Making Inferences About Characters

Whether students are just starting second grade or in the last days of fifth grade, students need instruction and practice with making inferences. In upper elementary inferencing can be combined with other objectives and activities like analyzing characters and novel discussions.

My students are currently reading Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. To build on our work with inferences yet diversify the standard making inferences graphic organizer & activity, I came up with an interactive, group activity in which students make inferences about characters in a particular chapter. It's super easy to adapt to any novel or story and to tweak things to meet the needs of your students.

1. Select three or four characters from a particular chapter.
    I chose Melody, Mom, and Dr. Hugely from Chapter 4.

2. On a large piece of bulletin board paper (or chart paper), write each character's name across the top. Approximately six inches under each character, glue/tape a large picture of a book (represents text clues). About six inches below each book, glue/tape a large picture of a light bulb (represents inferences).

3. Split students into groups of 3 or 4 and assign each a different character. Students return to the chapter and find facts/details about their character. They record their facts on post-its and post them on the book icon under their character's name.

4. After listing several facts, students use the facts and their prior knowledge to make inferences about the character in that chapter. They record their inferences on post-its and post them on the light bulb icon. 
For groups that needed scaffolding, I gave them some questions to guide their inferences. (For Melody- 'How was she feeling about the testing?', 'How do you think she felt about school?', 'What was her opinion of Dr. Hugely?'; For Dr. Hugely- 'What was his opinion of Melody's intelligence?', 'What was his reactions to her answers?')

5. The activity can end with students making the inferences or it can be a spring board for a small group or whole class discussion.


The beauty about this activity is that if you use an index card to write the characters' names, the large graphic organizer is reusable. Also, if multiple groups are doing the activity, you can take the post-it notes and stick them on a piece of construction paper and label them with the group's name so you can check their work at a later time and know whose work it is.