Building Comprehension through Inferencing

Winter 2012

Connections Smith Elementary Smith Elementary

Another great topic to tie the whole school together~ Smith Teacher

Professional Development Resources

During the second nine weeks, all students at Smith Elementary focused on making inferences when reading to better aid in comprehension. Carmella Musillami, one of Smith’s first/second grade teachers, worked with Beacon students after school, modeling how to make inferences while reading. The students used this anchor chart to remem-ber to use their background knowledge (our first nine weeks’ focus) along with text clues to make inferences.

All classroom teachers used this same anchor chart and practiced this strategy with their homerooms. After several lessons, each teacher worked with their students to create a bulletin board that required the viewer to make inferences using their background knowledge. A few classrooms created a grocery list for the main character of the book. The viewer then had to read the list and make an inference about the character. Other students created a wish list for a famous person. Some students even wrote riddles. The viewer had to read the clues and use their background knowledge to guess then solve the riddle. Students continued to practice making inferences to deepen comprehension with their self-selected reading and guided reading lessons throughout the grading period.

Classroom Resources

Activity: What are we making?

Choose a recipe and place all the ingredients on a table. Have the class, and everyone who comes in the room, make an inference about what is go-ing to be made. Practice using the word “because” when inferring. One example is “I think you are going to make something for break-fast because I remember my mom always used bacon, eggs, and cheese when making me a spe-cial breakfast.”Another is, “I’m sure it isn’t pan-cakes because there is no flour or sugar.” This activity will also help students to practice their skills in measurement, reading and following step by step directions.

3 small zucchini 6 eggs 10 large basil leaves– chopped 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan Salt & Pepper 3 slices of bacon– cooked & chopped 1 cup cherry tomatoes– halved 3 Tablespoon– butter Coarsely grate zucchini to make 2 1/2 cups and place in bowl. Lightly salt and let sit for 10 minutes. With clean hands, squeeze the zucchini, pressing out all the water. In large mixing bowl, whisk eggs. Add bacon, half of parme-san, tomatoes, and basil. Heat 10 inch ovenproof skillet on the stovetop. Melt the but-ter and add zucchini. Cook for about 3 minutes until soft, but not mushy. Add the egg mixture and cook gently without stirring for 4 minutes.

Zucchini Frittata

Activity: Mystery bag

Create a bag that has a large question mark on the front. Inside the bag place pictures with brief clues recorded on the back side. Stu-dents are asked to infer the name of the book or the character that belongs with the clues in the bag. An example would be to use books that were read to the students the previous week during read alouds or from the reading series. The teacher pulls out a picture and reads the clue on the back. He/she does this one clue at a time. When students believe they know the correct response, they are asked to use the statement, “I think it is the book or character...because…” Lively discussions may ensue as students attempt to prove or disprove the inference.

Fill a picnic basket with ingredients that go along with a children’s book. Show the students the book to read and get out the picnic supplies. The students will use inferencing to figure out what you will be making with the ingredients and the book clues. For example, start with the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and make butterfly sandwiches (bread, cheese, celery, raisins), or The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and make Ladybugs (apples, honey, raisins, licorice) and Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle and make stars (cheese and bread).

Activity: Read favorite children’s book and make a snack

Activity: School wide Halloween inference

Twelve inference stations can be set up in a common area. Give each item a different name, such as “Witches eyeballs” or “broken bones”. The students are then challenged to use their background knowledge and the clues they were given to infer what they thought would be in the bag.

Activity: Silent Movies

Students choose a card that lists a specific feeling. They then write a script to act out a movie using only motions, no words and the movie is filmed by an adult. Once all movies have been filmed and placed on a cd, a movie day can be planned which may include popcorn, drinks and snacks. While watching the movies the students will need to infer what feeling is being portrayed.

Additional Resources to use for Inferencing