Teachers want to push students to think deeper. The goal is to go beyond the surface level and bring in detailed, evidence-based responses. Teaching inferences is one of the strongest ways to ensure students are digging into the content deeper than they may be used to. A making inferences worksheet can help achieve this goal. Below, I have outlined all different types of making inferences worksheets that you can use in your classroom. First, it is important to understand the definition of inference. Inferences can be defined as the process of drawing a conclusion based on evidence using prior experience or knowledge.
Inference questions involve reading between the lines and making an educated guess as the answer is not explicitly stated. Students must use clues from a text and combine them with prior knowledge to draw conclusions. The 3 techniques below are all methods to use in order to teach students not only to understand what inferences are but how to make them in all content areas!
While many districts are pushing technology and projects, it does not mean worksheets are gone. Whether the district is using Chromebooks, tablets, or paper and pencil, worksheets are versatile and work in any format! Additionally, worksheets are well known to students, so they can truly focus on the content instead of worrying about how to actually complete the assignment.
The well-known saying of “Practice Makes Perfect!” definitely applies to inferences. By utilizing a making inferences worksheet, students can be given short passages followed by inference-based questions. For example, students can be given making inferences and drawing conclusion worksheet with various scenarios. After reading the passage, students will have a couple of inferential-based questions to answer. Depending on age and rigor needed, questions can be multiple-choice, short answer, or a combination of both.
Here is one example that can be on a making inferences worksheet for 5th grade. This can be a making inferences paper copy or a making inferences worksheet pdf copy or some form of technology. Students read a short story about a little girl in a grocery store. She wants candy, but her mom insists on something healthier, so she picks watermelon. One of the questions asks students how the little girl feels by the end of the story.
Students are going to have to take what they know, such as how they have felt when being told no for a sweet treat, and take what they have learned, which would be the little girl still getting a yummy yet healthy treat. Students will pull their evidence to pick the best adjective they know to describe their feelings and explain what led to that decision.
Teachers can go through this example as a class together to help students learn how to make inferences. It will be important for students to talk out their thoughts with a partner, small group, and the class.
As students progress to working independently, there are different types of making inferences worksheets they can complete.
Worksheets with scenarios may be one of the best ways to teach students how to make inferences. By using scenarios, students can relate to the situation being described. Students will then pull in what they have read about, in order to answer inference-based questions.
Inferences are made partially from looking at the evidence provided. However, this does not only occur in the text. If students are in science and learning about fossils, they can make observations in order to form inferences. Students can use their five senses in order to make as many observations as possible and then make inferences based on what they have observed- their evidence- with what they already know.
Making inferences is all about taking what one already knows and adding in what is being taught. Drawing conclusions means to make inferences and figure out what makes the most sense. In many situations, there may be more than one correct answer. In these worksheets, students may tell the moral of the story, the theme, or why a character is making a certain decision.
In a story, there is only so much time to build character traits. However, students can make inferences in order to truly get to know the characters. Students can be given short passages focused on characters. Then, they can look at the words the character says, the actions of the character, and what other characters say about the character being examined. Students will be able to take what they already know about character traits, such as what it means to be kind, and bring in evidence from the passage in order to build knowledge about a character.
There are so many types of reading worksheets that students can use to make inferences. These can be used for text-dependent questions, defining new vocabulary with pre-existing knowledge on prefixes and suffixes, tracking character traits, and making connections with other texts, such as well-known children’s stories.
To get started on lesson planning, head over to Kirsten’s Kaboodle to sign up for a freebie on making inferences!
In addition to worksheets, Boom Cards are another great resource to help teach students to make inferences. Boom Cards are the perfect addition to guided reading groups, stations, or center time. They are also self-checking, so teachers do not have additional grading while receiving instant feedback!
These Inference Boom Cards include anchor charts and no-prep cards for students to complete. The cards will also scaffold students to make inferences, so they have built-in help without having to wait on someone to help them. Since inferences fit together like a puzzle, these cards will do the same in order to help guide students and ensure they are bringing in evidence and reasoning! If you need to know more about Boom Cards click here!
There are 37 total cards in this resource. Cards 1-3 are instructional pages with examples to help show students how to make inferences on the Boom Cards. Boom task cards 4-20 require students to drag and drop clues from the passage to help form an inference before answering a multiple-choice question. The Boom Cards 21-37 require students to type in what they know about a list of given clues and then select an inference that could be happening based on the clues and what they know. Students will answer through multiple choice sentences. These Boom Cards will truly help students understand the puzzle method of making inferences while having built-in support!
“Work Smarter, Not Harder” is the perfect phrase to describe using no-prep lessons. There are so many resources on the internet from other teachers. In this Making Inferences Worksheets resource, there are no-prep worksheets and inference riddles for 3rd-5th grade. In addition to instructional pages and anchor charts, there are 10 inferencing passages and related questions that are designed to show students how inferencing works. They also have the puzzle piece technique to keep the resources consistent!
There are also 10 pages of riddles where students use inferencing skills to solve the riddle as well as space to create their own riddles! Riddles are one way to practice inferential thinking skills to become successful readers. They can make guesses based on what they read and what they already know. This resource has everything needed and works digitally or on paper.
Making inferences is tough to learn! However, with time and practice, students can master this tough content and be so proud of themselves. There will be ample opportunity to reinforce the skills of inferencing through the course of a school year. This can occur when students engage in discussion, reading comprehension activities, study poetry, etc. Students will soon be able to move beyond recognizing and reading inference in the works of others to incorporate it into their daily life.
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