Inferencing
Inferencing is a strategy that can be used before reading, during reading and after reading.
- Inferencing is about teaching students how to combine what the text says with what they already know in order to arrive at conclusions.
Before reading:
- Judging by the title, what might this text be about?
- What do you already know about this topic?
During reading:
- What is important on this page?
- Use the facts to infer (e.g. what caused? what would happen if?)
After reading:
- What's next?
- What event my happen following this book?
(Winch et al., 2014)
ACTIVITIES TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE INFERENCES
Task Cards
- Students can practise inferring using task cards. These cards contain small passages of text and students must use the clues from the text to discover what is not directly stated.
- You can make your own task cards, or can find many task cards online such as those below.
- Task Cards Link
Telling Riddles
- Given that successful readers makes guesses based on what they have read, telling riddles is a way that you can allow students to practise inferencing based on the clues you have given them.
- You could source your own collections of riddles, or allow students to engage in online riddle games like the one below.
- Riddle game
School pen pal
- Once students increase their inferring skills, they could attempt to write a piece of work for another student in a different class.
- The student reading the piece has to infer who (based on the personality traits discussed in the writing), where (the writer is located based on hints) among many other things.
- The trick is to be able to write in a way that gives away enough clues without being too obvious.