Making the Most of Read-Alouds to Support Primary-Grade Students' Inference-Making

Generating accurate inferences is crucial for the successful comprehension of text and is a skill that needs to be supported starting in the early grades. Teachers can support inference-making during read-aloud lessons by asking inferential questions and providing scaffolding and feedback on students' inference-making. In this article, we describe instructional principles to support students' inference-making specifically during read-alouds. We also share findings from our research in K-2 classrooms that show how inferential questions, scaffolding, and feedback in read-aloud lessons can support primary-grade students' inference-making. Finally, we describe steps to design and implement read-aloud lessons for supporting the development of inference-making in primary-grade students.