How do I use inferencing to determine the meaning of

unknown words?

1) Read the sentence

The fugitive laid silently in the barn as the police searched for him in the fields.

2) Look for the text evidence:

• “Laid silently in the barn”

• “Searched in the field for him.”

The fugitive laid silently in the barn as the police searched for

him in the fields.

3) Add your background knowledge

• Background knowledge = what you already knew before you read. What you have learned from other books, things you’ve done, things you’ve learned

• Think of it like a suitcase – everyone comes to school with a suitcase full of things they already know. We just have to USE it!

Our Background Knowledge:

• Our background tells us that if you’re laying quietly while someone searches for you, you’re hiding from them.

• If the police are searching in the field, they’re probably looking for him.

4) Put it all together!

• So if the text evidence says he’s silently in the barn and police are searching for him…

• And we know that only happens if you’re hiding from people chasing you …

• Then a fugitive must mean someone who has fled from people chasing him!

Now you try!• From The Magician’s Elephant

– “Later that night, when the candle was quenched and the room was in darkness ….”

– Unknown word = quenched

• What are the text clues?• What do you know

(background knowledge)– Buzz and share as a class

Quenched means ….

• To put out or extinguish!

YOU teach it!

• How will your group teach others to use inferences with context clues?