Lesson length30 min 45 min 60 min

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English lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 60 minutes

Making inferences

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RL.5.1CCSS RI.5.1England: Y5/6 Reading (inference)England: KS2 SATs ReadingEngland: 11+ English

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Making inferences.

I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
I can explain each step and say why it works.
I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Predicting and simple inference

Leads to: Citing textual evidence; Tone and mood; Implicit meaning and inference

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Predicting and simple inference). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

Kim stepped up to the high board. Her knees shook as she looked down at the water. How does Kim feel? (bored / angry / sleepy / nervous) → nervousPrompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
Ben left his sandwich on the picnic blanket. A seagull circled overhead. What will probably happen next? (It will start to snow. / The sandwich will fly away by itself. / Ben will plant a tree. / The seagull will grab the sandwich.) → The seagull will grab the sandwich.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
Theo yawned and rubbed his eyes. His book slipped onto the floor. What is probably happening? (Theo is falling asleep. / Theo is very excited. / Theo is running a race. / Theo is hungry.) → Theo is falling asleep.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.

Hook · 6 min

Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
Share the objective: Making inferences. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
Example: The house was silent. Dust covered the furniture, and cobwebs hung from every corner. What can you infer about the house?
Step 1: An inference combines clues in the text with what you know.
Step 2: So the answer is: Nobody has lived there for a long time.
Answer: Nobody has lived there for a long time.
Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

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

Mr Patel glanced at the clock for the third time and tapped his foot. The bus was already twenty minutes late. How is Mr Patel feeling? (delighted / relaxed / sleepy / impatient) → impatientPrompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
The house was silent. Dust covered the furniture, and cobwebs hung from every corner. What can you infer about the house? (It is brand new. / A party is happening. / Nobody has lived there for a long time. / It was cleaned this morning.) → Nobody has lived there for a long time.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.

You do: independent practice · 17 min

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

Exit ticket · 7 min

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

The coach blew the whistle, and the players trudged off the field, heads down, while the other team cheered. What can you infer? (The match was cancelled. / The players lost the match. / The players won. / The players are going to start playing.) → The players lost the match.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.

Watch out for

Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

Review first: Predicting and simple inference.
Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

Move on to: Citing textual evidence; Tone and mood; Implicit meaning and inference.
Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-5.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Making inferences

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A Day at the Fire Station

Firefighters do much more than put out fires. At Station 9, the day begins at eight o'clock sharp with a check of every piece of equipment. The crew test the hoses, check the air tanks and make sure the ladders slide smoothly. "If something is broken, we need to know now, not when there's an emergency," says Captain Rivera. After the checks, the firefighters exercise for an hour. Their job is very physical. They must carry heavy hoses, climb ladders in thick protective suits and sometimes carry people to safety. In the afternoon, the crew often visit schools to teach children about fire safety. They show how to check smoke alarms and explain why you should never hide during a fire. "Get out, stay out, and call for help," Captain Rivera tells every class. When the alarm rings, everything changes. The crew pull on their gear, jump into the fire engine and are on their way in less than a minute. Calls might be for a house fire, a car accident or even a cat stuck up a tree. Whatever the emergency, the firefighters of Station 9 are ready.

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Question 1
Read "A Day at the Fire Station". Why do the firefighters need to exercise?
- A. It is the rule at every job.
- B. They are training for a race.
- C. They have nothing else to do.
- D. Their job needs strength and fitness.

The Phone-Free Lunch Experiment

For one month, students at Brookfield School tried something unusual: no phones at lunch. Phones stayed in lockers from twelve until one, and the dining hall filled with board games, sketchbooks and a lot more noise. The idea came from the student council. In a survey, 61 per cent of students said they spent most of lunch looking at a screen, and many said they wanted a break but found it hard to stop on their own. At first, not everyone was happy. "I thought it was a punishment," admitted Jaden, 12. "But after a week I'd learned to play chess, and now I actually look forward to lunch." Teachers noticed changes too. Ms Ortega, who supervises the hall, said there were fewer arguments and more students sitting in mixed groups. However, some students said they missed messaging family members during the day. The council will now vote on whether to keep the rule. One suggestion is a compromise: phone-free Mondays to Thursdays, with Fridays left free.

