Some links for inferential reading

[cobyseven]

Because of all the recent posts regarding inferences, I thought it might be good for us to gather some information regarding drawing inferences from reading. I've found some good examples out there that will help us understand as parents how to break down the process of inferring when reading.

I was also really, really, surprised to find that many of the sites on inferential reading indicate that it is helpful to prompt for pronouns and antecedents. One study had a high correlation for pronouns in inferential success. This surprised me as I never would have thought of it as a major barrier. However, understanding that many LD children also have trouble reading those 'small' words, I suppose it makes sense. The best example I could find of how this would make reading difficult was at the link below. Click specifically on the Inferential reading sample at the left for an example on how pronouns can be confusing:

www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/inferentialreading.htm


On this same site, it lists 13 things that good readers automatically do for good inferencing. I saw these themes repeated a great deal and will continue to look for more substantiation.


Here is a link to an inference test:

www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/gigaquiz?path=english/reading/inference_test&infile=inference_test

One of the only things I agree with my district about lately is that if you want to create good readers, take away or monitor external influences (i.e. facebook, texting, TV, video games).

While I don't think my district is doing enough for my dd in reading, I have to say that she has actually expressed enjoyment in a couple of books she has read. This is a first for us and maybe one of the major components that is missing from our kid's lives. They don't read enough and they are used to 'passive' interaction in their free time activities. It doesn't take a lot of thinking to watch fear factor, e.g.

Here is a lesson plan on understanding the difference between observation and inference using archeological materials:

www.kshs.org/teachers/trunks/pdfs/arch_06lesson_2.pdf


I'm still working on this a little at a time, but thought those of you who are looking at the same thing might share.

[cobyseven]

A meta analysis:

www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR031.pdf

www.nfer.ac.uk/research-areas/pims-data/summaries/effective-teaching-of-inference-and-deduction-skills-for-reading-literature-review.cfm

Interesting that these cite a good working memory as a pre-requisite for good inferential skills.

[Mayleng]

I found these sites:

www.criticalreading.com/inference_reading.htm

dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/inference.htm

www.fno.org/feb02/inference.html

This one is more for comprehension: www.opencourtresources.com/ocr/gradex/comprehension.html

and thanks for starting this thread.

When we have accumulated enough resources, I will sticky it to the top so we don't lose this thread.

[dhfl143]

Wow -- can't wait to start reading... these look like excellent resources. Thanks guys!

[michellea]

Here's an interesting article about reading comprehension:
www.adlit.org/article/19844

[cobyseven]

Good one michellea.....Generally adlit.org is a great reference.

www.adlit.org/articles/68

www.adlit.org/strategy_library

www.adlit.org/article/12443

[healthy11]

I don't have any sites to add at the moment, but I did want to say "thanks" to all of you for assembling this list of resources!

[SharonF]

Thanks! That's a great list of resources.

I'm puzzled though, at how to make "inferencing" stick. My dd had V/V. Both of my kids have had years of direct instruction in the strategies outlined in some of the articles. That includes instruction in Resource, in Study Skills classes, weekly private tutoring for nearly seven years, and even in reg-ed classes.

This one especially seemed to match the techniques my kids have been taught: www.adlit.org/article/19844

But neither of my kids seems all that interested or maybe even capable of doing those steps on their own. They read the words and move on. Unless another person actively engages them in thinking critically about what they've read, my kids DON'T think critically about what they read.

I think that was one reason ds struggled so much his first semester of college. College professors often assign heavy reading. Not a good fit for multi-sensory learners who struggle to infer deeper meanings from words on the page. Both of my kids are extremely intuitive when it comes to inferencing, comparing, contrasting, and drawing conclusions from what they see and experience. But both of my kids are lacking when it comes to using those skills when reading. And they hate to monitor their own comprehension--or lack of it.

I spoke this week with the disabilities coordinator at the college dd plans to attend. I was really impressed with her. She told me that kids with higher-order reading comprehension difficulties (such as inferencing) are the most likely to be overwhelmed in college.

