Hi, welcome to today's Mini Lesson. I'm Annaka. Thanks for joining me. Today our learning intention is to learn how to make an inference. When we make an inference, we infer or we're inferring. To do that, we look for clues in the text and the pictures. We think about what we already know and we put it all together to make better sense of the story. What story are we reading today I wonder?
Today's story is Herbert and Harry by Pamela Allen. So here are Herbert and Harry. These are two young men. Do you think they're family or friends? They do look similar, don't they? Maybe they're brothers? Do brothers always get along? Mm. While we're reading today, think about what the character might be feeling or why they might do something. Ready to start the story?
Once upon a time there were two brothers called Herbert and Harry who lived together in the same house, dug together in the same garden, and fished together from the same boat.
What could we infer about how Harry and Herbert are feeling here? Hmm. What does infer mean again? That's right. It means look for clues in the text and the pictures and think about what you know and then put it together. So let's have a look. What can you see in the pictures? I can see they're smiling too. Hmm. So what do we know about that that? Well, when people smile, that usually means they're happy. So we could infer that Harry and Herbert are feeling happy, couldn't we? What other clues can you find? You're, right. In both those pictures, they have rosy red cheeks, don't they? What do you know about that? Yeah, often when people work hard, they can get red in the face, can't they? So we could infer that they're working hard. What other clues can you find?
They're looking at each other, aren't they? And what do we know about that? Well, often people work in teams, and they can get a real sense of achievement when they work in a team. So we could infer that they enjoy working together and they're pleased with themselves for working hard. Back to the story?
One day while they were out fishing, they hauled up a great treasure. 'This treasure is mine!' shouted Herbert 'I pulled it up'. 'No!' said, Harry, I chose this place to cast our net'. So Herbert pushed Harry and Harry fell. Splash. Well, I wonder if we could infer why Herbert pushed Harry out of the boat. Can we look for some clues together? Let's look in the text over here. That's right. Here, Herbert shouts, 'This treasure is mine. I pulled it up' and then Harry replies, 'No, I chose this place to cast our net'. So what do you know about all of that? Well. Treasure. Usually it's precious and valuable, isn't it? And sometimes we know people can get greedy about precious things and they don't want to share. Brothers and sisters can fight over things sometimes when they don't want to share can't they? Does that happen at your house?
So we could infer that Herbert pushed Harry out of the boat because he didn't want to share the treasure with him. He wanted it all to himself. Back to the story?
Harry was a strong swimmer and managed to get safely home while Herbert rowed the treasure as fast as he could for as long as he could until he reached a lonely stretch of coast. From there, he started to walk. He wanted to get as far away from Harry as possible. At last Herbert laid down to sleep, but even though it was very dark and he was very tired, he could not sleep. What if Harry came and stole the treasure? So the next day, Herbert hid the treasure among the roots of an old tree, but that night when it got dark, he still couldn't sleep. What if someone had seen him put it there?
He decided to take the treasure high into the hills when no one would find it. He walked many days and many nights. The land got emptier and emptier and the treasure got heavier and heavier. At last he reached the highest mountain in the land and there he hid the treasure under some rocks. But still he could not sleep. What if someone had followed him and stolen the treasure while he slept? He decided the only way to keep the treasure safe was to put it in a place which was so strong no-one could get in. He began to chip the rock. Chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip went Herbert. Many years passed. At last, he had made a deep, dark tunnel into the middle of the tallest mountain in the land. He pushed the treasure right to the end of the tunnel and then blocked the entrance with a huge boulder. But still he could not sleep. What if someone forced him to tell where the treasure was? Then they could steal it. He decided he must protect himself. To protect himself Herbert needed guns, lots of guns. But guns were not enough. Herbert needed a fort.
Many more years passed. Today Herbert and Harry are very old men. Herbert still guards the treasure in his fort on top of the highest mountain in the land, but still he can't sleep. While Harry, who had no treasure, has always been able to sleep soundly. And here's Harry's house.
Let's have a look back at these two pages here. What can we infer about Herbert here. He's still guarding his treasure in his Fort, on top of the highest mountain, in the land, and still he can't sleep. What clues can we find? Well, here it says he can't sleep. So what do we know about that? Well, when people can't sleep, usually that means they're worried about something or they're troubled, unhappy. So we could infer that Herbert's unhappy, couldn't we?
Hmm. What other clues can we find? Should we have a look? Yeah. It says that Herbert wants to protect himself. And here it says he was worried that people could steal it. What do we know about that? Well, we know that treasure is precious, right? So maybe when people are worried about people stealing their precious things, they are being a bit greedy and they don't want to share it. So we could infer that Herbert's greedy. He doesn't want to share the treasure, does he?
So let's have a look at Harry. What could we infer about Harry here? Hmm. Well, he's got rosy cheeks and a smile and he's sitting on a comfy couch with a dog curled up. And he's got these four children here. It says that he's an old man. So what do we know about that? When an old person is with little children, they're probably his grandchildren, aren't they? So what can we infer about Harry? He's had a happy life with a family that love him and they're in a comfy, cozy house. What could we infer about why Pamela Allen wrote this book? She might want us to think about who we'd rather be like. Would you rather be like Herbert or would you rather be like Harry?
When you're reading at home today, think about what you can infer. Maybe about what the character is feeling or why the character does something? Look for clues in the text. Think about what you know and put it all together. You'll understand the story better. Happy reading. Bye possums