🎯 Learning outcomes
- Read stories and information texts and find main ideas and supporting details
- Make inferences, predictions and connections
- Answer literal and inferential questions in complete sentences
Before you start: Reading short stories.
📖 Explanation
Texts can be stories (fiction) or information (non-fiction). Stories have characters, setting, problem and solution. Information texts use headings, facts and pictures.
Literal questions have answers written in the text. Inferential questions need you to think: 'Why did the boy smile?' Use clues from the text plus what you know.
Good readers predict, picture, connect ('This reminds me of…'), question and summarise. Answer in complete sentences using words from the question.
Passage: 'The olive ridley turtles return every year to Odisha's beaches to lay eggs. Volunteers keep dogs and lights away so the hatchlings can find the sea.' Inference: lights confuse hatchlings.
✗ If the answer is not written in the text, the question cannot be answered
✓ Inference questions are answered by combining clues in the text with what you know.
🧪 Try this activity
Read a short news report with a partner. Each writes two literal and two inferential questions for the other.
✍️ Question bank with answers
Tap an option to check multiple-choice answers. Open “Answer” or “Marking points” for the others.
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In the turtle passage, why do volunteers keep lights away?
Answer
C. Lights can confuse hatchlings
We infer that lights mislead hatchlings away from the sea.
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A literal question's answer is
Answer
B. written in the text
It can be found directly.
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Which is non-fiction?
Answer
C. a report on tigers in Ranthambore
Reports give facts.
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Where do the turtles lay eggs?
Answer
on Odisha's beaches
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What is a summary?
Answer
a short statement of the main points
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Write one literal and one inferential question about the turtle passage.
Marking points
- Literal, e.g. 'Where do the turtles lay eggs?'
- Inferential, e.g. 'Why do the volunteers help?'
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Summarise a story you read recently in four sentences: characters, setting, problem and solution.
Marking points
- Characters named
- Setting
- Problem
- Solution
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A notice says 'Library closed on second Saturday'. Can you borrow books on the second Saturday of this month?
Answer
- No
- The library is closed then
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Draw a story map with boxes for characters, setting, problem and solution.
Answer
Four labelled boxes filled for one story
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