Investigate Inferences
Have you ever solved a mystery? No, I don’t mean a crime mystery- I mean the mystery of what your spouse wants for dinner, how your friend really feels about the gift you got her? How about what your dog needs when he gives you that sideways whining face? I am sure that you solve these types of mysteries everyday! So do kids! We solve them with our magic detective skills aka making inferences! We all inference ALL DAY LONG without even realizing.
The question is though- do you infer when you read? (probably) Do your students? hmmmm.. let’s make sure they do together!!
During my shared reading time, I use Comprehension Crew characters to model reading strategies for my students. Then we read interactively as they practice implementing the strategies themselves. Read more about that below!
Izzy The Inferencer
Izzy The Inferencer is a detective that is excellent at using clues he finds and his personal knowledge to solve mysteries! He loves to teach students how to do this too! An important part of Izzy’s method is while he reads, he is always noticing details and thinking about what conclusions he can draw using his background knowledge. Izzy also provides them with strategies and confidence for inferencing throughout a text to ensure their understanding.
What is the Comprehension Crew?
Comprehension Crew is a group of characters each representing an essential reading skill. Each character has a profession, song, gesture, and prop that provide a concrete representation of the reading skill. These characters are used to model and reinforce each skill both in life and in text. The character helps students to understand, remember, and intentionally apply skills as they are reading.
What can we make inference about?
Everything!! Here are some examples…
- feelings
- thoughts
- intentions
- actions/ decisions
- representation of objects
- mood
- setting
- problem
- theme
- characters’ dreams/ motivations
Practice Making Inferences with Pictures
In my Izzy The Inferencer resource pack, there are task cards for students to practice inferencing. There are photograph task cards and short paragraphs on cards to practice. The photographs were intentionally chosen because students should be familiar with each experience to be able to make inferences. It is important for students to practice inferring on a small scale to gain understanding and confidence in the skill. Often an entire text can be overwhelming, especially for younger students! Differentiated passages on worksheets with scaffolded graphic organizers and questions are also included to help your students break down how to make a inference!
Click here to see what mentor texts I use to teach inferences!
