• Unit 4: Reading to Write

    This unit pulls together everything you learned in the previous units. In this unit, you will use context clues and inferences together to help you better understand a reading. Doing this will help you come to you own conclusions, or final ideas, about a reading and explain your thoughts. You'll take notes and see how to organize those notes to write about a reading. Finally, you'll write a short essay using all the skills you learned in this course to explain what inferences you made about a reading.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.

    • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

      • recognize subject/verb and tense agreement;
      • use strategies to enlarge your vocabulary of synonyms and antonyms;
      • apply active reading skills by making inferences; and
      • demonstrate the ability to write critically through a short essay.

    • 4.1: Using Context Clues and Inferences to Draw Conclusions

      • Use Context Clues to Define Words Page

        Context clues tell you what a word means. Inferences tell you what is happening in what you're reading. When you put them together, you can better comprehend the things you read. This video explains what context clues are and how to use them to decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words you come across while reading.

      • Putting Clues Together Page

        As you've seen, using context clues can show you what a word means without looking it up in a dictionary. When you think about the meaning of a sentence, you can figure out new words. Similarly, when you make an inference about something in an article, you can deduce, or figure out, what the writer is telling you.

        To take this one step further, when you can better understand an article, you can explain your own conclusions, or judgments, about the ideas in the article.

    • 4.2: Organizing Your Ideas

      • Annotating Page

        When you're able to draw your own conclusions about an article, you can use your writing to explain those conclusions to others. When writing about your inferences, first organize your ideas to present them clearly. Watch this video to learn how you can radically improve your understanding of what you read if you write while you read.

    • 4.3: Write About Your Conclusions

      • Explain Your Ideas Page

        You now have strategies to comprehend what you read, apply your prior knowledge, combine your ideas with those of an author, and organize everything to draw conclusions about a reading. Now you can bring all of those skills together to explain your ideas in writing. This page walks you through a writing assignment.

    • Unit 4 Assessment

      • Unit 4 Assessment Quiz
        Receive a grade

        Take this assessment to see how well you understood 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.