Close Reading Digital Mystery Inference Activity - Where is the Treasure Buried?

This digital buried treasure 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.

An experienced treasure hunter gets a tip that there is a hidden treasure just one town over from where they live. The treasure has yet to be discovered, despite the valiant efforts of devoted treasure hunters from near and far. Your students, assuming the role of experienced treasure hunters, need to find where it is buried.

This is a Google-compatible activity, and students complete all the work on the computer. This works well with distance learning, 1:1 classrooms, remote teaching, Google Classroom, or for online education.

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

Included In This Buried Treasure Close Reading Digital Inference Mystery Activity:

➡️ Inference Mystery Google Slides: This 15-slide Google Slides 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.

➡️ 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 Digital 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 treasure map, a treasure-hunting blog, an agricultural farmer’s digest, a treasure-hunting social media group, and town council meeting notes.

➡️ Text Evidence Digital Graphic Organizer: Students will use the provided digital 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 integrated within the Google Slides, to efficiently review students' work and share the reasons for each suspect's innocence or guilt.

How The Buried Treasure Close Reading Digital Inference Activity Works:

• Use the Google Slides to guide you through each element of the inference activity. The slides will help you introduce the story and evidence.
• Share all the evidence with students, allowing them time to read, make inferences, and find text evidence to solve the mystery.
• Once each group has made their final prediction, use the Google Slides to reveal the culprit and review each of the suspects to show the evidence of their innocence or guilt.

What Teachers Are Saying About This Buried Treasure Close Reading Digital Inference 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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I did this resource with my middle schoolers very guided, and it was a great way to practice showing evidence and making inferences.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students loved working in groups for this activity. It was really great to hear their thought process and see their collaboration skills come out.

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

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