My students have gotten pretty good at using context clues to infer meaning because we practice, practice, practice! We use context clues in our Journeys Vocabulary Cards to find the meaning of unknown words at the beginning of the week. I also use the following resources:
and last but not least, my favorite...
Mini Mysteries and More Mini Mysteries - great because kids make inferences from the clues in the story to solve a mystery!
(when I bought it, it didn't come with a CD to read along...I love this new addition!)
see how I use this in the class
I use the following books/series for my students to get independent practice: The Trial of Cardigan Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Babysitters Club Mysteries, and The Boxcar Children.
Click here for Inferencing Mini Lesson ideas.