Unit 3: Making Inferences
In this unit, you will discover the importance of making inferences. Making inferences is a reading comprehension strategy that will help you learn, remember, and apply what you've read. Another way of thinking about making inferences is learning to read between the lines. In other words, you will learn to draw conclusions from what the author has implied. What are the relationships between the main ideas and the subordinate ideas? Writers often convey meaning beyond the actual words. This unit will also continue to add to your grammar knowledge by introducing the semicolon and colon and showing how these types of punctuation can help you to convey your points. This unit will also discuss proofreading and enable you to read between the lines of your own writing.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 9 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- make logical inferences to gain deeper understanding of written texts;
- use commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes effectively in writing;
- recognize subject-verb agreement in the composition of sentences;
- proofread to ensure spelling and usage appropriate to different writing contexts;
- write well-organized analytical paragraphs in response to writing prompts; and
- demonstrate principles of active reading.
3.1: Making Inferences
In this unit, we will focus on making inferences. What is an inference? What's the difference between an inference and a guess? And what does any of this have to do with college-level reading and writing? Read this article and complete the practice activities to learn about making inferences as a reading comprehension strategy.
This article builds on your knowledge of making inferences to explore "if-then" statements. Read the article and complete the practice exercises. When you're finished, take a few moments to reflect on what you've learned in this unit so far.
- In your own words, what does it mean to make an inference?
- What's the difference between an inference and a guess?
- How can making inferences help you in your reading? What about your writing?
3.2: Grammar Practice
3.2.1: Semicolon and Colon
Throughout the course, you've learned about creating complete, grammatically sound sentences to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively. In unit 1, you learned about the basic elements of complete sentences. In unit 2, you learned how to use punctuation to avoid fragments and run-on sentences. It may be helpful to review your notes before continuing. When you're ready, read this page about using semi-colons, colons, and dashes. Remember to apply your active reading strategies and take notes to help you remember key points.
3.2.2: Advanced Comma Rules
There are many rules governing punctuation, but using appropriate punctuation isn't about following rules just for the sake of it. Rather, the rules for using punctuation act as a shared set of expectations between writers and readers. As a reader, you look to punctuation for signals about what the author intended to say. In your own writing, you will want to use punctuation appropriately to express your ideas as clearly as possible. In this way, punctuation is a tool that helps you inform, persuade, or entertain your audience.
Read this information about comma rules and complete the practice activities. When you finish, check your answers against the Answer Key.
3.2.3: Subject and Verb Agreement
As you know, there's more to constructing a grammatical sentence than just punctuation. Read this article to learn about subject-verb agreement and why it is important for communicating effectively in writing.
3.2.4: Proofreading
You should be able to understand and apply grammatical principles to ensure subject-verb agreement and effective use of commas, colons, semicolons, and dashes. Even writers who understand grammatical principles very well make some errors while they write. That's why it's important to proofread your writing. In this article, you will learn about proofreading, including tips for proofreading your writing.
Now it's time to put your grammar knowledge to work in your own writing. Read this prompt and write a response. Apply your knowledge of grammar, as well as what you learned about constructing effective sentences, main ideas, and paragraphs. Be sure to proofread your work! When you are done, check your work against the guide to responding.
3.3: Active Reading Practice
It's time to practice your active reading again. Using the active reading strategies you learned in unit 1, read the short story "The Five Orange Pips" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After you read, take the quiz.
Take this ungraded quiz to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
For the final activity in the unit, you will read this prompt and craft a 1–2 paragraph response. Before you begin, take a few moments to reflect and set some goals for this assessment.
- What do you see as your greatest strength as a writer?
- Which writing tasks or skills have you enjoyed the most? Which have you disliked? Why?
- What is one writing skill you would like to improve? What steps do you need to take to do so?
- Write down one goal for the writing you will do in response to this prompt.
When you are done writing your response, check your work against the guide to responding.
Unit 3 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.