Learn how to make inferences about characters' feelings, thoughts and motives, then prove them with evidence while cracking cases with Detective Dot.
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 5–6 english · 2
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 5–6 english · 2
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 5–6 english · 2
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 5–6 english · 2
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 5–6 english · 2
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What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:
Making Inferences is an interactive reading game for children aged 8–11 that teaches them to work out what characters feel, think and want from what they do and say, and to back up each idea with evidence from the text.
Players join Detective Dot, an owl who runs a reading detective agency. They spot clues in pictures and short passages, sort what a text says from what it only suggests, and choose exact feeling words such as disappointed or relieved. They find a character's motive, the reason why they act, and notice when a character's words and actions disagree.
Later cases teach Point, Evidence, Explain: make a point, quote the exact words that prove it, then explain what those words show. Children tap evidence in the text, type their own explanation and compare it with a model answer. Every line is read aloud.
An inference is something a reader works out from clues in the text that the author doesn't state directly. You combine a clue, such as a character slamming a door, with what you already know to decide what is probably true, such as the character being angry.
Tell them it is like being a detective: clue plus what you know equals an inference. A dripping umbrella plus knowing that rain makes things wet tells you it has been raining, even though nobody said so.
Point, Evidence, Explain is a way to justify an answer about a text. You make your point, quote the exact words from the text that prove it, then explain what those words show, often starting with 'This suggests…'.
The game is for children aged 8–11, pitched mainly at Year 5. It follows the KS2 national curriculum aim of inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions and justifying inferences with evidence, so Year 4 and Year 6 children can play it too.
The game has five detective cases and a final 10-question Detective Exam, and takes about 40 minutes to play through. Each case opens with an animated introduction and ends with a quick check, and children can start with any case.
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