Inference Questions

Inference skills are more complex comprehension skills. Inference means filling in what is not written on the page or working out what the author is trying to tell you using clues and evidence from the text when it is not explicitly written. Inferential comprehension requires readers to: combine ideas, interpret and evaluate information.

Ask questions about:

  • how a character feels
  • why a character feels a particular way
  • why a character acts/behaves in a certain way (motives)
  • why a character says certain things (motives)
  • why a character says things in a certain way (motives)
  • why a character does things in a certain way (motives)
  • what a character thinks
  • why a character thinks/believes/expects (etc) a certain thing

Using this type of questioning as you read pieces of text will support you to further develop this greater understanding.

Task 1 – The Race

It was the final lap of the race. The sixty-sixth lap of hair-raising, one hundred miles per hour madness. John was all set for the victory. Around the final bend he came, then bang…

Everything stopped. John could see the flashes of red, green and blue flying past and on to the finish line.

He placed his head in his hands and sighed.

 

How is John feeling at the end of this story?

Why would he be feeling that way?

 

Task 2 – Hiding Place

“10-9-8-7…”

Chelsea dived in. The material was all soft and warm but she could tell that she was very easy to spot.

“I know,” she said to herself, and climbed out of the bed to hide underneath it.

What game is Chelsea playing?

Describe Chelsea’s first hiding place.

 

 

Science – Anatomy of a flower

We have been learning about the anatomy of a flower.

Can you carefully dissect a flower to create a labelled picture?

You could stick the flower parts on this printable table using this link, https://www.playfullearning.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Anatomyofaflowertapeon.pdf

Vocabulary

  • Petal – outer sections of the flower
  • Stem – main stalk of the plant
  • Pistil – part of the flower that produces seeds
  • Stigma – sticky part at the top of the pistil that catches the pollen
  • Style – long part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary
  • Stamen – part of the flower that produces pollen
  • Filament – part of the stamen that supports the anther
  • Anther – part at the top of the stamen that produces the pollen
  • Ovary – large part of the pistil that produces the ovules
  • Ovules – when the ovules are fertilized by pollen, they become the seeds
  • Spathe – thin sheath that protects the flower buds

Here is a link to a fantastic website, https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/animals-and-nature/plants/parts-flower/

 

 

The Magic Box

We have enjoyed The Magic Box poem below written by Kit Wright.

I will put in the box
the swish of a silk sari on a summer night,
fire from the nostrils of a Chinese dragon,
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth.

I will put in the box
a snowman with a rumbling belly,
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerne,
a leaping spark from an electric fish.

I will put into the box
three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put into the box
a fifth season and a black sun,
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.

My box is fashioned from ice and gold and steel,
with stars on the lid and secrets in the corners.
Its hinges are the toe joints of dinosaurs.

I shall surf in my box
on the great high-rolling breakers of the wild Atlantic,
then wash ashore on a yellow beach
the colour of the sun.

Listen to Kit Wright reading his poem called The Magic Box here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zkpmhyc

Are there any words or phrases you are unsure of? Ask an adult or check using a dictionary. Please comment with your findings.

What would you put inside your magic box? Try to think of something strange and impossible for your box to be made out of. Mine would be made out of clouds with a shimmering mirror lid. The hinges would be made from burning hot magma from the centre of the Earth! What will you do with your box? Where would you go? I’d sit in my box and fly around the world. I’d zoom through waterfalls and gallop with wild unicorns on a rainbow road!

Cress investigation

We planned a fair test cress growing investigation in our science lesson. Four bowls were set up with the following different conditions,

  1. In the sun and watered
  2. In the sun and no water
  3. In the dark cupboard and watered
  4. In the dark cupboard and no water

We observed our cress seeds regularly.

 

Do you remember which conditions were best for the cress to grow and thrive?

 

Can you set up a similar investigation at home? Please do email photos and we will share these on the blog. Thank you.