Making Inferences and Sharing Them Using Google Slides

I have found that teaching young students to make good inferences is tough. They infer things all the time but are unsure how to explain what they are doing. I take them through a three step systematic process to help them understand what an inference is and how to put a good one together.

They learn to focus in on a certain part of a text (clues from text), explain what they think (their inference), and why they think it (using their scheme).

Here is one of the main anchor charts about what good readers do to make an inference.

With an understanding of what good readers do, the students practised making inferences.

Having had several opportunities to practice writing out inferences, it was time to put things together and apply what they had learned.

They were provided with a short text (the one shown above) and the three part graphic organizer to get their thoughts on paper in an organized and systematic way. During this process the students would conference with me and we would talk about considering edits and revisions to their work.

When they felt confident/satisfied with their rough work they would then start polishing things up, writing out their inference in good - putting all three parts together in a way that makes sense and flows well.

Once all the pencil and paper work was in order, the students logged into their GAFE accounts and created a Google slide based on their good copy. They were to include the text that they had written out on paper and a picture via the Internet and or one that they had created themselves. 

They shared their slide with me as soon as it was created so that I could provide them with immediate feedback about their work. Once the students finished their slides I printed off a paper copy for the students who don't have access to GAFE at home and I created a Google Presentation of all the slides in order to create an artifact of our learning experience, to share our learning with others, and to invite comments and feedback from people who would not normally have access to our work/learning community.

Here is our Slide Presentation:

Your feedback is always welcome!