Students can study a picture book and make inferences about its author. Then, they can look at a biography of the author and try to catch any mistakes by engaging in Internet research and using additional biographical material as well as see if their inferences were correct. To make it more interesting for students, you can divide them into groups. Each group has to come up with inferences about an author. They then put together a biography that's not accurate and ask the other groups to catch the inaccuracies.
A book for younger children that has a lot of illustrations can be a good way to help them learn how to make inferences. For example, the book “Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing” by Judi Barrett contains text and an accompanying picture that helps children make inferences based on what the text states. One passage that talks about how it would be a bad idea for a porcupine to wear clothes is accompanied by a picture that shows the animal’s quills piercing through its clothes. Engage the children in a game of inferring why it would be a bad idea for the porcupine to wear clothes.
For older kids, bumper stickers can be used as an inference reading tool, since they sometimes make statements that lend themselves to inferences. For example, use a sticker with a statement such as “The more people I meet, the more I like my dog” to ask students to make inferences about what the bumper sticker is implying, as opposed to what it actually states.
Prior to starting off the inference-making games, teachers can also train students to ask questions as they read. Before engaging in making inferences, students need to develop their questioning abilities, since they have to ask the right questions to come up with inferences. Sometimes, they're so engaged in putting the words together, that they can’t focus on thinking further about the material.