Make Inferences
Background Information & Activities

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Writers often do not state the way a character feels explicitly. Instead, writers will include details about how a character acts and readers must use these details to make inferences about the character’s emotions. When you infer, you use observations, prior knowledge and experiences, and details from the text to make connections and come up with ideas.

Many children may have difficulties making inferences from texts, but you should point out that they make inferences constantly. For example, they may know that they have a cavity because they have not been brushing properly and have a pain in their tooth. Explain to your children that making inferences is like being a detective; you must look at all the details and put them together to come up with an idea and make an educated assessment of a situation.

Active readers take details from a piece of writing and apply their own knowledge and experiences to develop ideas and make inferences as they read. Active readers also take notes and jot down these big ideas as they read. Encourage your children to be active readers and analyze details in everything they read. What does each detail say about the story or topic? How does the detail support or contradict information they already know? What personal experiences help them understand the text better? Encourage your children to keep notebooks and pencils close to them whenever they read. KWL charts are great ways for children to organize their ideas.

Inference skills develop over time, and the best way to develop them from an early age is to read a variety of texts together and discuss them. Children can read fairy tales and short stories and look for details that show how the characters feel. Children can also compare and contrast characters in different stories. How is the wicked stepmother in “Cinderella” different from the wicked witch in “Sleeping Beauty”? Children can find different details that all point to the characters’ wicked personalities. We recommend watching the Character movie together as a review. When working with nonfiction texts, encourage students to draw upon prior knowledge and their own experiences to make connections as they read.

See more lesson plans and resources: BrainPOP Educators.

Make Inferences Teacher Activities

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Silent Film

Explain to students that they make inferences not just when they read, but when they watch people perform. If possible, show a television program without sound and see if students can follow some of the plot and understand the characters. What details helped them figure out how the characters feel? How did facial expressions and body language help them understand the show?

As an extension, break up the class into small groups and have them write silent skits. Groups can come up with a plot idea and perform them in front of the class. As a bonus, you could film the performances and make your own silent films. Have audience members discuss each film and describe what details helped them figure out what happened.

Animal Facts

As a science connection, read several nonfiction books about animals. Have students pick out specific details about each animal, such as their physical appearance, behavior, or other special trait, and explain how that detail helps the animal survive in its environment. Students can use specific details in the text and connect them with prior knowledge to come up with their ideas. Students can also take what they know about one animal and try to apply it to another. For example, a student may know that zebras’ stripes help confuse predators. Have him or her apply this knowledge to striped fish.

Show, Don't Tell

Have students write short paragraphs about a personal experience. Tell them to not state any of their own emotions explicitly. Instead, have them write details that help the reader understand how the character feels. Have student volunteers share their writing and briefly discuss each piece. What details helped the reader understand the character? What other details could be added to the writing?

Make Inferences Family Activities

© 1999-2013 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Worth a Thousand Words

Look through old family albums and photographs together. Explain the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Have your child observe what a person in a picture is doing and look at his or her facial expressions and body language to infer how the person felt at that particular moment. Then have your child write a story or short paragraph based on the photograph.

Rewriting

Pick a story together and find a paragraph that describes how a character feels. Have your child rewrite the paragraph stating the feelings directly. How are the paragraphs different? Why might an author show how a character acts instead of telling how a character feels? Point out that details bring stories to life and engage readers and spark imaginations.