Reading Detectives Script

Warm-Up: Detective Brainstorm (5 minutes)

Teacher: "Good morning, everyone! Today, we're going to become reading detectives. Can anyone tell me, what does a detective do? What kind of job do they have?"

(Allow 2-3 student responses. Guide them towards ideas like 'finding clues,' 'solving mysteries,' 'looking for answers,' 'finding evidence.')

Teacher: "Excellent ideas! Detectives are super good at looking for clues and finding answers to solve a mystery. And guess what? Today, you are going to be reading detectives!"

Introduction to Reading Detectives (10 minutes)

Teacher: (Display Reading Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 2: "What's Our Mission?")

Teacher: "Our mission today is to learn how to be super readers who can find evidence for our answers right in the story! When we read, sometimes we have questions about what happened or why a character did something. A good reading detective doesn't just guess the answer, they go back into the story and find the exact words that tell them the answer – that's our evidence!"

(Display Reading Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 3: "Detective Tools")

Teacher: "Just like real detectives have special tools, we have our own detective tools for reading! First, we need to Read Carefully. Every word in our story is a clue! Then, when we have a question, we need to Look for Keywords. These are important words in the question that we can then look for in the story. Finally, when we find those keywords or ideas, we need to Find the Evidence and show it! We can underline or highlight the answer right in the text."

Teacher: "Let me show you a quick example. If I asked, 'What color is the sky?' and the sentence in our story said, 'The sky was bright blue,' what would be my keywords in the question?" (Pause for response: 'color,' 'sky') "And where's the evidence in the sentence?" (Pause: 'bright blue') "Exactly!"

Guided Practice: The Mystery of the Missing Toy (20 minutes)

Teacher: (Display Reading Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 4: "Case File: The Mystery of the Missing Toy")

Teacher: "Alright, detectives, our first case file is called Mystery of the Missing Toy Reading Passage. I'm going to hand out the passage, and then we'll read it together. As we read, keep your detective ears open for important details!"

(Distribute Mystery of the Missing Toy Reading Passage. Read the passage aloud as a class, or have students take turns reading paragraphs.)

Teacher: "Now that we've read our story, we have some comprehension questions to answer. These are like the mysteries we need to solve! I'm going to show you the first few questions from our Comprehension Quest Worksheet, and we'll work together to find the answers, using our detective tools."

*(Display or project the first question from the Comprehension Quest Worksheet.)

Teacher: "Question 1 says: 'Who is the main character in the story?' What are some keywords in this question that might help us find the answer in the passage?" (Guide students to identify 'who' and 'main character.')

Teacher: "Now, let's look back at our passage. Who is the story mostly about? What name do we hear a lot?" (Guide students to find 'Lily.') "Yes! The first sentence even says, 'Lily loved her teddy bear.' So, where's our evidence?" (Point to the sentence. Ask students to underline or highlight it.) "Lily is our main character. Great job finding the evidence!"

(Repeat for Question 2, e.g., 'What was Lily's favorite toy?'. Guide students to keywords like 'favorite toy' and find 'teddy bear' as evidence.)

Teacher: "For Question 3, 'What did Lily do every night before bed?', what keywords are we looking for?" (Guide students to 'every night' and 'before bed.') "Let's scan the passage... Ah, I see a sentence here: 'Every night, she hugged him tight.' So our evidence is 'hugged him tight.' Excellent detective work!"

Independent Detective Work (15 minutes)

Teacher: (Display Reading Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 5: "Your Turn, Detectives!")

Teacher: "You've done a fantastic job being reading detectives so far! Now it's your turn to put on your detective hats and solve the remaining mysteries in your Comprehension Quest Worksheet all by yourselves. Remember to: Read Carefully, Look for Keywords, and Find the Evidence in the passage by underlining or highlighting it. I'll be walking around to help any detectives who get stuck on a tricky clue."

(Circulate and provide individual support, reminding students to refer to the text for answers.)

Share and Discuss (8 minutes)

Teacher: "Alright, reading detectives, pencils down! Let's share some of our findings. Who would like to share their answer for Question 4? And, very importantly, can you show us where you found the answer in the passage?"

