Emergency Sub Plan Activity – Who Stole the Sub Lesson? Digital Reading Mystery
Digital Download
In this emergency sub plan, your students will solve this digital close reading mystery as they analyze text evidence, make inferences, and think critically to uncover the culprit! This is a fun way to challenge students to look for text evidence, infer information, and read more closely as they attempt to determine who stole the substitute teacher’s lesson plan. The digital resource includes everything you need to facilitate the activity in your classroom. It works great as an emergency sub plan, but can also be used within the classroom at any point!
On her first full day as a substitute teacher, Mrs. Angela Harper arrives at Room 13, eager yet nervous. However, her plans for a smooth day are shattered when she realizes the lesson plan has mysteriously vanished from Mrs. Johnson’s desk. With a classroom spiraling into disorder and a growing list of suspicious behavior from staff and students alike, Mrs. Harper must uncover the truth before the day completely falls apart. Who stole the substitute’s lesson plan?
This is a Google-compatible activity, and students complete all the work on the computer or device. This works well with distance learning, 1:1 classrooms, remote teaching, Google Classroom, or for online education.
Included In This Digital Emergency Sub Plan Reading Mystery Activity:
➡️ Substitute Teacher Mystery Google Slides Presentation: A 19-slide presentation that guides students through the backstory, key evidence, the final reveal, and detailed explanations of why each suspect is innocent or guilty.
➡️ Original Narrative Backstory: A creative short story introduces the scenario, immersing students in the mystery while hiding key clues within the text.
➡️ A Variety of Digital Clues and Evidence: Students must analyze and infer from multiple forms of evidence, including an attendance record, an email, a sticky note, a text message conversation, the school schedule, an artistic drawing, a faculty memo, a suspicious paper airplane, a lesson excerpt, and even a student petition.
➡️ Mystery Digital Graphic Organizer: A structured space for students to track their findings, organize their reasoning, and eliminate suspects based on evidence.
➡️ Teacher Answer Key: Provided in both single-slide format and within the slideshow, making it easy to review students’ reasoning and conclusions.
How This Digital Emergency Sub Plan Reading Mystery Activity Works:
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Decide whether you want students to work in partners, groups, or independently for the activity.
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Use the Google Slides presentation to guide you through each element of the lesson. The slides will help you introduce the story and evidence to students.
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Share the digital file with students and allow them time to make their predictions and inferences and solve the mystery.
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Once students have made their final prediction, use the Google Slides presentation 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 Emergency Sub Plan Reading Mystery Activity:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ These are my students favorite activities! They are always asking for more!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you for giving us another fun unit that the students love!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was the perfect resource to leave for my sub to do with my students on a sick day.
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