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Inferential Thinking Across the Curriculum

questioningWhat do I copy?
Where does it give me the answer?
How many sentences do I need for the right answer?

Students are always asking for "the" answer. However when dealing with higher order thinking, students must often "read between the lines" and use logic to draw conclusions. This can be frustrating for students who lack problem solving skills and a deep understanding of content. Design scaffolding to help students develop skills in inferential thinking across the curriculum.

Examine ways to help students make inferences across the social studies and science curriculum.

Making Inferences

explainInference is the reasoning involved in drawing conclusions based on evidence and prior knowledge rather than observation. While some students may be able to practice this critical skill with abstract examples, others may need concrete examples.

When inferring, students must draw conclusions when the answer is never clearly stated. They bring personal meaning to the text by connecting it with prior knowledge. Students must use hints or clues in the text or data to figure out the best solution to the problem or make a decision. They must dig deeper than the surface detail to get to other meanings that are suggested or implied but not stated directly.

When making an inference, you must often choose between possible explanations. For example if a baby is crying, it could have a wet diaper, be hungry, or want attention. If it's almost dinner time, the baby is probably hungry. However it's important to consider the other possibilities before drawing this conclusion.

The Process of Making Inferences

Students must combine the information provided with previous knowledge, experience, and beliefs to come up with the answer. In other words, they make an educated guess or prediction. As a result, not everyone may draw the same conclusion. A person's experience impacts their perspective. As a result, it's important that students get multiple opportunities gain experiences through face-to-face and virtual discussions with others inside and outside the school setting.

While some students may be able to practice this critical skill with abstract examples, others may need concrete examples.

cattails cattailscattails

Consider the following questions based on the photos above:

  • How do cattails disperse their seeds? Why?
  • What conditions are needed? Dry weather, wind, & water

Students often have difficulty on standards related to inferential thinking. When designing activities, pick a specific performance gap. Then, design a range of concrete to abstract activities to reach different students. Science experiments work well for these kinds of activities. Use the following websites to locate science experiments to try. Use your digital cameras to record the experiment and write about your findings.

chasing vermeerMystery reading is a popular way to promote inferential thinking. For example, the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett focuses on a mystery about a piece of stolen artwork. Online resources can help studnts collect clues and seek information.

An inference involves developing insight and helping students "see the light". Inferring involves many skills:

  • asking questions
  • collecting and analyzing evidence
  • making connections between prior knowledge and new information
  • making predictions
  • making informed decisions
  • drawing conclusions

Use the following books to promote inferential thinking. Before you begin, ask some of the following questions to get them thinking about inferential thinking.

  • Has something you read changed the way you think or feel about something? When, How?
  • Has something you've read made you think about another person's point of view?
  • Are you a better person because of something you've read?

Grades K-3

    • An Angel for Solomon Singer by Cynthia Rylant
    • The Art Lesson by Tomie de Paola
    • Corduroy by Don Freeman
    • Creatures of the Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia Heard
    • The Day of Ahmed’s Secret by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland
    • Floss by Kim Lewis
    • Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
    • Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe
    • Gettin' Through Thursday by Melrose Cooper
    • Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day
    • Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Helen Begen
    • How Many Days to America by Eve Bunting
    • In November by Cynthia Rylant
    • Jabberwocky by Lewis Caroll
    • Miss Maggie by Cynthia Rylant
    • Nocturne by Jane Yolen
    • Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola
    • The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
    • Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins
    • The Royal Bee by Frances Park
    • Sachiko Means Happiness by Kimiko Sakai
    • The Secret Place by Tomie de Paola in Tomie de Paola's Book Poems
    • Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
    • Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen
    • Twilight Comes Twice by Ralph Fletcher
    • Where Are You Going, Manyoni by Catherine Stock
    • Who is the Beast? by Keith Baker

Grades 3-6

    • Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
    • Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
    • Granddaddy's Gift by Margaree King Mitchell
    • Holes by Louis Sachar
    • The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron
    • Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
    • Poppy by Avi
    • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Questioning to Facilitate Inferential Thinking

"National assessments constantly show us that our students are quite adept at reading to identify specific information, but that they struggle with inferential thinking about what they read." - Doug Buehl in Learning To Make Inferences

First, determine whether the answer is clear or whether it will need to be inferred. Then ask yourself the following questions:

  • What do I already know about this topic? What do I need to know?
  • What does it say, what does it mean?
  • What information (evidence) is available?
  • What do we know about the people, places, situations, and objects?
  • What information is most important?
  • Why is some information more important than other information?
  • How does one piece of information impact other information?
  • How is new information connected to background experiences and knowledge?
  • How does categorizing, comparing, or sequencing information influence understanding?
  • How can information be weighed to determine the best solution? What are the best clues?
  • What linkages can be identified? What additional questions arise?

experimentExperiment!
Apply these questions to the needs of children at your grade level. What scaffolding do they need to ask good questions as they use online resources? What tools such as online resources, Word and Kidspiration can be used to organize information and ideas?

