Close Reading Digital Mystery Text Evidence Inference Activity - Stolen Donuts

Engage your students with a high-interest close reading and inference mystery that challenges them to analyze text evidence, think critically, and pay attention to important details. In this classroom investigation, students must carefully read a variety of texts, compare accounts, and identify inconsistencies in order to determine who stole the donuts. This close reading activity moves beyond surface-level comprehension and pushes students to make inferences and justify their conclusions using specific evidence. Designed for collaboration and discussion, this high-interest activity improves inference skills, critical thinking, close reading, and problem-solving, and encourages students to support every claim with text evidence.

Reading mystery back story: Anderson works at the Starfield Tribune newspaper. Knowing it will be another long night at the office, he decides to pick up donuts for him and his colleagues to enjoy in the break room later. However, when returning to the break room where he briefly left them unattended, Anderson discovers the donuts are missing. Your students need to determine who stole them.

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 Digital Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity:

➡️ Inference Mystery Google Slides: This 15-slide Google Slides presentation guides the entire inference mystery activity from beginning to end. It introduces the backstory, presents the evidence, and walks students through the final reveal. The slides help structure the inference mystery and provide clear explanations outlining why each suspect is innocent or guilty. The built-in answers make whole-class review simple and easy.

➡️ “Stolen Donuts” Digital Poster: Use this eye-catching digital poster on your projector to hook students the moment they walk in. It sets the tone for the Stolen Donuts activity and immediately sparks curiosity about the mystery they are about to solve.

➡️ Original Narrative Backstory: This short narrative sets the scene in the newspaper office break room when the donuts are discovered missing. Students learn about the workplace setting, who was nearby, and the unusual details surrounding the disappearance. The story establishes the timeline, introduces potential suspects, and provides essential background information students will reference throughout the investigation. Hidden clues and subtle hints are embedded within the narrative, requiring careful close reading and attention to detail.

➡️ A Variety of Digital Clues and Evidence: Students examine a variety of evidence presented in realistic formats, requiring them to read carefully, compare details across sources, and piece together information to build a strong, evidence-based conclusion. The evidence includes a handwritten note, a text message, meeting notes, a student request form, an email, a funding request form, a newspaper article, and a sign-in sheet. Each piece contains relevant details that may support or refute a suspect’s involvement. Students must use close reading and draw logical inferences based on what the texts reveal.

➡️ Text Evidence Digital Graphic Organizer: This graphic organizer helps students track clues, record important details, and organize their reasoning during the inference mystery activity. Students list information they learn about the suspects, cite specific evidence, and explain how each clue supports or contradicts their theory. The organizer ensures conclusions are grounded in close reading and text evidence.

➡️ Teacher Answer Key: A detailed answer key is included in the slideshow. This allows for a dramatic whole-class reveal at the end of the investigation.

How The Digital Close Reading Inference Mystery Activity Works:

• As students enter, place them into small groups so they can collaborate and begin working together to solve the mystery.

• Use the Google slides to guide you through the close reading activity. The slides help you set up the backstory before they begin analyzing the evidence.

• Distribute the digital evidence to each group, giving students time to read carefully, analyze the details, make inferences, and locate specific text evidence that supports or refutes each suspect. Encourage discussion within groups as they compare ideas and build their case.

• Once each group has made a final prediction, use the presentation slides to reveal the culprit. Review each suspect one by one, walking through the evidence that proves their innocence or guilt so students can clearly see how strong text evidence leads to a logical conclusion.
  
  

What Teachers Are Saying About This Close Reading and Text Evidence Inference Mystery Activity:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students love the mystery units. They are able to work together to try to solve the mystery. Lots of great skills are used!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students had a great time reading the clues together and trying to figure out who stole the doughnuts. This is a very engaging activity.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students enjoyed solving the mystery. Fun activity to have students write claims and support with evidence.

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

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