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Question 2
Read "The Phone-Free Lunch Experiment". Why might the council consider the 'compromise'?
- A. to keep the benefits while answering students who wanted to contact family
- B. because teachers asked for longer lunches
- C. because nobody liked the rule
- D. because phones were broken

The Attic

The attic door had been painted shut for as long as Daniel could remember. His mother said there was nothing up there but dust and old suitcases. So when the decorators scraped away the paint on the first Saturday of the summer holidays, Daniel was the first one up the narrow stairs. The air was thick and warm and smelt of mothballs. Thin blades of light slid through gaps in the roof tiles and lay across the floorboards like fallen swords. In the far corner, beneath a sheet greyed with age, something waited. Daniel crossed the room slowly. Each board groaned beneath him as if complaining about being woken. He reached out, hesitated, then pulled the sheet away in one quick movement. It was a desk – small, battered, and covered in carvings. Initials. Dates. A crooked drawing of a sailing boat. And there, in the corner, carved more deeply than all the rest, were three letters he knew better than his own name: D.A.M. Daniel Adebayo Mensah. His grandfather. The grandfather who had died two years before Daniel was born, and whom his mother never spoke about. He ran his fingers over the letters. Downstairs, someone switched on a radio, and a burst of music floated up through the floor. Daniel did not move. For the first time, the silence in the attic did not feel empty. It felt like someone waiting to tell him a story.

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Question 3
Read "The Attic". What can we infer about Daniel's mother's feelings towards his grandfather?
- A. She hid the desk because it was valuable.
- B. She never met him.
- C. She is excited to talk about him.
- D. The subject is painful or difficult for her.

Pepper's First Week: A Diary

Saturday. Today we collected Pepper from the rescue centre. She is a skinny brown dog with one floppy ear and one ear that stands straight up. In the car, she shook the whole way home, and I held her blanket so she could smell it. I felt nervous too. Sunday. Pepper hid behind the sofa all day. Mum says rescue dogs sometimes need time to trust people because they do not know what is going to happen next. I lay on the floor and read my comic out loud so she could get used to my voice. Tuesday. A breakthrough! When I got back from school, Pepper crept out and sniffed my shoes. Then she licked my hand. I stayed completely still, although I wanted to cheer. Thursday. We went to the park on her lead. A bicycle rang its bell, and Pepper jumped behind my legs. I knelt down and talked to her calmly until her tail started wagging again. Friday. Tonight Pepper fell asleep with her head on my foot. I didn't move for an hour, even though my foot went numb. I think she has decided she lives here now.

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Question 4
Read "Pepper's First Week: A Diary". Why did Pepper jump behind the writer's legs in the park?
- A. The bicycle bell frightened her.
- B. She saw another dog.
- C. She was tired.
- D. She wanted to play hide-and-seek.

The Moon's Night Walk (a poem)

The moon puts on her silver coat and tiptoes up the sky. She hums a tune to sleepy owls and winks at clouds nearby. She paints the rooftops pearly white, she lights the cat's way home, she peeps into the children's rooms to check they're not alone. She counts the stars like sleeping sheep, she sings the sea to rest, she hangs a lantern on the hill for travellers in the west. And when the sun yawns in the east and stretches out his rays, the moon slips off her silver coat and hides away for days. But look up on a quiet night when all the town's asleep: she's tiptoeing across the sky with promises to keep.

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Question 5
Read "The Moon's Night Walk (a poem)". What is happening in the fourth verse?
- A. The children are waking the moon.
- B. A storm is starting.
- C. The moon is getting brighter.
- D. Morning is coming and the moon is disappearing.

Why Do Leaves Change in Autumn?