Making Inferences from Online Resources

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes from The Sign of the Four

Model Inference. Start by sharing short online webpages such as news articles and highlighting the clues that help students make inferences.

  • Take a "picture walk" through the website.
  • Use the "think-aloud" technique.
  • Highlight examples of “reading between the lines”
  • Ask yourself: What am I thinking? What is the evidence?

Provide Guidance. Use guiding questions to encourage students to make inferences from multiple page websites. Move though a website or series of screens as a large group. Direct student attention through questioning.

  • As you read, ask yourself:
    • Why did that happen?
    • I wonder if...?
    • What clues can I find?
    • How does this relate to a personal experience?
    • I am thinking... because the website says.... and I know that....
    • When I read... I think (infer)... because ...
    • What I know from the book... What I know from my brain...
  • As you think, ask yourself:
    • What is this used for... ?
    • What are reasons for... ?
    • How do you know?
    • Why is...?
    • What is my predication or guess?
    • What is a surprise? Why?
    • How is that... related to tahat...?
    • What contextual clues are available?
    • Does this remind me of something? If so, what?
    • What evidence supports my ideas?
    • Maybe/Perhaps... I think... I could be... It means that...

Identify Common Errors. Help students identify common mistakes in website use. At the same time discuss the importance of knowing the origin of the information, perspective of the website, and authority of the author.

Common errors in inferential thinking include:

  • Jumping to conclusions based on partial information
  • Relying too much on personal experience
  • Focusing on literal interpretations
  • Overlooking clues
  • Misunderstanding sarcasm
  • Replying on opinions rather than facts

Practice Inferential Thinking

Students need formal and informal experiences with inferential thinking. Formal experiences are those that are organized by the teacher to build particular types of skills. For example, turn common logic problems into meaningful activities that promote inferential thinking.

Look for other online practice problems using the following topics and ideas.

  • Riddles
  • Cloze activities
  • Puzzles
  • Jokes

Visual Literacy and Inference

  • Fill in the missing comic panel
  • What will happen next in the photograph?
  • What do you think is happening outside the photo?
  • What would the next photo would look like?
  • What caption could you provide that tells the story of this photo?

experimentExperiment!
Explore the problems at the websites above. Turn these problems into interactive PowerPoint Slides with engaging interactive elements and graphics. Create more of your own.

Seek out online activities that promote inferential thinking.

Observation Skills

Inference Skills

Making Inferences in Literature

Social Studies

questioningWhen working with students, use the example of being a detective and solving a mystery. The detective must weigh all the evidence before making a decision. Think about what happens after a plane disaster. Investigators examine the black box recorder, pieces of the plane, survivor interviews, witness accounts, and any other forms of information they can find.

Use Logic. See if you can figure out the answer by looking at all the available information. If it's a word, see if you can figure out the meaning from the context of the sentence. If it's the answer to a math problem, see if the information needed to solve the problem can be found in the story problem or data set. If it's a problem related to history or science, look at all the related events.

Analyze Examples. Look for examples that might provide an explanation. What describes this situation? What information relates to this problem? What are the place, places, and things that might help me understand the situation? What experiences have I had that are similar to this situation?

Examine All Information Forms. Look beyond the text. Consider audio, data, photographs, and other ways to represent ideas. Consider facial expressions, the tone of a voice, and other elements that might be found in multimedia information sources. Also, look for real objects and settings. Consider context.

Visualize Thinking. Create a chart or diagram that helps you see different perspectives, points of view, options, or different ways of thinking about the topic. If it's the meaning of a word, look for synonyms with similar meaning or antonyms with opposite meaning to infer meaning. Create a Venn diagram or other chart to compare and contrast ideas. Consider logic charts, KWL charts, and other ways of organizing ideas and information to visualize thinking.

Remain Skeptical. Become a devil's advocate. Look at all perspectives. Consider why information might be incorrect or untrue.

 

Grades
K-1

Community Club from Scholastic
Go George Go from PBS Kids


Grades
2-3

Ancient Times
- Ancient Greece from BBC
- Anglo Saxons from BBC
- Romans from BBC
- Vikings from BBC
Asian Pacific American Heritage from Scholastic
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage from Scholastic
Community Club from Scholastic
Costume Drama Game
Culture and Change: Black History in America from Scholastic
Democracy at Work from Scholastic
First Thanksgiving from Scholastic
Go for the Gold from Scholastic - Olympics
Immigration from Scholastic
Map Man Game from Scholastic
Our America from Scholastic
Out on a Limb: A Guide to Getting Along from Illinois
Place the State from Ben's Guide
Presidents: The Secret History
Puzzled States from Scholastic


