Teaching Inferences: 7 Fun Ways to Master Implied Meaning

Inferences or an implied hidden meaning is an abstract higher-order language skill that is challenging to teach and tricky for students to master.  For many concrete learners, taking the leap into hidden meanings is both confusing and frustrating.  Most students first come across inferences when reading books, but I like to prepare and teach my students how to make sense of implied meaning through images, metaphors, product names, games, and more.  

7 Fun Strategies that Teach Students How to Uncover Inferences:
            1) Review magazine advertisements and search for hidden images and messages that lure buyers to purchase products.  Look at the pictures, words, colors, backgrounds, expressions, layouts, and more.  
            2) Encourage your students to find their own magazine advertisements.  Ask them to cut out their five favorites and answer the following questions. 1) What are all the hidden messages in each advertisement that helps to sell the product?  2) Can you think of any other hidden message that they could have placed into the ad to help sell the product?  
            3) Ask your students to create their own magazine advertisement.  Ask them to consider using color, expressions, symbols, backgrounds and other implied tactics to get people to purchase the product.  It can be a real product or an imaginary product.
            4) Television commercials are often packed with double meanings and inferences.  Show TV advertisements to your students and see if they can uncover any double meanings. Ask them questions like: What are they trying to sell you?  Why does the commercial make you want to buy the product? What are all the different ways they use to attract customers?
            5) In small groups ask your students to plan and act out a television commercial for a specific product.  Ask them to hide at least 4 inferences or hidden meanings in the advertisement and see if the rest of the class can find them.  
            6)  Billboards offer inferences too. Look at details in billboard images and discuss what the billboards are trying to sell.
            7) Product names and packaging offers inferences or hidden meanings too.  For example, consider the product: Solid Gold Holistique Blendz Holistic Dry Dog Food. What implied meaning is in the name?  Look at the image to the right? What is included in the packaging that makes you want to buy this product?

Ready Made Workbook of Inference Activities:
Let me do the work for you!  I spent over a year compiling some amazing images for you as well as creating inference activities and a game. Come learn more about my product, Making Inferences: The Fun and Easy Way.  You can even download a freebie sampling of the activities!  http://goodsensorylearning.com/making-inferences.html
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses.
·       Blog: www.learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com
·       YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1
·       Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/  
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