DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
If you held a tooth from a shark that lived 5 million years ago, it would cover nearly all of your hand. If you held a tooth from a modern great white shark, it would fit into the palm of your hand. Why do you think the very old shark's tooth is so much larger than the modern shark's tooth?
One possible conclusion is that today's sharks are smaller than prehistoric sharks. But how do you reach this conclusion? How do you combine the clues in the paragraph with what you already know to draw a conclusion?
When you draw a conclusion, you use all the information you have about something to make a deduction. If you already know that smaller animals often have smaller teeth and that many prehistoric animals were quite large compared to today's animals, you might use the text statement that ancient shark teeth were larger than today's shark teeth to draw the conclusion stated above.Drawing conclusions will help you gather more information and ideas from your reading and help you understand the writer's point of view. These are crucial skills for getting the most out of your reading.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
To identify an appropriate conclusion from a text or visual, look for the supporting details. Combine these details with what you already know. To help you combine the supporting details with your prior knowledge, try filling-in-the-blanks of the following sentence:
I conclude that . . . . . . . . . .
because the paragraph said that. . . . . . . . . .
and I know that. . . . . . . . .
Steps to Follow
- Read the paragraph and identify the topic and main idea.
- Then look for supporting details, such as examples, facts,
statistics, reasons, definitions, and descriptions, that you
can use to reach a conclusion.
Note: For conclusions to be valid, they must be supported by strong evidence from the paragraph. Using only strong evidence will help you avoid jumping to conclusions that are invalid. - Think about what you already know about the topic. Tap your prior knowledge by asking yourself questions about the paragraph.
- Combine the supporting details and what you already know to draw conclusions.
- Try to form a mental picture of what the writer is saying.
Try to predict how the passage will end. Ask yourself these questions:
* Did I have enough information when I drew my conclusion?
* Was the information accurate?
* Did I think about what I know from other experiences? - Keep reading to see if your conclusion is correct.
- Revise your conclusions as you discover new information in the paragraph.
- Draw conclusions while you are reading as well as after you've finished the paragraph. Trying to identify a valid conclusion is an ongoing process, not a static one. This means that you have to reevaluate the logic of your conclusions as you discover new information.
- Modify your conclusions and generalizations based on the new supporting details you discover as you read.
TRY IT!
Read "The Flexible Ferret" on the top of page 592. Which of the following conclusions can you draw from this paragraph?
a. Ferrets are extremely dangerous.
b. Ferrets have a strong and unpleasant odor.
c. Ferrets are very lively and agile.
Click here to check your answers to TRY IT!
To practice what you've just learned, go to Worksheet 7.1.
To learn about another reading strategy, go to Reading Strategy 7.2.
Reading Strategy 7.1 | Worksheet
7.1
Reading Strategy 7.2 | Worksheet
7.2
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