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Summarizing and Making Inferences

This lesson shows you how to summarize longer chapters and articles by picking out only the most important events, and how to make inferences by combining text clues with what you already know. You will practice proving your inferences with real evidence from the page.

Introduction

When you read a long chapter or article, you cannot remember every single word. You need to pick out the most important parts and put them together, in your own words, as a summary. You also need to notice clues the author leaves behind so you can figure out things that are not said directly. This is called making an inference. Good readers always back up their inferences with real evidence from the text.

Summarizing a Longer Text

A summary is short. It tells the most important parts of a story or article without every small detail. When a text is longer, like a whole chapter, this gets harder because there is more to choose from.

To write a strong summary, ask yourself: Who is this about? What is the big problem or event? How does it turn out? Leave out small facts, like what color shirt a character wore, unless that detail is important to the plot.

Making Inferences With Clues

Sometimes an author does not tell you everything. You have to think like a detective. You look at clues in the text, then add what you already know about the world, and put the two together. That is an inference.

For example, if a text says a character's hands were shaking and she kept checking the door, you can infer she feels nervous or scared, even though the author never used that word.

Proving Your Inference With Evidence

An inference is only strong if you can point to the exact words in the text that support it. This proof is called evidence. A good reader always answers two questions: "What do I think?" and "What words in the text make me think that?"

A clue plus what you already know builds an inference, which you must prove with evidence.

Worked Example

Read this short passage: "Maya looked at the empty trophy shelf. She had practiced every day after school for six months. When the coach read the winning team's name, Maya's shoulders dropped and she stared at the floor."

Summary: Maya worked hard for six months, but her team did not win the trophy.

Inference: Maya feels disappointed.

Evidence: The text says "her shoulders dropped" and "she stared at the floor." These are things people often do when they feel sad or let down, which is what I already know about how people act.

Key Terms

Summary: A short retelling of only the most important parts of a text, in your own words.

Inference: An idea you figure out by combining text clues with what you already know.

Evidence: Exact words or details from the text that prove your summary or inference is correct.

Conclusion: A decision you reach after thinking about the clues and evidence together.

Practice Tips

After reading a chapter, try writing a summary in just two or three sentences. Then pick one thing the author did not say directly and write an inference about it. Underline or copy the exact sentence from the text that supports your thinking.

Related lessons

Summarizing Drawing Conclusions