Making inferences while reading is one of the most fundamental skills in the ELAR curriculum. However, learning how use textual clues to make inferences can be quite challenging for many elementary students. Because students need plenty of practice identifying text evidence to support inferences, having several engaging activities in your bag of teaching tricks is a real must. This “Take a Chance” learning game can help fill that need. Formatted as a lottery style card game, “Take a Chance” is a fun learning activity designed to give your students plenty of “reps” supporting their conclusions with text evidence. The game intentionally takes advantage of the youthful propensity to take risks, and students quickly become willing participants in retraining their brains to identify relevant text evidence instead of just guessing when faced with drawing conclusions. Plus, it’s so simple to make and use.

The download includes 40 scenario cards, game instructions, and suggestions for additional ways to use the cards which are flexible enough for several classroom applications.

(Note: this game is an elementary version of my best selling “Risk It” game. Over 25 of the scenarios are new, and I have adjusted the Lexile levels of the others to meet the needs of 4-6 graders.)