Watch Elke Blanchard explicitly teach an inferencing lesson with second graders at Stillmeadow Elementary in Stamford, Connecticut. She’s doing a read-aloud with the book Carlos and the Squash Plant by Jan Romero Stevens.

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Elke Blanchard: Good morning, boys and girls.

Students: Morning.

Elke Blanchard: I'm so happy to be here today to read to you "Carlos and the Squash Plant.” It's one of my favorite stories, and I think you'll like it too. We're going to be listening for the characters, the setting, the problem, the feelings, all those things that are part of stories. Okay, let's get started. So boys and girls, now we're going to go through the text, and we're going to be talking about something that happens in our minds. Okay? The author writes text or sentences, and then he or she writes some more sentences. But in between we have to be thinking about what we already know and how it connects. Those are called our inferences that we use … and our background knowledge. Okay? Do you want to do some of that? Alright, let's go. Remember in the story, when the mother says, "'Did you take your bath?’ His mother asked, looking at Carlos with a raised eyebrow. ‘Sí, Mama. I did.’ Papa only shook his head." Let's talk about that. Why did the author say Papa only shook his head? What did that mean? Yes, Nelly.

Nelly: I don't know if he did take a bath.

Elke Blanchard: Is that what the papa's thinking? Is that what you're trying to tell me? You don't — the pop's thinking, “I don't know if he did.” And how do you know that? What makes you think that? That didn't say that in the text. Why do you think that? Yes. Ari.

Ari: I think he didn't take the bath because maybe he smells.

Elke Blanchard: Oh, maybe the dad smelled it. Okay. Yes, Jace?

Jace: I, I think the both things. Um, add this to it — and then the dirt on his legs, shoes, hands, and the other hands and under his nails are dirty.

Elke Blanchard: So the papa ...?

Jace: Saw all those …

Elke Blanchard: He saw all that. First of all, I just want to say, nice job. I love the way you said, "I agree with that, what they're saying, and I'd like to add." I loved that. That was excellent. And then you said the piece that I was thinking — the papa saw it or he noticed. Let's go to another piece. "Carlos worked outside all morning and ate his lunch sitting on a branch of a huge cottonwood tree while a thin stream of water ran beneath him." At lunch, we usually sit with our family and our friends and eat lunch. Why do you think ... the text doesn't tell us why he sat by himself. Why do you think he sat by himself? What are you thinking about? Yes.

Grace: He chose to not eat with his families because he has a big plant on his ear and they don't want to notice.

Elke Blanchard: He didn't want them to notice it. So he stayed as far away as possible. All right, listen to this part. "'Sí, Mama. I did,’ said Carlos, and he quickly ate his dinner and went upstairs to bed. He was so tired that he fell asleep immediately." Two questions for you. Why did the author choose to say in the text, "He quickly ate his dinner"? Yes, Nelly.

Nelly: Because he didn't want the mom to notice that sprout sticking out of his ear.

Elke Blanchard: So if he eats it quickly, then there's not as much time for her to notice it. Right. All right. And this one other part, it said, "He was so tired that he fell asleep immediately." Why is the author in the text telling us that he's so tired? This is a little bit of a harder one. What do, what are you thinking about that you're connect, making those connections? Jace?

Jace: I think he was so tired for working in the garden all day and climbing up that tree and then eating so fast — he couldn't take it no more and then he fell asleep right away.

Elke Blanchard: Okay. So working in the garden, having to climb the tree to be away from people, having to eat fast so people didn't notice. Does anybody else want to add to that? Why he would be so tired when he has to keep trying to eat quickly and avoid people and do all that stuff? Is he having to constantly think about hiding it? Is he always thinking about hiding it and pulling it down and staying ... ? What happens if you have to constantly be thinking about something and pulling it down, pulling a hat down and saying, “Oh, my god. I have to hurry up and eat.” Is he relaxed? He's not relaxed. What's the word? If he's not relaxed, what would you say? What do you want to say? Yes, Kylie?

Jayleigh: Uncomfortable?

Elke Blanchard: He's uncomfortable. And when you're not relaxed and you're uncomfortable after a long day, how do you feel?

Student: Tired.

Elke Blanchard: Tired.

Jayleigh: He was stressed out after a long day.

Elke Blanchard: Yes, he was stressed out. Exactly what I was thinking. And boys and girls, when you lie like that, you have to be thinking so many steps that you start to becoming ... to become stressed out. And that's another reason why he fell asleep so fast. He was just so tired. And one last thing right at the end. This one is, is the hardest one. "' I have cooked your favorite dish, calabacitas.' And as she put the steaming plate down in front of him, she winked at Papa, who pretended not to notice." Why did the mom wink at the dad when she put the plate? This, I don't know if any of you guys are going to know this. I think the author put this in for adults because I don't know if kids can get this. It's hard. Okay, turn and talk to your partners and I want to hear what you think.

Students: [overlapping chatter]

Elke Blanchard: I heard a couple of ideas about why the mom winked, and I want all of you to hear what one of your classmates said. Nelly, can you tell us what you thought why the mom winked?

Nelly: When he finally took a bath, the mom, I think the mom saw it in the bathroom. There was a little like vine, vine sprout in the bath bathtub. And then she planted it and made the dish and served it on the table.

Elke Blanchard: So are you connecting that what was in his, growing out of his ear, the squash plant was then what was his dinner? His dinner. Oh my goodness. And so she did a little wink, wink. She did a little wink. He's been having a squash plant all these days. Now isn't squash his favorite? It is his favorite. So she says, your favorite dish. I have to say we did such a nice job looking at what the text that the author says and then making those inferences and thinking about what do we know? What does that mean? And so we connected that, those pieces together. So that's making an inference, and we do that all the time in our books, and I loved doing that with you today.

Announcer: For more information, please visit ReadingUniverse.org. Special thanks to Literacy How, Stillmeadow Elementary School, and Stamford Public Schools in Stamford, Connecticut. Reading Universe has made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and two anonymous donors. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.

Elke Blanchard: This is Reading Universe.