Grades
4-5

Ancient Times
- Ancient Greece from BBC
- Anglo Saxons from BBC
- Romans from BBC
- Vikings from BBC
Asian Pacific American Heritage from Scholastic
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage from Scholastic
Child Labor Around the World from Scholastic
Conflict in the Middle East from Scholastic
Costume Drama Game
Culture and Change: Black History in America from Scholastic
Democracy at Work from Scholastic
First Thanksgiving from Scholastic
Geogame
Go for the Gold from Scholastic - Olympics
Growth of a Nation sound
History Mystery from Scholastic
Iditarod from Scholastic
If Your Were President from Scholastic
Immigration from Scholastic
Iraq's New Beginnings from Scholastic
Lewis and Clark from Scholastic
On the Move from National Museum of American History
Our America from Scholastic
Presidents: The Secret History
PS Keep in Touch
Puzzled States from Scholastic
Stop Bullying Now
Women's Suffrage from Scholastic
Women Who Changed History from Scholastic
World War II Remembered from Scholastic

Science

questionScientists make inferences based on observations. They make hypotheses, collect data, interpret data, and draw conclusions. In some cases scientists can't make direct observations, instead they have to make predictions based on the evidence. For example, we can't visit the core of the earth, but we can still make predictions about volcanoes adn earthquakes.

Interpolating and extrapolating are elements of predictions. When scientists interpolate, they observe, then make predictions within the range of the current data. When scientists extrapolate, they use analyze available information, then make predictions outside of the range of current data. Inferences aren't answers, they're educated guesses based on evidence.

Grades
K-1

Ol' McPauly's Farm! from Pauly's Games
Go Buggy from Scholastic
Lunar Cycle Challenge (Interactive) from Sciencelinks sound
Nowhere to Hide from Sciencelinks
Root Race from Scholastic
Science Clips for Ages 5-6 sound
Science Clips for Ages 6-7 sound
Trees Are Terrific from Illinois


Grades
2-3

Adventures of Herman from Illinois
All Star River Explorers from Illinois sound
All Systems are Go (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
Break it Down (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
Challenging the Space Frontier from Scholastic
Exploring the Secret Life of Trees from Illinois
Go Buggy from Scholastic
Goldburger To Go - Simple Machines from Zoom
Gravity Launch! (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
The Great Corn Adventure from Illinois sound
How the Body Works from KidsHealth (Grades 3-5)
Kitchen Chemistry from Zoom
Let's Talk about Insects from Illinois sound
Life Miner from Arbor Day
Lunar Cycle Challenge (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
Magic Schoolbus from Scholastic
Marble Mania (Interactive) from Science Netlinks
Nowhere to Hide from Sciencelinks
Pendulum from Zoom
Pest Watch Game
Planet Pop-up Scholastic
Ology from American Museum of Natural History
PowerUp! (Interactive) from Science Netlinks (Grades 3-5)
Root Race from Scholastic
Science Clips for Ages 6-7 sound
Science Clips for Ages 7-8 sound
Simple Machines from Edheads
Stuck on Junk from Scholastic - Magnets
Three Puck Chuck from Zoom
Touch of Class (Interactive) from Science Netlinks (Grades 3-5)
Trees Are Terrific from Illinois sound
What Tree is That? (Interactive)
Zap (Interactive) from Science Netlinks (Grades 3-5)


Grades
4-5

Adventures of Herman from Illinois
All Systems are Go (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
All Star River Explorers from Illinois sound
Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits
Break it Down (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
Build a Food Web from Scholastic
Build Your Own Caterpillar from Scholastic
Challenging the Space Frontier from Scholastic
Drugs and Your Health from Scholastic
Endangered Ecosystems from Scholastic
Exploring the Secret Life of Trees from Illinois
Life Miner from Arbor Day
Goldburger To Go - Simple Machines from Zoom
Gravity Launch! (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
The Great Corn Adventure from Illinois sound
Great Plant Escape from Illinois
Green-o-meter from National Geographic
How the Body Works from KidsHealth
Interactive Weather Maker from Scholastic
Kitchen Chemistry from Zoom
Let's Talk about Insects from Illinois sound
Loads Lab from PBS
Lunar Cycle Challenge (Interactive) from Science Netlinks sound
Marble Mania (Interactive) from Science Netlinks
My First Garden from Illinois
Name that Bug
Nowhere to Hide from Science Netlinks
Ology from American Museum of Natural History
Pendulum from Zoom
Pest Watch Game
Planet Pop-up from Scholastic
PowerUp! from Science Netlinks
Science Clips sound
Science Explorations from Scholastic
Secrets at Sea
Severe Weather and Natural Disasters from Scholastic
Simple Machines from Edheads
Three Puck Chuck from Zoom
Touch of Class (Interactive) from Science Netlinks
Trees Are Terrific from Illinois sound
Weather from Edheads
Zap (Interactive) from Science Netlinks

experimentExperiment!
Select an interactive website. Identify a specific standard that can be addressed using this website. Design a series of questions, instructions, or activities that promote inferential thinking related to the content.

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Learn More About Inferential Thinking

Standards

Examples

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Developed by Annette Lamb, 3/06.