Inference Fun Pin It Now!

Yes, that's right.  Inference and Fun in the same post title.  That's pretty bold.  We're back to school this week, and I'm pretty sure their brains aren't going to be fully functioning back on a school schedule.  Mine's certainly not!  We're working on inference this week.  I'm going to follow up this week with some heavy duty lessons from the Comprehension Toolkit.  First, I want to help them see that their brain does a lot of filling in the blanks. Or inferring.  This week was sort of like Inference Light.

So, I spent a lot of time coming up with this amazing lessons.  Okay.  That's a lie.  I got on Pinterest.  I even started an entire Inference board.  That counts, right?  Here were the pins that guided my inference lessons this week.

                                                                  Source: lifeinfirstgrade1.blogspot.ca via Megan on Pinterest

Um, fun, right?  Dig in your teacher's purse?  I adapted this by taking pictures of objects in my purse and my teaching partner's purse and putting all the pictures into a Mimio file.  I tried to take a mix of items they would know are mine, know are my teaching partner's, and some that could work for either of us.
It wasn't the deepest of activities, but I wanted something simple to show them that their brain sees objects (or hears something or reads words) and puts it together with what they already know to make an inference.

We used these pictures to complete this activity:

Want a copy? Click here.

This is the most awesome pin.  It's actually a pin to an entire board of super awesome pictures and questions to help kids make inferences.

                                                                             Source: pinterest.com via Megan on Pinterest

I used the pictures to make my first scoot activity.  I'm jumping on the scoot bandwagon.  Just a mini scoot, though.  I made a set of six pages that look like this:

They'll record they're answers here:

Want a copy? Click here.

And finally, an inferring song! Seriously!  Since, the Pinterest link is broken, and I can't carry a tune in a bucket, I consulted my trusty teaching partner.  Teaching With Moxie says she thinks it's to the tune of The Addams Family.  I think she's right!

                                                                           Source: midlandisd.net via Megan on Pinterest

We then connected these lessons to making inferences about the story we were reading.  Making inferences is a tricky concept for kiddos.  I'm hoping these lessons will serve as anchors for the rest of the school year when we make inferences in the books we're reading.  A girl can hope, right?