Hello colleagues, There seem to be a lot of inference questions on the HSE tests. These questions can be challenging for students. How do you prepare students to answer these questions? Do you suggest different strategies for approaching inference questions with fiction versus nonfiction? Do you know of useful online resources for teaching inference?
Thanks for any and all ideas and suggestions!
Cheers, Susan Finn Miller
Moderator, Teaching & Learning CoP
Comments
Hi Susan! Textbooks often have students practice inference only with written text, but it helps solidify the concept if we teach inference in more than one context. I like to use graphs/charts and pictures when teaching inference. The New York Times "What's Going On In This Graph" and "What's Going On In This Picture" are a great resource.
https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph
https://www.nytimes.com/column/learning-whats-going-on-in-this-picture
Hi Anita, You make such a good point about expanding the types of text we use to teach inference. Thank you for the suggestion and for the link to the resources. I'm eager to check them out.
Do you have any thoughts about the possible differences posed by inference tasks with fiction and nonfiction texts?
Cheers, Susan