This intervention lesson series was a review and reinforcement of making inferences. Many of the students I was working with needed low-level practice of making an inference and proving it with evidence. As I like to do with a lot of topics, I found some videos/clips.
The first day we practice supporting or inferences using a clip from Madagascar 3. This literally took about a minute. The clip I used I was found here. I paused it as the red eyes beamed in the dark with all of the bones lying on the floor around them (at about 46 seconds). We discussed the music, the bones, the darkness, the scratches, the animals shaking, etc as evidence to why we would think the red eyes belonged to a scary beast.
The next day I used One Man Band, a Pixar short film. This one had a blog post with it and I used the graphic organizer to keep track of our inferences/evidence. I paused at 2:11, 2:47, and 3:07. These three (and then the end) were the perfect spots for the students to infer the answers to the four questions on the graphic organizer.
Another day we watched For the Birds, another Pixar short film. This one was more for just review and discussion so I just paused a few times and asked about what they thought about the birds, the actions, their "talking", etc.
The last video I used was an adorable video of two bulldogs trying to get a tire out of a swimming pool (here). We paused this one several times to make inferences about the dogs' actions and thoughts. This one brought some great discussion.
After videos, I used pictures several different ways. The first was with "The Z Was Zapped" by Van Allsburg. We went through each letter and quickly inferred what was happening to each letter based on the picture. It was nice and quick and the kids liked it.
The last video I used was an adorable video of two bulldogs trying to get a tire out of a swimming pool (here). We paused this one several times to make inferences about the dogs' actions and thoughts. This one brought some great discussion.
After videos, I used pictures several different ways. The first was with "The Z Was Zapped" by Van Allsburg. We went through each letter and quickly inferred what was happening to each letter based on the picture. It was nice and quick and the kids liked it.
Because Norman Rockwell paintings lend themselves so well to inferences, we looked at some to infer and explain our justification.
Another way I used pictures was through power point. I saw something similar online and made my own. It is attached below. We just briefly went through a couple of pictures and then went "back in time" to look at pictures of some old things (ie: old timey football helmets, hockey pads, things like that). The old things have hints to go along with them.
making_inferences_photos_.pptx |
Next, I used a case from "You Be the Jury". I made a copy for each student so they could highlight evidence. Then, they wrote who they thought was guilty and the evidence that led them to believe this. They really liked this!
We also read "Two Bad Ants" by Van Allsburg and inferred where the ants were on each page before I showed them the picture. They folded their paper in half and made a T-chart. They wrote their inference for where the ants were or what the ants were doing on one side and then why they thought that on the other side. We went through it pretty quick and the kids did really well!
Using cartoons that were cut up, we inferred what order made the most sense. After they got the hang of that, I took away a piece and then the students had to infer the missing part. This was hard, but they liked it! We will do this one again! There are hundreds for free at GoComics.com
Below are some activities I found online and all worked very well for practicing.
I have no idea where these first two came from because a teammate gave them to me, but when I searched "Inference Task Cards" on Pinterest I found a ton of free ones. I laminated these so they could write on them.
I have no idea where these first two came from because a teammate gave them to me, but when I searched "Inference Task Cards" on Pinterest I found a ton of free ones. I laminated these so they could write on them.
This one was great for my fifth graders to get in a bit of science review. I found it on Teachers Pay Teachers here for $3.00.
- I laminated the set without the answer choices as the cards for the students to use (on top of the envelope to the left in the picture) and then laminated the set with answer choices hints just as pages to keep with the activity for me to give hints to those who need it (the pink set at the top of the picture). Then I just glued the answer page inside of the folder where I keep it all.
This activity is was pretty fun and used a lot of STAAR language and stems. I found it here.
I also used this game which I found on FCRR.
Lastly, for a group of students who have really been struggling, we used this game from Lakeshore. It was simple enough that they felt successful but challenging enough that it took some thinking.