Inference: Teaching Students to Develop Hypotheses, Evaluate Evidence, and Draw Logical Conclusions

Harvey F. Silver, R. Thomas Dewing, & Matthew J. Perini

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About This Book

You're holding an innovative professional development tool called a Strategic Teacher PLC Guide. Designed in partnership with more than 75 schools, Strategic Teacher PLC Guides make the important work of bringing high-impact, research-based instructional practices into every classroom easier than ever before. Each guide serves as a complete professional development resource for a team of teachers (or professional learning community) to learn, plan, and implement the strategy in their classrooms.

This Strategic Teacher PLC Guide focuses on inference, or the ability to examine information, generate hypotheses, and draw conclusions that are not explicitly stated. Making inferences is a crucial foundational process that underlies higher-order thinking and 21st century skills. This PLC Guide walks readers through four research-based, classroom-tested strategies that help develop students' inferential thinking skills:

• Inductive Learning helps students draw inferences by grouping data, labeling the data groups with descriptive titles, and using the groups to generate and test hypotheses.
• Mystery presents students with a puzzling question or situation and has students examine clues that help them explain the mystery.
• Main Idea teaches students how to use inferential thinking to construct main ideas that are not explicitly stated.
• Investigation directs students to use various problem-solving approaches that require inference.

This PLC Guide takes you and your colleagues on a "guided tour" of inference, enabling you to:

• Consider which of the four major inference strategies would best work in your classroom.
• Look for opportunities to incorporate inference-based activities into your instruction.
• Learn from sample inference lessons and planning forms designed by other teachers.
• Design an inference lesson for your own classroom.
• Examine student work at various levels of proficiency and use your findings to improve instructional decision making.

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About The Series

Filled with practical tools, student examples, and sample lessons, the Strategic Teacher PLC Guides will help you implement research-based, teacher-tested strategies that improve student thinking skills—for success with the Common Core State Standards . . . and beyond.

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About the Authors

HARVEY F. SILVER is president of Silver Strong & Associates and Thoughtful Education Press. He has conducted numerous workshops for school districts and state education departments throughout the United States. He was the principal consultant for the Georgia Critical Thinking Skills Program and the Kentucky Thoughtful Education Teacher Leadership Program. 

Find out more about Harvey Silver's work.

MATTHEW J. PERINI is director of publishing for Silver Strong & Associates and Thoughtful Education Press. He has authored more than 20 books, curriculum guides, articles, and research studies covering a wide range of educational topics, including learning styles, multiple intelligences, reading instruction, and effective teaching practices.

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R. THOMAS DEWING has spent more than 35 years in public education as an elementary and middle school teacher, principal, instructional coordinator, and educator of gifted students. He has also taught education courses at National Louis University and North Central College.

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