Making inferences can be one of the most challenging comprehension skills for elementary students. Students may rely on what is explicitly stated in the text and struggle to “read between the lines.” But don’t worry! These tips and tools will show you how to teach inference and help your students find success with a difficult skill!
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What Does it Mean to Make an Inference?
To make an inference, good readers use information from the text (text evidence) and what they already know (schema) to figure out what the author does not directly say.
How To Teach Inference
Learn how to teach inference with these helpful teacher tips and resources. These essential tools will make teaching inference much easier for you and more effective for your students. Not only will they be successful with a challenging skill but they’ll also have fun! Be patient as this is a skill that will take a lot of scaffolding and practice for mastery!
Teaching Inference with Pictures
Pictures are a perfect way to first introduce the idea of making inferences. Students can apply the thinking required to make inferences without involving text.
Find pictures of kids’ expressions and have students infer how that child is feeling. Be sure to use evidence from the picture to support your thinking.
I’ve also compiled Kids’ Emotions Pictures to save you time!
The NY Times What’s Going On In This Picture is an ideal starting place for upper elementary students. They will love analyzing the details to infer what is happening in the picture before you reveal the actual caption. I recommend taking time to go through their archives and save the images into one PowerPoint. It has saved me time to have them all in one place to reuse each year! I put the picture on one slide and then reveal the caption on the next.
Teaching Inference with Animated Shorts
Animated shorts are another low-stress way to introduce inference. Students can practice making inferences about what is happening without having to worry about text. A Walk In the Chalk compiled a list of shorts to use to teach inference:
Teaching Inference with Picture Books
Picture books are another way to introduce students to the thinking required to make inferences. Wordless Picture Books are a great scaffold to teach the skill before worrying about the text. These Inference Mentor Texts will help you model the strategy as you begin introducing students to using text evidence.
Tools for Making Inferences
Inference Anchor Chart
You will want to display an Inference Anchor Chart to remind students of the skill you are focusing on. You can create it with students or add to it during your minilesson.
Displaying an anchor chart helps keep your minilessons very targeted, as it can be tempting to teach multiple skills while reading. But the most effective lessons have a clear focus. Students can refer to the anchor chart during whole group lessons, small group instruction, literacy centers, and independent reading.
Making Inferences Bookmark
Students can keep an Inference Reading Bookmark in their book boxes to remind them of the strategy during independent reading.
Prompts and Sentence Stems
It is helpful to use inference prompts during your whole group and small group lessons.
- From the events in story so far, what do you think will happen next?
- Is that a reasonable conclusion? Does it make sense when you review the evidence?
- Does all the evidence lead to that conclusion? Or could other conclusions be drawn?
- How did your previous experiences help you interpret clues or draw conclusions?
- What can you infer from paragraph __?
- Which sentence from the text shows you ___?
Students benefit from sentence stems to guide their discussions and written responses.
- I infer that ___.
- My conclusion is ___.
- Based on the evidence in the text, I infer ___.
- The clues that prove my inference are ___.
- I think the character did this because ___.
- I think this happened because ___.
- These clues tell me that ___.
- I think that ___ will happen next because the author says ___.
- From the events so far, I think ___ will happen next.
- Based on ___ I can conclude that ___.
- When the characters said ___ I think he/she felt ___.
- I think he/she said ___ because ___.
- This clue in the book made me think ___.
Inference Graphic Organizer
Students can complete a graphic organizer to practice making inferences during small groups or independent reading.
Save time by creating a Reading Graphic Organizers file box to keep at your small group table. That way you always have copies ready for students to practice the skill!
Readers’ Notebook Page and Study Guide
Students use this readers’ notebook page to remind them of the strategy, graphic organizer, and sentence stems to use when making inferences. Print a copy that they can use for additional practice at home.
Making Inferences Activities
While these tools are all scaffolds for students as they learn how to make inferences, you may be looking for more specific activities to teach the skill. Be sure to check out the corresponding post with Inference Activities that your students will love!
Tips for Teaching Inference
Sometimes students overly rely on their background knowledge without confirming it using text evidence. As a result, their inferences may be slightly off topic or their schema leads to misconceptions. Be sure to remind them to also use the evidence to confirm what the text is actually saying. You may also ask them “Is your thinking helping or distracting you?” when it takes them too far away from the text.
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Hopefully, these tips for how to teach inference will help you simplify a challenging skill for your students. What other tips or tools have you found beneficial for teaching inference? Be sure to share in the comments!
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