About this activity
Sixteen short scenarios that state evidence and ask for the unstated conclusion: Ellie came inside shaking, with her hair dripping and her shoes squelching — what most likely happened; Marcus kept checking the clock and his backpack was already by the door; the lights went out, the fridge went quiet, and Mom went to look at the breaker box. Nothing is stated and everything is implied, which is exactly what a comprehension question does.
How to use it in a session
Ask which words gave it away. Dripping and squelching are the evidence for rain, and naming them is what makes the skill transferable — a student who answers correctly without knowing why has guessed well. When an answer is wrong, go back to the sentence rather than explaining the situation. Fifteen minutes covers the sixteen with the evidence step.
What to listen for
Watch for answers that ignore half the evidence. A student who says Ellie was cooking has used shaking and missed dripping, and pointing at the unused clue is more useful than supplying the answer. Notice the place inference — every seat taken, people standing holding folded programmes — which requires combining clues rather than following one, and is the harder kind.
Carrying it home
Inference happens in every story read aloud. Stopping to ask how do you know, rather than what happened, takes ten seconds a page and builds the habit of looking for evidence.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through fifth, matched to when inference questions dominate comprehension assessment.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all sixteen items play free in the browser.
- My student answers correctly but can't explain why. Does that matter?
- Yes. An unexplained correct answer does not transfer to a harder passage. Asking which words gave it away is what turns a lucky guess into a strategy.