My Teachable Moments

Literacy: Making Inferences with a Garbage Bag Mystery!

 

Background Knowledge: PART ONE

This lesson is designed to fit into a reading workshop in which students are either using familiar picture books

to make connections and retell stories, or they are reading from leveled books matched to their abilities and

cultural backgrounds.

The lesson can be used within the context of a class reader as well. You may already have read Two Bad Ants

aloud to your students and discussed the concept of predicting what will happen next based on information supplied

by the pictures and the text.

This lesson will help children transfer the concept of making predictions from a story that is read aloud to them into

the context of their own independent reading.

 

Materials needed: SUPPORTS

Anchor Chart: Schema + Context Clues= Inference

Sentence Strip-  I infer that____________,because___________.

PART TWO: Making an Inference

My content for the lesson was based on the students being able to understand how to create an educational inference

using context clues and schema to help support their findings. I made sure to go over these terms and how to make a

proper inference using plenty of examples. I referred back to the story. Two Bad Ants, a we shoulder partnered to decide what a good inference would be for the story We had a group discussion on how each student has a different schema of certain experiences in life and because of this we can create our own idea of what the author is trying to tell us.

 

PART THREE The Great Garbage Bag Mystery 

I start with collecting a strategic bag of trash from

around my house a few days before I plan to do the

lesson.  Keep in mind that you have to have an idea of

the "family" that this trash is going to belong too, so

your trash, or evidence,  is going to have to match that

family.  I collected trash that I knew would help my

students to hopefully infer that this family consisted

of a mom, dad, and baby.  So, I had things like work

ties, children's puzzles, birthday supplies, lipstick,

drawings (from the child of the home),  etc.

 

 

The day of my lesson, I bring in the bag of trash and

tell my students that I have a new neighbor.  I explain

to them that "I know they moved in because I've seen

their cars and saw the moving van, but I never really

seem to see them out and about- I've even tried

stopping by their house, but they're never home." 

I tell the students that I really wanted to find out more

about them, so I stole their trash hoping it will give me some clues about who lives there.  At this point, the kids are usually looking at me like I'm crazy, but they (usually) completely go with it.  (I often wonder how many of them go home that afternoon and tell their parents that I was digging in my neighbor's garbage!) I tell them that I really need their help using my neighbors garbage as clues to figure out more about the family. Who wants to help me dig threw the trash? (Hands go high! They are ready!)

 

Pick a student each time to pick one item from the bag and have students guess what that item says about the family.  The "evidence" is what item are in the trash.  The "inference" is what the students think that item tells them about the family.  It is SO much fun to see what they come up with!  First graders are incredibly intuitive and creative sometimes.  I even had a student tell me one time that the family was a "rich."  I said, "How do you know that?"  She said, "Because they just threw away make-up that they never even used. My mom wears that! It's expensive she says!"  I was like, "WOW... I would not have even thought of that!"  So smart! NOTE: Remember to use a sentence frame to give them good language support! Knowing how to use their academic language is the key!
       Anyway, after we have inferred about all the items in the trash bag, I have the kids go back to their seats and write 3 inferences they made and draw a picture of the family based on the evidence and inferences. If you click the recording sheet , it will take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can get this recording sheet for FREE!!!  Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Click HERE for complete CCSS and WIDA standard Lesson Plan