[Mayleng]

Sharon, you make a very good point. What you described is why I am concerned for my ADDer. He can infer from pictures but when it comes to reading, this is where he has problems infering. The higher the grades the more difficult.

[SharonF]

Mayleng--

I think their multi-sensory thinking is a key part of this. We can MAKE our kids go through all of those steps, but it isn't naturally part of how they think. Not just when they read, but even watching TV or a movie.

For example, dd and I sometimes watch CSI. I try to figure out "whodunit" by piecing together the context clues. If a Mason jar full of gasoline explodes and starts a fire that kills a person, I realize that the producer went to a LOT of trouble to show that the fuel was in a glass jar used for canning. I assume that clue will help point to the killer and the motive. I'm usually right.

Meanwhile, dd is very visually observant but completely ignores the Mason jar. She instinctively pickes up on body language and uses that to try to determine who the killer is or what their motive was. Or she notes at what point the possible suspects are introduced into the show.

My way of thinking uses deductive reasoning and is more in line with traditional literary analysis. dd's way of thinking is more spontaneous than sequential. She is highly influenced by subjective clues such as body language or the actors' facial expressions. And after watching dozens of episodes, she has figured out how CSI's writers tend to give their clues.

And I'll be honest...sometimes she misses the plot altogether. She gets wrapped up in the action of the moment but completely misses how the different scenes are linked together. Often, she just watches the action without thinking about the plot. Kind of like seeing all of the words when she reads but not getting the deeper meaning.

[Mayleng]

I don't know if my son has problems understanding or piercing together context clues visually. He is pretty good at that. It is when he is reading that he has that problem.

[zippity]

Wonderful posting. Thanks to all the contributors. I have not visited my own lately but will peruse this as fresh. ADlit would do to change their emailings. I get a bunch of garbage 10"long and tend not to read the announcements but if you can, they are worth getting on their list. Sometimes they post contests. Good for kids who like to and may shine in this area or want to try.

[empeg1]

SharonF:

What you describe, the differences in how your dd and you process a program like CSI, is a perfect example of right vs left brain learning. You process sequentially, looking for the details that will then fit into the whole. Your dd processes for the emotional information, the nonverbal cues, and then over time constructs the gestalt. It is interesting that many scholars now are saying that the great thinkers and successful adults of the future will not be the left brain learners who today excell in our detail and memory oriented schools. It will be the right brain person, the nonlinear thinker who is creative, who will be the geniuses who will move and shake the world.
Yes, Coby, memory is important to inferential thinking. Long term memory, the activation of prior knowledge, is part of what makes inferential thinking possible. The person takes what he/she knows and the knew information, to make that leap possible, to infer based on both of the above.

[SharonF]

empeg--

A few gifted people have strengths in both hemispheres. Abraham Lincoln appears to be extremely right brained, yet an insightful writer as well.

I agree that the most influential problem solvers tend to be right-brained. I see that in my boss who has admitted to me that he's dyslexic, but has exceptional ability to perceive things in ways I'd never considered before. He's skilled with strategy and with problem-solving.

However, we still need linguistic-sequential thinkers, too. Rather than being the strategizers, we're the implementers. We're the processors. We are the "finishers" who take someone else's great idea and make it happen. Or refine it. Or write it up in a policy manual.

I love the creative energy when I'm working with a right-brained person. I get frustrated with some right-brainers who have no concept of time, deadlines, or details. But their Yin and my Yang can lead to some darned good results!

[maxco]

this weekend my son had to read a story from his 3rd grade reading book...

So, we sat on the couch together and I asked him to read...he read beautifully...(I was stunned, we alternated reading pages) he made maybe three mistakes,on words he never heard..minor mistakes..and it was so fluid..

But...then I asked him the questions..he looked baffled..we just read the book??? then he actually said..."I didn't know we were going to do questions..."

"what difference does that make???"

"if I have to do questions...I have to do a picture walk, and read slower...and do a story map...you didn't say questions.."

