• 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. The landlord described the flat as "cosy, with character." It had one window, a sloping floor and a heater that worked when it felt like it. What is the writer suggesting? (The heater is brand new. / The flat is spacious and modern. / The writer loves sloping floors. / The landlord's description is a flattering way of hiding the flat's problems.) → The landlord's description is a flattering way of hiding the flat's problems.Prompt: The answer is not written word for word. Look for clues.
2. "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 calm. / His phone is broken. / He is more worried than he admits. / He is bored.) → He is more worried than he admits.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. Researchers found that a species of songbird sings at a higher pitch in cities than in forests. Because low-pitched sounds are easily masked by traffic noise, the researchers suggest that urban birds ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (have stopped singing altogether. / sing at a lower pitch to save energy. / prefer forests to cities. / may have shifted their songs so that other birds can hear them over the noise.) → may have shifted their songs so that other birds can hear them over the noise.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.
2. 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? (attract more nocturnal pollinators. / grow taller during the night. / 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.

• 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. Researchers found that a species of songbird sings at a higher pitch in cities than in forests. Because low-pitched sounds are easily masked by traffic noise, the researchers suggest that urban birds ___ Which choice most logically completes the text? (have stopped singing altogether. / prefer forests to cities. / sing at a lower pitch to save energy. / may have shifted their songs so that other birds can hear them over the noise.) → may have shifted their songs so that other birds can hear them over the noise.Prompt: Summarise what the text has established so far.
2. 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 shaped in part by her editor's influence. / was criticised by her editor. / was always her natural way of writing.) → was shaped in part by her editor's influence.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.