Halloween Close Reading Mystery Inference Activity - Who Stole the Candy?
Halloween Close Reading Mystery Inference Activity - Who Stole the Candy?: Engage your students with a captivating close reading inference activity that challenges them to explore and find text evidence, make inferences, and read more closely. This resource provides all the necessary materials to facilitate this fun and creative reading activity in your classroom. Students will have the opportunity to work collaboratively, enhancing their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills as they unravel the mystery together. This works well around Halloween; however, it can also be used at any point in the year.
It is the morning after Halloween. Alex, who had a great night trick or treating, wakes up and heads straight for his pillowcase to stuff his pockets with candy before school. However, much to his surprise, his pillowcase is empty. Someone stole his Halloween candy. Your students need to help him find out who did it.
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Included In This Halloween Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity:
➡️ Inference Mystery Presentation Slides: This 15-slide PowerPoint presentation serves as the guide for the activity, leading students through the mystery with a captivating backstory, detailed evidence, and thorough explanations for each suspect's innocence or guilt. The slides are crafted to engage students and encourage critical thinking as they analyze the clues and find text evidence.
➡️ Classroom Poster: Display this visually appealing poster designed to grab students' attention as they enter the classroom, setting the stage and drawing students into the mystery ahead.
➡️ Original Narrative Backstory: Use this short story to introduce the mystery. Within the story are hidden clues and subtle hints, and the narrative will engage students' curiosity and initiate the mystery.
➡️ A Variety of Clues and Evidence: Students will receive a variety of texts in different forms that include clues and evidence. Students must read the text closely and use their inference skills to analyze each of the clues. There is a text message, a post office slip, a note on the door, social media posts, an email, a veterinarian medical report, a dog walking schedule, an animal rescue information sheet, a letter, and a text message.
➡️ Text Evidence Graphic Organizer: Students will use the provided graphic organizer to organize their findings and evaluate the guilt or innocence of each suspect. This tool encourages students to support their conclusions with text evidence from the investigation.
➡️ Teacher Answer Key: Use the detailed answer key, both in print format and integrated into the presentation slides, to efficiently review students' work and share the reasons for each suspect's innocence or guilt.
How The Halloween Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity Works:
- Start by putting up the poster on your door to build anticipation when students enter the room. When students enter, put them in small groups, so they can work together to try to solve the mystery.
- Use the presentation slides to guide you through each element of the lesson. The slides will help you introduce the story and evidence to each of the groups.
- Hand out all the evidence to students and allow them time to make their predictions and inferences and solve the mystery.
- Once each group has made their final prediction, use the presentation slides to reveal the culprit and go through each of the suspects to show the evidence of their innocence or guilt.
What Teachers Are Saying About This Halloween Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have purchased several of these mysteries for my students. They absolutely love them! I often have to give them hints or eliminate a suspect to help, but they are engaged and enjoy solving these. Giving them rewards (candy) also helps motivate them! Highly recommend!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This product was super engaging for my middle schoolers. Perfect addition to my centers. Thank you!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I actually used this with 4th grade students in groups. I downloaded the freebie version for my students to practice inferences, and they loved it and asked to do more! So this Halloween version was perfect!
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