CHRISTMAS CLOSE READING INFERENCE MYSTERY: WHO DESTROYED THE SNOWMAN?

This winter-themed 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.

This works well as a Christmas activity, but there are no specific holiday references, so it can be used within any classroom at at anytime of the winter (or anytime of the year!).

Mia and her father work all day on building a huge snowman for the winter carnival in hopes of winning one of the three snowmobile prizes! When they wake up in the morning, however, their creation has been destroyed. Someone has sabotaged them, and it's up to your students to figure out who did 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 destroyed the snowman?” 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 email, a text message, a solar light repair work order, a list, a community bulletin board with a variety of clues, and a senior citizen online message board.
• 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.
  
  

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