Making Inferences from Pictures
Look at pictures and make reasonable inferences.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Ask which detail gave it away. The muddy paw prints scene has two pieces of evidence — the prints and the clean floor — and the second is what makes it a story rather than a fact. Sort the ten by what is being inferred: past event, future event, place, or time. The classroom scene asks for time of day, which is a different kind of inference and worth naming.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintReread the key sentence, or point back to the clue in the text or picture.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelThink aloud: say how you worked it out, then the student says the answer and why.Log as cued
Adjust it
Read it aloud to the student and offer two choices from the start.
Ask the student to say which words gave them the clue, not just the answer.
Matching IEP goal
Given short texts or spoken prompts, Student will make an inference and say which clue they used in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten scenes described in a line each, with the event left out: a spilled cup and a wet book on the desk; muddy paw prints across a clean kitchen floor; an empty birdcage with the door open; suitcases by the front door and a taxi outside; a classroom with chairs on the desks and the lights off. The evidence is visual and concrete, which makes this a good place to start inference work.
What to listen for
Watch for answers that use one clue and ignore the other. A student who says someone has a dog, for the paw prints, has identified the cause and missed that the floor was clean, which is the part that makes it interesting. Notice the half-melted snowman, which requires reasoning about time passing rather than a single event.
Carrying it home
Rooms are full of evidence. Asking what happened here, in a kitchen after cooking or a garden after rain, is a real inference question and costs nothing.
What's in this activity
- A spilled cup and a wet book on the desk. What happened?
- Muddy paw prints across a clean kitchen floor. What happened?
- A boy with a bandage on his knee next to a bike on its side. What happened?
- An empty birdcage with the door open. What happened?
- A melted ice cream cone on the sidewalk and a crying child. What happened?
- Suitcases by the front door and a taxi outside. What is about to happen?
- A girl in a swimsuit holding a towel and goggles. Where is she going?
- A half-melted snowman with a scarf on the ground. What happened?
- A classroom with chairs on the desks and the lights off. What time is it?
- A dog wearing a party hat next to a chewed-up cake. What happened?
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, alongside single-clue story inference.
- Do I need to sign up?
- No, all ten scenes play free in the browser.
- Are picture inferences easier than text ones?
- Usually, because the evidence is concrete and present all at once. That makes this a good starting point before moving to passages where the clues are spread across sentences.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.