Year 5 English: Inference: how a character feels, with evidence
Part of the Year 5 English reading fiction: summarising and comparing chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Inference: how a character feels, with evidence
The Lamp of Cold Hill
Every winter, the lamp on Cold Hill went out. The village below had no light after dark, and the children stayed close to their fires. Oona, who was ten and the youngest shepherd in the valley, decided that she would climb the hill and find out why.
The path was steep, and the wind pulled at her cloak. At the top she found a small stone house with no door, only a round window. Inside, a silver fox sat beside a lamp that had gone dark.
‘You may climb here only once a year,’ said the fox. ‘The lamp needs a song sung from the heart. Sing one, and it will burn again.’
Oona had no grand song. She sang about the sheep, the snow and the grandmother who taught her to count the stars. Her voice shook at first, but she kept singing until the lamp glowed gold.
The fox smiled. ‘The lamp was never broken. It was waiting for someone to ask.’
When Oona walked home, the village was bright below her, and every window was lit.
Key ideas
- Inference: working out something the author does not say directly.
- Evidence: the words in the text that support your inference.
- Action: what the character does. Dialogue: what the character says. Description: how the text describes the character.
- Always give the evidence: "Her voice shook, so she was nervous."
Method. Find the sentence that shows her feeling.
- Find the evidence. Her voice shook at first.her voice shook
- Infer the feeling. A shaking voice shows that she was nervous.nervous
- Write the answer. nervous; her voice shook
Check. She was nervous, because her voice shook. ✓
Method. Think about what a smile shows.
- Find the evidence. The fox smiled after Oona sang.smiled
- Infer the feeling. A smile after the song shows the fox is pleased.pleased
- Write the answer. the fox is pleased or kind
Check. The fox is pleased. ✓
Method. Look at the first paragraph for the reason.
- Find the evidence. The village had no light after dark.no light
- Infer the reason. Without light, the children would stay near warmth and safety.afraid of the dark
- Write the answer. they were afraid of the dark
Check. Because they were afraid of the dark. ✓
Exercise 8D Practice: inference with evidence
Method. Think about what it takes to climb a steep hill alone.
- Find the evidence. She decided to climb alone, to a steep hill.climb alone
- Infer. Climbing alone shows she is brave.brave
- Write the answer. she is brave
Check. Brave. ✓
Method. Find the sentence.
- Find the evidence. Her voice shook at first.shook
- Infer. She was nervous.nervous
- Write the answer. she was nervous
Check. She was nervous. ✓
Method. Read what the fox says.
- Find the words. The lamp needs a song sung from the heart.needs a song
- Infer. The lamp can be lit again by singing.can be lit again
- Write the answer. it needs a song, and it will burn again
Check. It needs a song to burn again. ✓
Method. Think about what the fox means.
- Find the evidence. It was waiting for someone to ask.waiting
- Infer. The lamp was not damaged; someone needed to ask for it.someone to ask
- Write the answer. it was waiting for someone to ask
Check. It was waiting for someone to ask. ✓
Method. Look at the last sentence.
- Find the evidence. Every window was lit.every window
- Infer. Lit windows show people are glad and warm again.glad
- Write the answer. every window was lit
Check. Every window was lit. ✓
Method. Think about a house with no door.
- Find the evidence. The house has no door, only a round window.no door
- Infer. A house with no door is unusual, so it may be magical.magical
- Write the answer. it is strange or magical
Check. It is strange or magical. ✓
Method. Find the sentence about his stitching.
- Find the evidence. He stitched them quickly and did not check them.quickly
- Infer. He is in a hurry, because he does not check.hurry
- Write the answer. he stitches quickly and does not check
Check. He stitches quickly and does not check them. ✓
Method. Look at what the sparrow says.
- Find the evidence. A coat is only as strong as its smallest stitch.smallest stitch
- Infer. She warns him, so she cares that he does well.warns
- Write the answer. she is concerned, because she warns him
Check. She cares and warns him. ✓
Method. Look at what he does next.
- Find the evidence. He sat down, unpicked the coat and sewed the buttons again.unpicked
- Infer. He sat down, then fixed his mistake, so he realised what went wrong.realised
- Write the answer. he realised his mistake
Check. He realised his mistake. ✓
Method. Choose a quality, then find a sentence that supports it.
- Choose a quality. She is brave.brave
- Find evidence. She kept singing until the lamp glowed gold.kept singing
- Write the answer. She is kind and brave, because she sings about the sheep and grandmother and keeps going until the lamp glows
Check. The inference has evidence. ✓
Method. Use a sentence from the end.
- Find the evidence. Every window was lit.every window was lit
- Explain. The whole village is bright, which shows they are glad.glad
- Write the answer. the windows are all lit, which shows the village is bright and happy, and Oona walked home
Check. The windows show the village is glad. ✓