The Art of Inference

There are many kinds of books that can help students learn to infer information that is not implied or directly stated in literature. Some types are books in which students have to infer meanings of words, predict endings, use pictures as well as the words, and search for a change in a character. Books that spin off from a well-known tale, have a surprise or twist ending, have subtle humor, and force students to delve into a theme are also very helpful.

The OnTarget Strategy Books, by the South Dakota Department of Education, provides a wonderful list of books that can help students infer throughout their reading.

Even though books are very important in helping students learn the art of inference, teachers can also play games and use activities in the classroom so the class as a whole can learn together.

One activity that teachers can do is called the Trash Bag Lesson. This is a game in which the teacher, before class, packs a bag with different objects. The objects can be things like a baby bottle, a tennis ball, a comic book, and so on. The teacher would tell the students that this bag was found in a dusty attic somewhere and they needed to go through it to find out about the person to whom it belonged. The teacher would have different students come to the front and pull the objects from the bag. The class could think about what each object tells about the person. By pulling out the tennis ball, one would infer that the person who owned the bag liked to play tennis. Many different inferences could come from this game. Students can learn that even though no one explicitly told them that the owner of the bag plays tennis, has a child, and likes to read comics; they still were able to infer that these things about the owner.

Another activity that a teacher can do is to bring in old photographs from the 1800's and early 1900's. These can be found in the library, online, or maybe the teachers has them of past relatives. The photos should have some sort of funny element such as a crying baby or an invention that is no longer around today. The teacher can show these pictures to the students and have them infer what is happening in the pictures.

There are so many other ways for teachers to help their students learn the amazing and important art of inference. By using creativity, teachers and students alike will be able to infer about anything!