5 Strategies for Making Inferences

In order for a reader to be able to read and understand a text there is a great deal of work that they must do in their head. As shared in The Importance of Strategies, readers use a variety of strategic actions and strategies to process what they are reading.  Inferring is one of twelve strategic action we will explore in this Strategic Action Series. 

Strategies Change Over Time

When young children begin reading, they may use very simple strategies like memorizing or remembering the words in a story and reciting them as they see the pictures. As they learn more about letters, words, and books, they will begin using strategies like:

• Pausing when something doesn’t make sense (self-monitoring)
• Looking at the picture, thinking about the sentence, and looking at the first letters to make sure what they have read “looks right,” “sounds right,” and “makes sense.” (cross-checking sources of information)
• Reread a word to read it correctly when they misread the word the first time. (self-correcting)

As young readers have more and more time to read and experience books, they develop their ability to use more sophisticated strategic actions as they read.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

It is important to note that readers use strategic actions simultaneously. Unfortunately, many children view them as separate actions or even as their goal of their reading. This may be the case if you’ve ever heard your child say, “This week I am inferring.”  This happens when strategies are talked about in isolation or if your child does most of their strategy work with worksheets. Even though we may attempt to strengthen a strategic action by talking about it in isolation, it is always important to remind your child that they use many strategic actions and strategies to understand what we are reading.

Here is an example shared by Fountas and Pinnell in Guided Reading (2e) 

• A child who is monitoring her understanding of key words might solve one by taking it apart by syllables, connectto known words, gain insight into or infer the motives of a character, and predict what the character will do to resolve the problem she has analyzed.

Even though these actions are listed in a sequence, many take place simultaneously. Our brains can work so quickly and can do such much.

Now let’s take a look at Inferring, a strategic action identified by Fountas and Pinnell (Literacy Continuum, Expanded Edition, 2017).

Inferring

Readers infer what authors imply but do not directly say. Authors don’t say everything that is happening in the text or everything a character is thinking or feeling. Readers have to think about all of the information they have from the words and images combine it with what they know to make some conclusions about what is happening in the text. Often times we think about this strategic action as one for older readers, however, it should not be limited to older readers, even young readers can infer character’s feelings or the lesson or message from a story. As readers read more and more sophisticated texts, they will need to make more inferences and be able to flexibly make more complex inferences.

Check out the Reading Level Specific Posts  to see questions you can ask or prompts you can give to support your child’s use of this strategic action.

5 Fantastic Strategies to Encourage Inferring

1. Pay Attention to Characters

 Great for Reading Levels C and up

Strategy Steps 

1. Pay attention to the characters by noticing:
   • How they act
   • How they speak
   • What they say
   • What they think
2. Ask yourself what do these things tell you about how the character feels.
3. Think about what it would be like to be in that same situation and how you would feel or think of a time that you were and how you felt.
4. Then ask yourself, what does this tell you about the character.

You can prompt your child to pay attention to characters by asking the following questions: 

• Does the picture give you any clues about how the character feels?
• How is the character feeling?
• Based on how they are talking, how do you think he/she feels?
• Do you think the feeling is a positive or negative one?

 2. What is the Character Thinking?

Great for Reading Levels C-M

Strategy Steps 

1. As you are reading, pause and think, what is the character thinking here. (Even if the text doesn’t tell you – you can imagine by thinking about what has happened so far.)
2. Say out loud or quickly write down what you think the character would say. You can also think about it as: what would be in a thought bubble if there was one on the page?

You can prompt your child to infer character’s thoughts by asking the following questions: 

• What just happened?
• What might the character be thinking?

• Before you turn the page, what do you think the character is thinking?

3. Components of Inferences

Great for Reading Levels H and up

 Strategy Steps 

1. As you are reading, notice the clues given in the text.
2. Then think, “What do I already know about this?” or “What do I already know about people like this?”
3. Combining the clues in the text and what you know, make an inference.

It says…. I know…. So I think ….

You can prompt your child to make inferences by asking the following questions: 

• What details does the author give you?
• What do you know about the character?
• What ideas do you have?
• What does this make you think of?
• How do you know?

 4. Figuring Out Lessons

Great for any Reading Levels J and up 

 Strategy Steps 

1. After reading, think about what mistakes the character made or what mishaps happened in the book.
2. Then ask yourself what the character could learn from their mistake/mishap.
3. These sentence starters from Jen Serravallo (2015) can help:
   • When you _____, you should learn ________.
   • You don’t have to ____ to ____.
   • It takes ______ to _________.
   • Try to ________ when you ______.
   • Try not to ________ when you _______.

You can prompt your child to figure out lessons from character’s mistakes or mishaps by asking the following questions: 

• What mistakes did the character make?
• What mishap happened in this book? How did it affect the character?
• How did the character act right after they made the mistake?
• What do you think the character learned?
• What lesson did the characters learn in this book?

 5. Deciphering Headings  

Great for Reading Levels P and up

 Strategy Steps 

1. Read the heading or subheading.
2. Think about the heading or subheading in the section before.
3. Ask yourself, “what can I infer this section is about based on what the whole book (or section) is about?”
4. Read on – gather information from the section.
5. Go back and explain the heading.
6. If the heading is clever but confusing, rename the section with your own heading to show you know what the section is about.

You can prompt your child to decipher headings by asking the following questions:

• What do you think this heading means?
• Can you try to think of a different heading?
• What is this section mostly about?

Check out these posts for more strategies to support strategic actions:

• Searching for and Using Information
• Monitoring and Self-correcting
• Solving words
• Maintaining Fluency
• Adjusting
• Summarizing
• Predicting
• Synthesizing  
• Making Connections
• Critiquing
• Analyzing

Resources:

• Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2017). Guided reading: Responsive teaching across the grades. Heinemann.
• Pinnell, G. S., & Fountas, I. C. (2007). The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades K-8: Behaviors and Understandings to Notice, Teach, and Support. Heinemann.
• Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers (Vol. 11). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.