Reading Strategy: Make Inferences

When you read historical fiction, you can add information from your own knowledge and experiences. Use this information to make inferences that help you better understand the text.

Reading Strategy: Make Inferences
    How to Make Inferences

  • 1. As you read, look for details from the text that help you understand the characters and the events.

  • 2. Use your own experience and knowledge to make sense of the story.

  • 3. Track your thoughts in a chart like the one below.

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student made inferences.

Look Into the Text

At a store, my father saw a young Jewish boy who didn’t have enough money to buy what he wanted. So my father gave the boy some of his. That boy looked into my father’s eyes and, to thank him, invited my father to his home.

“ The father was kind and generous to the boy. ”

That is when my family and I went to a Hanukkah celebration for the first time. I was five years old.

In 1940, my father was a diplomat, representing the country of Japan.

I Read …I Know …And So …
“So my father gave the boy some of his [money].”To give without being asked is kind and generous.The father cares about other people.
“In 1940, my father was a diplomat ….”Diplomats do important work for their countries in times of war.The father must be smart and powerful.

“The father had an important job around the time of World War II.”

Practice Together

Reread the excerpt from “Passage to Freedom.” Follow the steps in the How-To box to make an inference.