So without further ado, let's get started. Over the past few weeks I have been targeting inferencing with my fourth and fifth grade classrooms. I try to teach this concept in a variety of formats to show them that we inference every single day without even realizing it. On the first day we talk about the definition of an inference and I give them A LOT of examples of inferences we make in every day life. Just a few of my examples include:
1) You see a man running and frantically waving at a bus that is pulling away from a bus stop.
2) You are giving a speech in front of an audience and notice several people laughing and pointing at something on your pants.
3) Your sister comes home from spending the evening with her friends, slams the front door and runs to her room while crying.
I then encourage them to give me examples of times when they make inferences.
The following week we talk about making inferences from picture scenes and videos. I will print out 4-6 photos that I find on the internet (usually on national geographic or even pictures from my own camera roll) and I ask them to make inferences about where the picture was taken, what's happening, etc. Then we pull up movie shorts or video clips from popular movies and ask them to infer things about the video. Here are some of the videos I use:
(Barbie and Ken) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGHRF-J0hXc
(One Man Band) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01GY7zYN-ps
Here is an example of a photo I have used:
During our final session focusing on inferences we take it a step further and draw inferences from text. I will give them a short paragraph (you can pull a paragraph from a popular book or an online source. Anything will do). I read it aloud (because not all of my students are on the same reading level) and then let them have some time to make inferences about what is going on in the paragraph, what they think about the character, the setting, etc. As the kids are raising their hands and making inferences I ask them to tell me what evidence from the paragraph supports their inference.
So there it is. These are all things you can duplicate at home. While you are watching a movie with your children ask them what they are thinking about what is going on, what do they think about the characters, where is the movie taking place? Do the same while looking through photos or reading a book.