Making Inferences: Anchor chart and graphic organizer

There’s one strategy that students of all grades struggle with.

It asks them to read beyond the explicit text and think about what they know.

They have to read for clues and put them together to create deeper understanding.

It requires them to access their background knowledge and identify how it can help them understand.

What is this tricky strategy that is about reading between the lines??

Making Inferences!!

Ding ding ding!!

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

🔍 Students can’t take the leap beyond concrete thinking.

🔍 Students struggle with basic comprehension, let alone inference.

🔍 They are not able to make the connections and conclusions needed to infer.

We know that, in order to make inferences, students need to have background knowledge that relates to the text, and they have to have a deeper understanding of the sentence structures in order to identify any clues the author is providing.

While we can’t completely change this in a few lessons, we can give kids exposure to the kinds of thinking they need to do in order to make inferences!

Using a mentor text to introduce making inferences

Modeling the thinking for inferences is so important. Kids need to participate in discussions during read alouds! These are some of my favorite read alouds for teaching how to make inferences!

From there, I recommend using the gradual release model.

In the gradual release model, you lead students from watching you model the skill to completing the skill independently. This slow scaffold really ensures that students retain the information and work towards mastery.

Here are the 5 steps of gradual release and how I use them to introduce the idea of inferences!

1. Engage with a Hands-On Activity

First, I have students look at a collection of pictures. They are all pictures of camping gear. I ask, “Based on these details, what can you tell about where the person is going?” Then I directly introduce making the inference.

We build an anchor chart using their ideas!

2. “I Do”: Model and Think Aloud

Then I use a short text to model and ask questions of my own thinking as I’m reading. I pause and use the questions in the margins to model a think-aloud about gathering evidence.

3. “We Do”: I do With Your Help

I start asking students to share their thinking, using the questions in the margins. This is a great place for a think-pair-share!

4. “We Do”: You Do With My Help

Students work in pairs to complete short task cards. I circulate to make sure they are hunting for evidence! Having task cards at different levels is such a great way to make sure kids are practicing appropriate strategies!

5. “You Do”: Bridge to Independence

Then we apply it to their own reading. Sometimes I use this graphic organizer, and sometimes I use a reading response form. The bookmark helps kids remember what to do!

To help you use these steps to teach kids how to make inferences, I created this step-by-step unit that includes guided questions for you, a text for modeling, opportunities for students to try to make inferences on their own in shorter text, and printable posters! (Some call them anchor charts).

In this resource, you’ll find a passage, poster, task cards, reading response sheet, and more! You can use it for various stages of the gradual release process because it’ll walk you through it, one step at a time!