Making Inferences
A video introduction to inferencing
Students can watch the video to learn how to use text to make inferences about characters in a story. Teachers could pause at certain points and the ask the students to make inferences based on the author's description of the character, the character's actions and words and what they already know.
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Geri's Game (Pixar)
Students watch the short film 'Geri's Game' making observations and taking notes as they look for clues in the movie. The students can discuss their observations and then work independently as they write down clues and make inferences to the following questions:
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Who is the old man playing against?
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When he only has his king left, why is the opponent laughing?
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What is the old man doing when he gasps and falls to the ground?
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How does he defeat his opponent?
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Why is he happy at the end?
Inferencing using comic strips
Students are introduced to a series of Garfield comic strips to strengthen their inferencing skills. The teacher should initially read the comic strips aloud as some students may not have read comic strips before. After reading a series of comic strips students will get a better understanding of Garfield's personality and the authors purpose. Questions can be tailored depending on the students level of ability. Some suggested questions for inferencing are:
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What did Jon just get?
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What does “exotic” mean?
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What happened to Garfield in frame 3? Why?
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What does it mean when someone is being “sarcastic”? How
is Garfield being sarcastic in frame 3?
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How do you think Garfield might solve his problem?
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What might he do differently in the future?
As students become more familiar with comic strips they could make their own comic strip using the website Bitstrips (https://www.bitstrips.com/create/com). Students could then invite their peers to make inferences.