Non-Fiction Strategy Lesson

Strategy Focus:
Inferring
Text Used:
Play, Mozart, Play by Peter Sis
Materials:
Graphic Organizer
Pencil
ELMO to show the book
Procedure:
1. Introduction to inferring
a. Today, we are going to learn about inferring. First off, lets
define what that is through a demonstration. Watch me
come into the room and tell me what you infer. I know we
havent talked about it yet but you will understand from my
action. The teacher will walk out and come in skipping,
seemingly happy. Okay, so seeing that, what do you infer
that my mood was? Students should respond something
like happy. How did you know that? Did I come in and say
that I was happy? What let you know that I was happy?
Students respond. Okay now what if I leave the room and
we try it again. The teacher leaves the room and comes in
lethargic, like she doesnt care. What did you infer there?
Students answer. So now youve inferred twice. What do
you think inferring means? Students answer something
like how inferring is reading behavior or understanding
something thats not said. And that is what we will do
today, something we do every single day with our friends,
family, even strangers, but in reading.
2. I Do
a. The teacher will start off introducing the book, Play,
Mozart, Play, and ask questions to understand students
prior knowledge of Mozart.
i. What does anyone know about Mozart?
ii. What can you see in the picture that tells you
something about him?
b. Start reading the book and for the first page, the teacher
will model inferring the illustration.
i. Okay, so I see in the text that Mozart is a famous
composer and a genius since young, but something
the text doesnt tell me is about his father. What is
the father doing in this picture? Students say hes

demanding something from Mozart, probably telling

him to play. Okay, what do you notice about the size
of the father compared to Mozart? The father is
much bigger. So taking those two things into
account, I will infer that his father had a big part in
his life because of the size of him compared to
Mozart and that he was very demanding too because
the picture shows him waving his finger.
3. We Do
a. Then do the 7th & 8th page together as a whole class.
i. On these pages, I see Mozart doing a lot of funny
poses. Hes blindfolded, playing under covers,
playing backwards, and playing on furniture. What
does think make you think about Mozart? Mozart is
really good at playing instruments. So instead of just
saying that he is really good at playing instruments,
the author gives us examples. What sticks in your
mind more, a blank statement that Mozart is good at
many instruments or knowing that he can play even
blindfolded or backwards? Students hopefully answer
the latter.
4. You Do Together
a. Since there is so much going on, have students work in
cooperative groups to infer what is happening on pages
11th & 12th page.
i. Now that you have a basic idea of what to do, I will
leave these two pages open and at your groups,
please list what you see in the graphic organizer and
talk in your groups about your shared inferences as
well as evidence for them.
ii. The teacher will monitor the groups and go around to
see if they are on track. The pictures on this page
are fairly self-explanatory as far as inferring, and so
the teacher will go around to ask more difficult
questions for those groups who seem to grasp the
concept easily.
1. I see the word tempo, what do all these
pictures tell you about the word tempo? What
changes from one picture to the next?
2. What about volume? Looking at these pictures
how would you define volume?
3. See all these pictures instead of just
definitions, what does this tell you about
Mozart and how he saw music? Do you think he
saw reading music as just memorizing

definitions and symbols or that he saw

something more?
5. You Do Alone
a. Pages 15&16, 17 & 18, also 21 & 22 will be given for
independent work differentiating upon the students who
really grasp the concept and those who do not feel so
comfortable.
i. Pages 21 & 22 are the easiest to infer so students
really struggling will infer upon these pages.
1. How is this picture like the picture I modeled in
the beginning of class?
2. Looking at how he holds Mozart, what do you
think the dad feels?
3. What about Mozart, what is his feeling?
4. Look at the size. How different is it from how
big the dad was in the picture I modeled? Why
do you think the author chose to make him
smaller in this one?
ii. Pages 15&16 are of average difficulty so students
who grasp the concept but still make a few mistakes
will infer upon these pages.
1. There is a lot going on in these pages. What
does this tell you about Mozarts mind?
2. What is the mood of most of the characters?
3. Is Mozart enjoying himself in this picture? How
can you tell?
4. What other elements add to the mood of the
picture? How does the color add to the mood?
iii. Pages 17&18 are the most difficult to infer because
of the abstract nature, so students who really grasp it
will have to infer upon these pages.
1. What is the mood of the characters on page
17?
2. Why do you think it goes from color to black
and white?*
a. This is probably the most abstract, to
show that Mozarts imagination must be
put on pause so that he can continue
practicing.
3. Looking at Mozarts room, how lost do you
think he got in the dream?
4. How do the characters look a bit worried?
iv. The teacher will go around monitoring students and
asking questions to guide their thinking, as listed
above.

Graphic Organizer
This will serve as the assessment piece, judging from the cooperative
example and the independent example. The cooperative example is
1/3 of the grade and the independent is 2/3. Students are expected to
achieve 2/3 of the total grades for cooperative and independent
examples, as well as maintain attention and participate in whole class
instruction.
What I See
What I Infer
What is my evidence
for that?
1. Teacher
example
2. Teacher/student
s example
3. Students
cooperative
example
4. Independent
example