CLOSE READING INFERENCE MYSTERY: WHO STOLE THE GUITAR?

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This missing guitar close reading inference mystery is a fun way to engage your students and challenge them to look for text evidence, infer information, and read more closely. The resource includes everything you need to facilitate the activity in your classroom.

Basil, the owner of a music store, just brought in a shipment of expensive electric guitars that he knows won’t stay at the store for long. The most expensive of the collection has a signature on the back and draws a lot of attention from excited customers. Panic ensues when this guitar suddenly vanishes. Your students need to determine who stole it.

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 stole the guitar?” 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 an insurance application, a poster for a guitar, a resume, a social media post, a work incident report, an instrument layaway contract, a wanted poster, a letter, a text message, and an email.
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 it 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.