A presentation of my Inference Sleuth Unit created for middle school special education language arts classes

1. Be an
inference
Sleuth
Middle School
Inference Unit
INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE
• Five Workshop Model Lesson
plans about inference.
• Riddle and task cards
• Guided Notes
• Reading resources

2. As a special educator who primarily works with mild/moderate
students, I don't necessarily have a set curriculum, so I try to create
units that align with the general education classroom that "deep dive"
into a concept. This allows my students to get a "double dose" of the
concept without repeating what they are working on in their Language
Arts class.
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge

3. Inference is a tricky concept to teach students and more so with
literal thinkers (a lot of my SpEd students fall into this
category). Therefore, you have to take a concept that is abstract and
present it the most concrete way possible. To do this, I like to start
lesson plans connecting a concept to students personally so they
anchor themselves to a concept throughout the unit.
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge

4. Inference Connection: – Riddles allow students to use their personal
knowledge to help “read between the lines” and answer the question. They are
fun and when working in groups, everyone brings their own personal experiences
to the table.
• Group activity
• Gets students moving
• Builds a personal connection to inferring
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge

5. Inference Interactive Comp Book – The “meat and potatoes” part of the unit. I provide
guided notes so students are not copying word for word (SpEd students have a hard time
with this). However, you might have students that are capable of copying (differentiation).
After notes are taken, there are practice paragraphs to model and work on in groups or
individually. We are building up to our final task of reading a short story and making
inferences.
• Guided Notes
• Short paragraphs with graphic organizers to paste into comp book
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge

6. Task Cards – I LOVE Task Cards!!!!! Students get to collaborate and
move around the room. They are building on their knowledge of
inference by reading longer paragraphs and more applications of
inferring.
• Apply inference
• Work in groups
• Movement
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge

7. Grade Level Reading: This is where the "rubber meets the road." Bringing a concept like
inferring altogether and applying it to a short story can get tricky with various reading
levels. In this unit, I use grade level texts and then differentiate using readingworks.org . This
is a great resource to find short stories at various different level.
When teaching inference in middle school for special education classes, I use short stories
from my Inference Sleuth unit. I provide links to mentor text as well as independent reading
for 6th -8th grades with inference reading questions as well as vocabulary activities. If you
have a student reading at say a 3rd grade level, simply go to readingworks.org plug-in the
grade level and look for an inference story to use.
Teaching Inference – Special Education Unit
Visit me at: http://www.thebamboobridge.org and at my TPT Store: The Bamboo Bridge