MAP 5th Grade Reading

MAP 5th Grade Reading helps students build strong reading skills, understand complex texts, and apply reading strategies for success in school and life.

Basic Concepts

Making Inferences

Reading Between the Lines

Sometimes, authors don’t tell us everything directly. Making inferences means using clues in the text and your own knowledge to figure out what’s not said.

How to Make Inferences

  • Pay attention to details and emotions.
  • Think about what you already know.
  • Combine the clues with your own thinking.

Why Making Inferences Is Important

Inferences help you understand characters, predict what might happen, and solve mysteries in what you read.

Practice Inferences

Try reading a story where a character is shivering and putting on a coat. Even if it doesn’t say so, you can infer that it’s cold!

Examples

  • A character's stomach growls and they look at the clock—you infer they’re hungry and it’s almost lunchtime.

  • Someone brings an umbrella inside while their clothes are wet—you infer it’s raining outside.

In a Nutshell

Making inferences means figuring out what’s not directly stated.

Key Terms

Inference
A conclusion you reach using clues from the text and your own ideas.
Context Clues
Hints in the text that help you understand new ideas or words.