We’ve been learning about inferences for the past two weeks. This is most in-depth I’ve ever gone with it, and I must say, it’s been pretty fun to teach. I think they actually have an understanding of the concept, which is pretty cool considering it’s such a tricky one! By the end of the week, the kids were actually saying stuff like, “I infer that…” So exciting! I love that when teaching comprehension skills, some of your struggling readers actually have the chance to shine. I have two kiddos who aren’t the strongest with their phonics and fluency, but just have amazing comprehension skills when we do more guided lessons. Here are some of the things we’ve done:
First, I introduced the concept with this anchor chart.
It’s kind of hard to see here, but it says What I Know + Clues from the story= My Inference
The top two little signs are from Abbey’s Snowy Investigation pack. They give examples of inferences. I used this chart with books we read. As I read aloud and found examples of times we could make an inference, I’d walk the class through it using this chart. We’d think about what we know (our schema) and point out the clues from the story and share our own inferences. Part of teaching this skill is helping kids to see how they came to their inferences.
Then I had this idea to have the class make inferences about our morning schedule. So I wrote this morning message, giving clues about our day. They used their schema and to clues to infer our schedule.
The blank white pages are laminated so I could use them over and over with different stories. THe one written in purple is an example of our schedule inferences. The bottom one is an inference we made from a story we read together. We used this format with several different stories.
Then we did some guided practice with this Snowy Inferences sheet. We read the short passage together and slowly walked through this. Then they did one on their own.
Here’s a snapshot of the actual page:
As a culminating activity we did Abbey’s Snowy Investigation. It is fabulous! The kids has so much fun!!!
case file with evidence
looking at some clues
Filling out evidence sheet with inferences
I made a mini-unit based on some of the activities I did in school. In this mini-pack you’ll find…
Printout of the poster I used (here are two of the three)
4 Inference sheets for guided practice
Inferring our Schedule: Choice of one page worksheet or as a center.
Inferring Sam’s Vacation: read the clues to figure out what Sam did during his vacation.
Choice of one page worksheet or as a center
Read Think Match (Above with the animal pictures)
Read the clues to infer which animal is being described.