(Call on a few students to share answers and their textual evidence. Use the Answer Key to guide the discussion and confirm correct answers and reasoning. Emphasize the process of finding evidence.)

Teacher: "Fantastic work everyone! See how much better we understand the story when we act like detectives and find the evidence?"

Cool Down: Detective Badge (2 minutes)

Teacher: (Display Reading Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 6: "Mission Accomplished!")

Teacher: "Take a moment to silently think about one thing you learned today about being a 'reading detective.' What was one new skill or tip you'll remember?"

Teacher: "Now, on the count of three, show me a thumbs up if you feel more confident finding answers in a story, or a thumbs sideways if you still need a little more practice. No worries either way, just let me know how you feel! 1, 2, 3..."

(Observe student responses.)

Teacher: "Great job, Reading Detectives! You've accomplished your mission today! Keep using your amazing detective skills every time you read. I'm so proud of all your hard work!"

The Mystery of the Missing Toy

Lily loved her teddy bear, Barnaby. He was soft and cuddly, with one button eye and a stitched-up nose. Every night, she hugged him tight as she drifted off to sleep.

One sunny morning, Lily woke up and Barnaby was gone! She looked under her bed. Not there. She checked in her toy basket. Empty. Lily felt a tiny tear escape her eye. "Barnaby, where are you?" she whispered.

Her mom called from the kitchen, "Lily, time for breakfast!" Lily slowly walked to the kitchen, her eyes still scanning the floor. She saw her little brother, Max, sitting at the table. He was giggling.

Then, Lily saw something poking out from under Max's chair. A soft, brown paw! "Barnaby!" she cried with joy. Max had been playing with him and left him there. Lily gave her teddy bear a big hug and smiled. The mystery was solved!

Comprehension Quest Worksheet

Directions: Be a reading detective! Read "The Mystery of the Missing Toy" and answer the questions. Remember to find the evidence in the story and underline or highlight it!

1. Who is the main character in the story?
   
   
   
   

2. What was Lily's favorite toy?
   
   
   
   

3. What did Lily do every night before bed?
   
   
   
   

4. Where did Lily first look for Barnaby?
   
   
   
   

5. How did Lily feel when she couldn't find Barnaby?
   
   
   
   

6. Who had been playing with Barnaby?
   
   
   
   

7. Where did Lily finally find Barnaby?
   
   
   
   

8. How did Lily feel when she found Barnaby?
   
   
   
   

Comprehension Quest Answer Key

Directions: Here are the answers and the evidence you can find in "The Mystery of the Missing Toy."

1. Who is the main character in the story?

   • Answer: Lily.
   • Evidence: "Lily loved her teddy bear, Barnaby." (First sentence of paragraph 1)

2. What was Lily's favorite toy?

   • Answer: Her teddy bear, Barnaby.
   • Evidence: "Lily loved her teddy bear, Barnaby." (First sentence of paragraph 1)

3. What did Lily do every night before bed?

   • Answer: She hugged Barnaby tight.
   • Evidence: "Every night, she hugged him tight as she drifted off to sleep." (Last sentence of paragraph 1)

4. Where did Lily first look for Barnaby?

   • Answer: Under her bed.
   • Evidence: "She looked under her bed. Not there." (First sentence of paragraph 2)

5. How did Lily feel when she couldn't find Barnaby?

   • Answer: She felt sad/a tiny tear escaped her eye.
   • Evidence: "Lily felt a tiny tear escape her eye." (Third sentence of paragraph 2)

6. Who had been playing with Barnaby?

   • Answer: Her little brother, Max.
   • Evidence: "She saw her little brother, Max, sitting at the table. He was giggling... Max had been playing with him and left him there." (Paragraph 3 and 4)

7. Where did Lily finally find Barnaby?

   • Answer: Under Max's chair.
   • Evidence: "Then, Lily saw something poking out from under Max's chair." (First sentence of paragraph 4)

8. How did Lily feel when she found Barnaby?

   • Answer: She cried with joy and smiled.
   • Evidence: "Barnaby!" she cried with joy... Lily gave her teddy bear a big hug and smiled." (Second and last sentences of paragraph 4)