Can your students read between the lines? Inference skills, the ability to figure out something that isn’t directly stated by using contextual clues and deductive reasoning, take time and practice to develop.
From helping to spot subtext in complicated academic texts to understanding the subtleties of personal relationships, the ability to infer is a powerful tool students will need to succeed in life. Most of us teach inference by helping students identify context clues, providing guiding questions, and modeling aloud annotations during close reading demonstrations. To reinforce these strategies, I created a fresh high-interest inference activity – Financial Forensics: Follow the Money to Find the Truth.
This lesson introduces students to Jordan Harper, a young professional living in Philadelphia who has a problem. What’s the drama? That’s for your students to figure out by sifting through two months of Jordan’s mobile banking receipts. By examining the transactions and their own knowledge of the world, students will use their inference skills to piece together Jordan’s story.
The inspiration for this 45-minute lesson came from W. Crue’s visual short story, “Ordeal by Cheque,” published in Vanity Fair in 1932. Crue’s story unfolds entirely through a series of cashed check receipts, inviting readers to infer the plot without a single line of dialogue or narrative text. While Crue’s work is captivating in its unconventional approach to storytelling, its content and format can feel outdated to today’s students. Hints of scandals that once shocked audiences might not have the same impact now, and the loopy cursive handwriting on Crue’s receipts can create an unnecessary block to learning. (Want to see Crue’s full story? It’s posted here and here.)
Despite these challenges, Crue’s story remains a fascinating exploration of how to tell a story using only receipts. Financial Forensics modernizes this concept, using mobile banking (think Venmo or CashApp) – a more relatable format for students. Like Crue’s story, there’s no right answer; any narrative students create, as long as it’s supported by the financial receipts, is valid.
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Teach on, everyone!
