Inference Jones Beginning 2 - Using Higher-Order Thinking to Improve Critical Reading and Comprehension (Grades 3-4)

This 48-page book provides short, fun, and easy-to-use reading comprehension activities that improve critical reading and higher-order thinking skills. The activities focus on developing the student's ability to draw inferences from written text as they identify and evaluate evidence. Questions following all stories teach students to evaluate details that at first seemed insignificant but are actually meaningful! These activities develop a depth of analysis that guarantees superior inferential and reading comprehension skills for top grades and higher test scores!

Research shows inferential reasoning is a prerequisite component to superior reading comprehension. The National Foundation for Educational Research concluded that "the ability to draw inferences predetermines reading skills: that is, poor inferential reasoning causes poor comprehension and not vice versa." We all make inferences in our daily lives (e.g. we naturally think a child is happy because we see them laughing). But how does this ability apply to written communication? When we read a written passage, we're actually reading a representation of the author's thoughts and ideas, because the written word does not convey a meaning in and of itself. Readers must construct the meaning through interpretation. The reader's interpretation is the result of inferential analysis which includes drawing from personal knowledge and experiences, social values, and cultural conventions. The interpretation connects a meaning to the words, providing the reader with an understanding of the character's actions, circumstances, or events in the story.

Inference Jones Beginning 2 includes zany, amusing, and clever short stories full of hints and clues to help students hone their inference skills. It has a readability level appropriate for Grades 3-4 but can also be used as a remedial resource for older students (Grades 5-12+).