Close Reading Mystery Text Evidence Inference Activity - Teacher Tape Prank

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Close Reading Mystery Text Evidence Inference Activity - Teacher Tape Prank: 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.

Mr. Gourley, a middle school gym teacher, is in hot water again for his blindfolded obstacle course, a class activity that is widely condemned by members of the school. After taking a hard fall during a practice run, Mr. Gourley wakes up to discover that he’s been taped to the gym wall. Your students must determine who did this to him.

This is included in our best-selling full-year program:
>>> Reading Mysteries Program

Included In The Close Reading and Text Evidence 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 school nurse report, a social media profile, a student report card, a school staff formal warning, an email, a lab assignment, a teacher award nomination, an award acceptance speech, a poster for a school club, 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.

Included in your purchase:

A teacher presentation that guides the mystery with the backstory, evidence, the culprit reveal, and detailed explanations for why each suspect is innocent and why the culprit is guilty.
A classroom poster that reads “Who did the prank?” that you can put up on the door to hook students into the activity.
An original narrative backstory that sets up and initiates the mystery.
A variety of clues that require students to close read and use their inference skills. There is a school nurse report, a social media profile, a student report card, a school staff formal warning, an email, a lab assignment, a teacher award nomination, an award acceptance speech, a poster for a school club, and a text message.
A graphic organizer where students can keep track of their findings that support or refute different suspects in the mystery.
A detailed teacher answer key in print format and within the presentation slideshow.

How The Close Reading and Text Evidence 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 The Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students loved using this resource! I used it in a small group; it was great to use independently, with a small group, or with partners.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My 5th grade GATE students LOVED this activity! I had done one from this creator earlier in the year, so I was able to hang the clues around my room and leave this as a multi-day sub lesson for my pullout class. We've done 2 now and they've begged me for a third before the year is over!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students absolutely love these reading challenges and this was possibly their favorite one yet - we had a great time with the prank. They were engaged and interested in the material, and nobody complained about the work part.

If you like this, you’ll love this resource:
>>> Inference Activities Bundle

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