'trust the reader'. Taken together, these documents suggest that the novelist's spare published style ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (led readers to dislike her books. / was always her natural way of writing. / was criticised by her editor. / was shaped in part by her editor's influence.) → was shaped in part by her editor's influence.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.
2. In a study, students who explained a concept aloud to a classmate later remembered it better than students who reread their notes for the same length of time. This finding suggests that ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (classmates are a distraction while studying. / rereading notes is the most effective study method. / memory does not depend on study methods. / actively explaining material may strengthen memory more than passive review.) → actively explaining material may strengthen memory more than passive review.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 5 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Some plants close their flowers at night. Because many of their pollinators are active only in daylight, closing at night may help these plants ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (grow taller during the night. / attract more nocturnal pollinators. / protect their pollen when it is unlikely to be collected anyway. / avoid being seen by daytime insects.) → protect their pollen when it is unlikely to be collected anyway.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.
2. Archaeologists found grain storage pits beneath a site once thought to be a seasonal camp. Because storing grain implies people expected to return to or remain in a place, the discovery suggests that the site ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (was abandoned after one season. / was built by a different civilisation entirely. / was used only for hunting. / was occupied more permanently than previously believed.) → was occupied more permanently than previously believed.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-11.