Teacher guidance

Workshop principle

Keep bringing pupils back to the text. The text is the main teaching material. Discussion and short interactive checks should make pupils return to specific words, test interpretations, identify missing information, and revise conclusions when new evidence appears.

What to listen for

• “The text says…”
• “The evidence is…”
• “It might mean…, but we don't know because…”
• “That is Theo's interpretation, not something the narrator tells us.”
• “We need more information before we can say that.”

Important Grade 6 distinction

Unsupported assumption: I think this is true, but I do not have enough evidence.

Evidence-based inference: The text does not state this directly, but several pieces of evidence support the conclusion.

This workshop concentrates mainly on the first distinction. Later lessons can make inference the central objective.

Support

• Read the main text aloud once where needed.
• Allow partner talk before written responses during guided sections.
• Let pupils highlight evidence.
• Use response stems such as “The text tells us…”, “The evidence is…”, and “This might be an assumption because…”

Do not lower the reasoning demand.

Challenge

• Find an assumption that sounds very believable and explain why it is still not established.
• Generate several interpretations from the same evidence.
• Identify the exact sentence that changes the reader's understanding.
• Explain whether Theo's conclusion becomes weaker or stronger as new evidence appears.

Assessment standard

The objective is demonstrated when a pupil can independently identify a fact, recognise an opinion, identify an assumption, point to supporting evidence, explain what information is missing, and distinguish textual information from something added by the reader. A label alone is not sufficient; the pupil must show why.