The document discusses how readers make inferences to understand details and information that authors do not explicitly state. It explains that inferences are made by combining what an author says with what the reader already knows. It provides examples of inferences made about the hot weather from details about it being scorching and summer, about lemonade being taken from the refrigerator based on knowledge it is kept cold there, and about wanting a glass of lemonade from getting a glass out of the cupboard since glasses are used for drinking.

1. Name : ____________________ ( ) Class : _____
Date : _________

2. Authors don’t
always tell every
detail orgive every
bit of information in
nonfiction orin
fiction stories.

3. Readers make
inferences to supply
information that
authors leave out.

4. When you make an
inference, you add
what you already
know to what an
authorhas told you.

5. Examples

6. What the authorsaid + what I know = my
inference
The
weather
had been
scorching
forweeks.
Summer
is the
hottest
time of
the year.
It is
summer.

7. What the authorsaid + what I know = my
inference
Al took
out a
pitcherof
cold
lemonade.
You keep
things
cold in a
refridger-
ator.
Al took
the
lemonade
out of the
refridger-
ator.

8. What the authorsaid + what I know = my
inference
He got a
glass out
of the
cupboard.
People get
out
glasses
when they
want to
drink
something
.
Al wanted
to drinka
glass of
lemonade.