In many parts of the world, autumn turns forests into blazes of yellow, orange and red. But where do these bright shades come from? The answer is hidden inside every leaf. During spring and summer, leaves are busy making food for the tree. To do this, they use sunlight, water and air. A green substance called chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight. There is so much chlorophyll in a leaf that it hides all the other shades. As autumn arrives, the days grow shorter and there is less sunlight. Trees such as maples and oaks begin to get ready for winter. They stop making chlorophyll. As the green fades away, the yellows and oranges that were in the leaf all along begin to show. Some trees, such as certain maples, also make a brand-new red substance in autumn. This is why some leaves turn bright red or purple. Finally, the tree seals off each leaf where it joins the branch. The leaf dries out and falls. Without leaves, the tree uses less water during the cold winter months. In spring, new green leaves will grow, and the cycle will begin again.

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Question 6
Read "Why Do Leaves Change in Autumn?". How does losing leaves help a tree in winter?
- A. It grows faster.
- B. It makes more food.
- C. It uses less water.
- D. It stays warmer.

Bugs in the Code

Theo had been looking forward to Coding Club all week. Ms Rivera had promised they would make their own animated story on the classroom tablets. Theo chose a cartoon cat and wrote the code: when the green flag is clicked, move ten steps, then turn and wave. He clicked the flag. The cat spun round and round like a washing machine and never stopped. "It's broken!" Theo groaned, and he pushed the tablet away. Ms Rivera sat down beside him. "It's not broken," she said. "It's got a bug. Every coder gets bugs. The trick is to be a detective." Together they read the code one block at a time. Theo had put the turn block inside a forever loop by mistake, so the cat kept turning for ever. Theo dragged the block out of the loop and clicked the flag again. The cat walked ten steps, turned and waved. Theo cheered so loudly that the whole club looked up. The next week, a younger girl called Ivy was close to tears because her rocket would not take off. Theo pulled up a chair. "It's not broken," he told her. "It's got a bug. Let's be detectives."

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Question 7
Read "Bugs in the Code". Why does Theo say the same words to Ivy that Ms Rivera said to him?
- A. He has forgotten what to say.
- B. He wants to show off.
- C. He thinks Ivy's tablet is broken.
- D. He wants to help her the way he was helped.

The Climbing Wall

The climbing wall at the leisure centre was twelve metres high, and from the bottom it looked like a mountain covered in brightly coloured sweets. Jaya had watched her older cousin, Ravi, scramble to the top of it a dozen times. Today was her first turn. The instructor clipped the rope to her harness and checked the knot twice. "Remember," she said, "use your legs, not just your arms. And don't look down until you're ready." The first few holds were easy. Jaya climbed quickly, buoyed by Ravi's cheers. But halfway up, the holds grew smaller and farther apart. Her arms began to burn. She looked down – and immediately wished she hadn't. The floor seemed impossibly far away, and her legs began to tremble. "I want to come down," she called. "You can," the instructor answered calmly. "Or you can rest. Lean back into the harness. The rope's got you." Jaya didn't believe her. But slowly, she let her weight sink back. The rope held. Her breathing steadied. She looked at the wall in front of her, not at the floor, and noticed a small yellow hold to her right that she hadn't seen before. Ten minutes later, she slapped the top of the wall. The leisure centre erupted in cheers – or at least Ravi did, which felt like the same thing.

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Question 8
Read "The Climbing Wall". What is the tone of the final paragraph?
- A. angry
- B. triumphant and lightly humorous
- C. frightening
- D. gloomy and regretful

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Answer key: Making inferences

1. D. Their job needs strength and fitness.
2. A. to keep the benefits while answering students who wanted to contact family
3. D. The subject is painful or difficult for her.
4. A. The bicycle bell frightened her.
5. D. Morning is coming and the moon is disappearing.
6. C. It uses less water.
7. D. He wants to help her the way he was helped.
8. B. triumphant and lightly humorous