What’s an Inference?

Based on the information presented in a text or situation, readers make logical conclusions or educated guesses known as inferences. The process of making inferences involves combining background knowledge and reasoning skills with implicit information or clues provided by the text or context to draw a conclusion that is not explicitly stated. Inferences are an essential part of reading comprehension and critical thinking.

Inferences go beyond the surface-level meaning of text and require students to explore the deeper layers of a passage. To make accurate inferences, students must consider character motivations, cause-and-effect relationships, implicit details, and connections between different parts of the text. This involves reading between the lines to understand what is hinted at or implied.

For example, if a story describes a character coming home with wet hair, carrying a dripping umbrella and a raincoat, the inference might be that it was raining outside. This conclusion is drawn from the clues provided (wet hair, dripping umbrella, raincoat) without the text explicitly stating that it was raining.

Free Inference Task Cards for Your Classroom 

Teach Starter has created a set of FREE reading comprehension cards for you to use during your inference unit! This teacher-created resource includes:

• Five comprehension task cards, which include a text to read and accompanying questions
• An enrichment task for each card where students use their creativity to make a product related to each text
• A recording worksheet for each card
• An answer key for quick and easy grading

How to Get Your Inference Passages

If you are ready to get your hands on these reading task cards, head on over to the green download button! Here you will find a quick-print PDF version and an editable Google Slides file. Please make sure to download both the task cards and the accompanying response sheets.

If selecting the Google Slides option, please note that you will first be prompted to make a copy of the resource to your personal drive before accessing it.

More Inferencing Resources for You!

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities to shorten your lesson planning time:  

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Inferencing Worksheet

Use this worksheet with your students when teaching them how to make an inference.

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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.