Teaching Inference and Observation Skills to Upper Elementary and Middle School Students
One of the most important reading skills you can teach students is how to make observations and inferences. This will help them decode deeper meaning in texts that is implied, rather than explicitly stated. Classes in many subjects, ranging from science to English language arts, require students to use inferential thinking.
In this blog post, I'm going to share some of my favorite strategies for teaching inference and observation skills to upper elementary and middle school students.
1. Use real life props like gift bags and backpacks to help students develop inferential thinking
Students can practice making observations and inferences with this "What's in the Sack?" activity. As the teacher pulls four items out of a paper sack, students will draw illustrations of the objects in the squares. After students have drawn the four items, they will try to figure out what the items mean.
Students will analyze the clues can the objects give about the type of person their teacher is, what he or she is passionate about, his or her favorite color, etc.. Students will finish the activity by writing their inferences about each item’s meaning on the lines to the right of its illustration.
A similar alternative to "What's in the Sack?" is "What's in the Backpack?" This activity can be done with objects students bring to school from home.
2. Build higher order thinking skills by solving mystery short stories
I was obsessed with mysteries in elementary and middle school. I spent hours reading every Nancy Drew book I could find in the public library. One of my favorite things about this genre was the opportunity to guess what was coming next in the story and try to solve the mystery before Nancy did. I loved digging into the chapters for clues.
To this day, I believe that reading Nancy Drew books inspired my love of reading and taught me life-long inferential thinking skills.
Although I don't have time to read entire mystery novels with my students, I love encouraging them to solve short story mysteries with partners. Two of my class's favorite stories are this case about stolen food and this murder or accident mystery. The thing that's fun about both of these stories is that there's no clear answer. Clues have been distributed fairly, so students have to think critically about the case options. I always tell my students, "I'll never tell you the answer to this mystery because you might tell the next class." I've had students beg me months after the lesson to reveal the mystery answer! They get very invested in the cases.
3. Make observations and inferences about interesting photos
Each of the literature units in my curriculum has some type of cultural or historic context that is different than my students' own lives in a signficant way. In order to help them understand each book's setting, I love projecting fascinating photos on the board.
Students use this template to document what they observe and infer about the image. Then, we have a discussion about what they noticed. This activity is an especially fun lead-in for introducing a new event or vocabulary term in a literature unit.
Websites where you can find photos to use for this activity:
- Library of Congress - amazing historic photos
- New York Times - the "What's Going On In This Picture" series is wonderful
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