Teaching
inferencing to young readers can be difficult, yet as students are being asked
to read at higher levels, the teaching of inferencing becomes greater.
Students need to have inferencing in order to help with the comprehension of these higher level books.
The major obstacle with inferencing is that young
readers just don’t have enough life experience (background knowledge). In order
to help them with this we need to help them learn how to use clues from the
text along with what they know about a situation to help them understand how to
pick up on inferences.
As young
readers are reading books or as we read to them, it is common for us to focus on
the retelling of a story and making prediction. Very little time, if any, is
spent on making inferences. You may even be unclear about what the
differences are between predictions and inferences. Maybe this will help to clear it up.
Inferences
and Predictions: In both inferences and predictions you use the text to support
your ideas. You also use your background knowledge (life experiences) to help
support these ideas.
Prediction:
A prediction is a guess about what we think will happen in the future. It is
almost always confirmed.
Inference:
An inference is made about things that have happened in the past or at the
current time. Inferences are rarely confirmed, but they are logical based on what
we have learned (text) and what we know (background knowledge).
It really
doesn’t take a lot of explaining, but it does take practice to really begin to
understand what an inference is. The first step is to be conscious of the need
for it. As you read with your students either whole class or in a group, be
sure to take the time for students to make inferences. I like to support my
students in this way, but I also like to have something that holds them a
little more accountable than just a partner share. This was one of my main
reasons for created a Daily Inference booklet. It is a resource that I have
made available at my TpT Store if you are interested in checking it out.
Daily Inference Book
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