One of the easiest ways to teach the thinking skill of inference is come into a class and stand in front of the students with an angry, scowling face. Don’t say a word. Just glare at your students for a while until you see some reaction from them. Someone will probably ask you if something is bothering you or if you are angry at someone. That is making inferences.

One dictionary defines “inference” as “the process of arriving at some conclusion that, though it is not logically derivable from the assumed premises, possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises.” In plain English, we can say that inference is simply making a good guess about something based on some evidence or assumptions or premises about things that we already know or think we know. It can be said to be an “educated guess” that we make.

This skill, can also be taught to younger students. The example above is a good introduction for younger students too. We can use simple comic strips to get our students to start making good inferences or guesses. One box of a comic strip sequence can be blanked out. Get the students to study the strip and guess what is supposed to have happened in the blanked out box. Write down on the board all their guesses. Get the students to share their thoughts on why they made such conclusions. Accept any reasonable conclusion or inference made. The teacher can show them the original complete comic strip too and get the students to make comparisons between their conclusions and that of the comic strip.

Teachers can also use photograph or documents like letters or even advertisements from magazines new to give students more practice. A quick glance at the classified ads section will also give students an idea what jobs are in demand. Movies too can be used. For example, the movie, “The Sixth Sense” leaves us making guessing what the strange happenings was all about. Teaching moments pertaining to the teaching of inference skills can be found almost anywhere.

I enjoy using the cards from the game called “Mind Trap” to give more examples of us making wrong conclusions or inferences based on the assumptions in our heads. Get this game set. Even if you don’t play the game, the set of cards from Mind Trap is a fun teaching aid for teaching thinking skills.

However, remind your students that sometimes our assumptions may be wrong and this can lead to wrong conclusions. For example, at one time all the swans that the Europeans had seen were all white in color. It was therefore assumed that all swans, therefore were all white. But of course when they arrived in Australia they found black swans. This alone tells us that while we make good inferences about something, it may not always hold true. We still need to cross-check.