What Is the Meaning of Infer?

When we “infer” something, we use available clues and information to understand something that is not directly stated. This is a useful skill in education, as it allows us to draw logical conclusions while reading, listening or observing, based on our prior knowledge and the evidence at hand.

When teaching the concept of inference to students, the aim is to help them develop critical thinking skills and learn to look beyond the literal text or spoken words. Inference involves piecing together implicit information and understanding that authors or speakers don’t always explicitly say everything. Instead, they often provide hints or clues that allow the audience to figure out the underlying meaning.

Inference Lesson for 3rd and 4th Grade

If you are looking for an anchor lesson to strengthen your students’ understanding of how to make inferences, you have come to the right place! Teach Starter has developed a 31-slide teaching presentation that is ready for you to use in your classroom. This slide deck covers the following topics:

• What is an inference?
• Why do we infer?
• How do we infer?
• Literal vs. inferential
• Using context clues to infer
• Observing pictures inference activity
• Making inferences based on short passages

How to Get Your Making Inferences Slide Deck

If you are ready to use this teaching presentation in your 3rd or 4th grade classroom, head on over to the green download button! You will be able to access the editable Google Slides version of this resource. Please note that you will first be prompted to make a copy of the file to your personal drive before accessing it.

Lisamarie DelValle, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator, contributed to this resource.

Looking for More Inferencing Resources?

If your students need additional practice with making inferences, make sure to check out some of our other resources below!

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Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences – Comprehension Task Cards

Use this set of comprehension task cards with your students to help them draw conclusions and make inferences when reading.

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Inferencing Comics

Use this set of comic strips when teaching your students how to infer information from everyday situations.

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Making an Inference – Graphic Organizer Pack

Use these graphic organizers with your students when teaching them how to use text evidence to make inferences.