It has finally dawned on me...he can not read, and comprehend on words alone....he needs to do the picture walk, and put the story into a story map...and piece it all together prior to reading...now he is in third grade, so this is probaly done, to some extent in the classroom...and in most text books, there are alot of visuals..but what is going to happen when he starts to read literture, without pictures..he is reading chapter books...but most of his books...are based on movies, The Narnia series...also a lot of his chapter books, still have a stetch or something at the beginning of every chapter...or a very detailed cover page...

I just found it very revealing...he either reads to sound good...or reads to comprehend...either way, these are two different events...

[cobyseven]

Did you clone my dd? LOL. I've found this to be true of many LD/ADD kids who have been given lots of decoding work. Did he get OG or something similar?

You really need to steer him back to reading to learn, if so. If not, then I'd say ADD is a possible factor.

What do you think?

[maxco]

He has been getting multisensory reading, almost three years...which for the first year was heavy in phonemic awareness..but I though the last two were for comprehension..they do use the graphic organizer, ect...but I though that was in order to teach him to start organizing on his own...did not think he needed to do it..in order to comprehend..

What really shocked..almost scared me, was he seriously..does think of them as two different events...when he reads for comprehnsion he skips non picture words..(as, a, with, have, ect...) and he still does a picture walk and I do think he is doing the graphic organizer in his head, if not on actual paper..

I am not sure that it is necessarily a bad thing...I just would like for him to read to learn, at this stage...

How do you steer him back to reading to learn...it is like he has all the components there..I just need to make that connection..without losing the progress in both areas...

Is it a right brained..thing???

[cobyseven]

Not such a great link for inferences, but a summary of current research on reading comprehension:

www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/winter06-07/CogSci.pdf

[misspaula]

It really bothers me and worries me that these teachers helping your kids aren't incorporating techniques that acknowledge and are cognizant of these huge differences in outlooks and understanding. I believe it can be helped.

But I also know that what SharonF says is true. If we can get them to a certain level of understanding then let them fly free with concepts and personal imagery and interpretation, we can discover things that we literal and academic learning folks would never even imagine!

We need to find a happy medium of using methods that STRENGTHEN their unique skills, while at the same time giving them enough structure to be able to survive in life when parents are no longer there to take care of the essentials.

That's my goal when I work with these kids. NOT to change them, but to give them methods to use to cue them on how to "get" what we other folks just understand. The CSI example above was incredibly clear about the differences in learners. There are ways to get them there, a bit. Enough to help them cope.

But we also have to realize their sometimes incredible abilities.

Then and only then will kids who learn differently or think differently be seen as the incredible people that they can be.

OR, they'll solve a major world problem in an off-the-wall way, and be acknowledged for that!

[healthy11]

misspaula, welcome to Millermoms. You said, "It really bothers me and worries me that these teachers helping your kids aren't incorporating techniques that acknowledge and are cognizant of these huge differences in outlooks and understanding." I agree.

I saw from one of your other posts that you used to be a classroom teacher. What grade levels were you instructing? Can I ask where you got your undergrad teaching degree? Did they give you any actual training about the kinds of instructional methodologies, techniques, and practices that can be most helpful to individual students with a multitude of different learning styles?

It seems to me that most young adults who go to college with the intention of becoming teachers are NOT being adequately prepared by their universities. They may take classes in "classroom management" and have to do a semester of "classroom observation" and "student teaching" but it's up to them as far as what methods they use to teach actual subject material. There's a fellow who uses the name "bros" here on Millermom, and he's in his senior year of college, hoping to become a special education teacher. He has his own personal experiences as a special ed student to draw from, but most of his peers in his "teaching" classes don't even have that. In order to have meaningful improvement in the outcomes of students who learn differently, I think the way teachers are trained needs to be improved.

[alicia32]

I don't have any websites to add at this time, but I did want to say "thanks" to all of you for building this record of resources!

[healthy11]

Alicia32, you're welcome! For those of us who have been participating at Millermoms for awhile, it's always good to know that people are still looking through "past postings," because the information given is often still pertinent and useful, so it doesn't hurt to "bump the discussion" back up to the top of the forum every so often!