Students will be able to identify key details and infer meaning from a given text to improve their reading comprehension.
Understanding what you read is crucial for success in all subjects and in life. This lesson equips students with a 'detective' mindset to uncover deeper meanings in texts.
Audience
6th Grade
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Interactive lecture, guided practice, and independent application.
Review the Text Detectives Slide Deck to familiarize yourself with the content. - Print copies of the Clue Finder Worksheet for each student. - Prepare a short, age-appropriate informational text for students to use with the worksheet. (e.g., a paragraph about an animal, a historical event, or a scientific concept). - Keep the Clue Finder Answer Key handy for grading or discussion.
Step 1
Warm-Up: What's a Detective?
5 minutes
Begin by asking students: "What does a detective do?" (Elicit responses like 'look for clues,' 'solve mysteries,' 'piece things together'). - Introduce the idea that good readers are 'text detectives' who look for clues in what they read. Display Text Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 1. - Transition to the main lesson, explaining that today they'll learn how to find clues in text.
Step 2
Direct Instruction: Types of Clues
10 minutes
Present Text Detectives Slide Deck - Slides 2-4. - Slide 2: Main Idea Clues: Explain that the main idea is what the text is mostly about. Clues are often found in topic sentences, repeated words, and headings. - Slide 3: Supporting Detail Clues: Explain that supporting details are facts, examples, or descriptions that prove the main idea. They answer questions like 'who, what, where, when, why, how'. - Slide 4: Inferring Clues: Explain that inferring means figuring out what the author implies but doesn't explicitly state. It's like putting together puzzle pieces using text clues and what you already know (prior knowledge). Give a simple example: If you see someone with a wet umbrella, what can you infer? (It's raining or was raining).
Step 3
Guided Practice: Finding Clues Together
10 minutes
Distribute the short informational text and the Clue Finder Worksheet. - Display Text Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 5 which instructs students to read the text. - Read the provided informational text aloud as a class or have students read it independently. - Model how to use the worksheet by working through the first question or two together. For example, identify a main idea, then a supporting detail, and then make an inference based on a subtle hint. - Encourage students to highlight or underline clues in their text as they find them.
Step 4
Independent Practice & Wrap-up
5 minutes
Have students continue working independently on the Clue Finder Worksheet for the remaining time. - Display Text Detectives Slide Deck - Slide 6. - Circulate to provide support and answer questions. - As a cool-down, ask students to share one 'clue' they found or one 'mystery' they solved (an inference they made) from the text. Emphasize that being a text detective helps them understand more deeply. - Collect worksheets for review or assign completion for homework, providing the Clue Finder Answer Key for self-assessment if appropriate later.
