CSI: Kealing

I wanted to introduce a learning strategy to my students that will help them "find clues" in what they're reading to help them better answer the questions about the text. It's called the Inference Strategy. I was determined to make this strategy fun!

I set up a crime scene (with random pieces of evidence) & the kids walked in & said, "Whoa! What? What happened?" I looked at them with the same surprised face & said, "Oh no! I don't know...I guess that's YOUR job. I mean, obviously the victim's dead, but you have to figure out HOW he died, based on what you know."

They LOVED it! With journals in hand, they went & knelt down by the scene to study all the evidence & see what they could come up with. I was excited to see them get into it & the excitement transferred over when they expressed joy about being investigators while they read passages. This is the moment I've been waiting for!! To have my students excited about READING! Ha! Who knew I had to set up a fake crime scene to help that happen.

The second day I presented this was really funny. I began the class with some Intense Music for the students to listen to as they studied the crime scene. (I literally googled "Intense Music" as I that's exactly what I got.) They felt like they were in a movie. ;)