Y6 Therapy

ReadingR5e: Can explain and justify inferences, providing evidence from the text

to support reasoning

Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd.May 2019

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Teacher Notes

This therapy is designed to help children to justify their inferences by providing evidence from the text.

Pupils will learn that they must always support the point they are making with at least one piece of evidence from the text.

Pupils will learn how to use the Point Point Evidence Model from the KS2 Reading Mark Scheme to answer inference questions that require evidence.

Further guidance for teachers is available in the ‘Progression in inference’ document and the ‘Developing inference teacher guidance’ on PrimaryWise.

Vocabulary

show

prove

explain

reasonable

Use the words in the box

opposite to define

‘justify’.

Justify your reasoning

When we are making inferences about characters, actions, events and information, it is important that we are able to justify them by providing

evidence from the text to support our ideas.

In this context, justify basically means prove our ideas.

An example

Read the text message below and then consider who might have sent it.How do you know?

Hi Sophie! Just had the most astonishing day. Won a trip to the most famous chocolate factory ever. The (extrovert and slightly zany) owner thought I was so immaculately behaved that he is handing ownership of the factory over to me! Can you believe it? My Grandpa is over the moon. He even managed to get out of bed! Speak soon.

An example

So, our answer needs to make a point (that’s the who sent it part of the question) and then justify that point using evidence from the text (that’s the

how do you know). We can use a simple phrase like ‘the text says …’

Here we can infer that the message is from Charlie Bucket from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We need to make our point:I think the message is from Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.And back it up with evidence: The text says:Most famous chocolate factory everThe owner … is handing ownership of the factory over to me.His Grandpa even managed to get out of bed.We know that these events come from the story so this proves our answer.

Point Point Evidence

To justify our reasoning for questions that require an extended response, the Point Point Evidence model is perfect! Put simply, this is when you give two

points that you have inferred and then justify at least one of them with evidence from the text. Let’s look at an example.

An example

When you see paper and wood, what do you think of? Do you think of the tree that was felled to make the product? Before we started to build cities many centuries ago, they say that 60% of the Earth was covered in forests. Now, only 10% is covered. Deforestation is when forests are converted for other purposes by cutting down the trees to clear the land. With 7 billion people on the planet, we need more land to build cities, raise livestock and grow food. There are many ways to help save the forests that are remaining. If we recycle the products that come from trees, such as paper, then we can reuse them over and over again, resulting in a lower demand for products made from trees.

What is author’s view on deforestation? Explain your answer fully, using evidence from the text.

An example

So, first we need to return to the text, identify any vocabulary that we might need to understand and then find any evidence that indicates the author’s

viewpoint.

When you see paper and wood, what do you think of? Do you think of the tree that was felled to make the product? Before we started to build cities many centuries ago, they say that 60% of the Earth was covered in forests. Now, only10% is covered. Deforestation is when forests are converted for other purposes by cutting down the trees to clear the land. With 7 billion people on the planet, we need more land to build cities, raise livestock and grow food. There are many ways to help save the forests that are remaining. If we recycle the products that come from trees, such as paper, then we can reuse them over and over again, resulting in a lower demand for products made from trees.

An example

We make our two points:The author thinks it’s harming the planet.The author wants us to find ways to help reduce deforestation.Then we provide the evidence taken from the text:By using a rhetorical question, the author persuades us to think about trees being cut down. He tells us that now only 10% of the Earth is covered in forests which shows that he thinks that this is a bad thing. He suggests a way that we could prevent forests being destroyed is by recycling.

Then we can put together our answer, using the Point Point Evidence model.

Practise

Dear Diary, You could not imagine the day I have had. Today, I discovered that I was a witch. Me! A witch! It has hardly sunk in. Apparently I am off to a school of witchcraft (and wizardry – but I don’t care about that bit) to discover how to be a proper witch. Can you believe it? My parents tell me that the school is like a castle and you have to catch a special train to get there!

Read the text below and then answer the question, remembering to make your point and then justify it with evidence from the text.

Whose diary is this? How do you know?

How did you do?

Dear Diary, You could not imagine the day I have had. Today, I discovered that I was a witch. Me! A witch! It has hardly sunk in. Apparently I am off to a school of witchcraft (and wizardry – but I don’t care about that bit) to discover how to be a proper witch. Can you believe it? My parents tell me that the school is like a castle and you have to catch a special train to get there!

This is the diary of Hermione Granger. I know because the text says that she is a witch and that she is going to a school of witchcraft and wizardry which must be Hogwarts. It also says that she has to catch a

special train which is the Hogwarts Express.

Practise

Rachel was ready; she had been practising for what seemed like an eternity and she couldn’t wait until the day finally arrived. The junior duathlon was a five kilometre bike ride along the nearby conservation trail, followed by a three

kilometre run around town. She knew the route like the back of her hand; she had memorised every part. She talked about the race constantly at home, so

much so that her mother was privately concerned about her reaction if she failed to win. Rachel tried to explain to her mother that she would be satisfied if she

just got round in a decent time, but her mother wasn’t convinced. The day of the race dawned. She had got up extra early to prepare that morning and adrenaline was pumping through her body as she dressed in her race gear.

How can you tell that the duathlon is important to Rachel? Give two ways. Use evidence from the text to justify your answer.

How did you do?

I need to have used two of these points in my answer:• She had done a lot of practising. • She had memorised the route.• She talked about the race a lot.• She gets up early to prepare.I need to use at least one of these pieces of evidence to justify my reasoning:• She had been practising for what seemed like an eternity.• She knew the route like the back of her hand; she had memorised every part.• She talked about the race constantly at home.• She had got up extra early to prepare that morning.

Practise

As they pulled up at the starting point, the heavens opened but Rachel didn’t care; she was aching to get going. She could hear the sound of other riders,

organising themselves; the clicking of helmets and the final checks to the bikes. She was beside herself with anticipation, yet when the starting flag came down, something didn’t feel quite right. As she finally started to pedal, she realised she

wasn’t ready for this at all; she wasn’t finding it easy. Her legs felt like lead weights and her body wouldn’t do what her brain was telling it to. Everyone else seemed to be whizzing along, but she was falling behind, watching as the other riders cruised ahead of her. It was then that it struck her, she might not win! She

felt nauseous. Her mother was right, she did desperately want to win.

How can you tell that the race isn’t going as planned? Give two ways. Use evidence from the text to justify your answer.

How did you do?

Rachel is not finding it easy and she is falling behind the other riders. The text says that her legs felt like lead and her body wouldn’t do what her brain was telling it

to.

Practise

Blake’s Tyger – Revisited by Michaela Morgan

Tiger! Tiger! Turning whiteIn a cage just twice your heightSix paces left, six paces right,

A long slow day, a longer night.

Tiger! Tiger! Dreaming stillOf the scent? The chase? The kill?

And now? No need. No place. No scope. No space. No point. No hope.

Explain how the poet feels about the tiger’s

fate. Justify your answer using evidence from both

verses.

How did you do?

The poet feels sadness that the tiger is being held in captivity. In the first verse, the text says that his cage is just twice his height which shows that she thinks this is not big enough. In the second verse,

the tiger is dreaming of the things it used to be able to do in the wild. The poet emphasises the

sadness by repeating the word no.

When you are being asked to justify your reasoning, remember:

Identify and work out any vocabulary that you will need to understand.

Skim and scan the text for evidence around that subject.

Decide the point or points that you want to make. Find the evidence which supports them and quote

it using the phrase the text says.

Reflection