I recently did a Facebook Live video all about my weekly reading mystery freebie. This was a quick and fun idea that I had for you guys to incorporate your science and social studies right into your ELA block. Check the idea out here! Also, the Facebook Live post is below for you to watch! Scroll down to see it.
Incorporate Content into Reading
Objective: Students will read through picture books and reading passages to find the mystery clue for the week in science and social studies.
1. First, you’ll start by picking the mystery clue. [one for science and one for social studies]
These Weekly Reading Mystery freebies can be found here.
2. Then, pick three or four other science topics for the week that the students can explore. The reason that I suggest only giving them three or four topics is that if they are trying to find a mystery clue out, giving them ten+ topics will be incredibly overwhelming for the students.
Gather up some books and resources!
3. After work one day, head to the local library and rent out three or four books for each topic that you choose for your Weekly Reading Mystery.
4. Then, you can create a folder that will hold correlating reading passages. Make sure that your reading passages that are in your folder are the same three-four topics that you chose for the week and picked books for as well. Social studies passages can stay on the left, while science passages can stay on the right!
These reading passages are included in my biography bundle and my science no prep bundle. Click the links above to check out the huge money-saving bundles. Both bundles have much more than reading passages, too.
5. Post your clues on the board on Monday, and allow for students to explore all week during Read to Self, Read to Someone, or free reading time.
6. If students find out a mystery clue, have them write their answer on a Post-It note and add it to a special box. Reward students with a choice of reward. I suggest giving them raffle tickets to win books you get from Scholastic Book Clubs!
7. Finally, you can give the answer on Friday and read aloud the passage or book you found the clue from. Give a mini-lesson on text-evidence and model how students could have found the answer on their own.
Weekly Reading Mystery Freebie
Here is the freebie:
Then, once you snag your freebie, you can stock up on social studies and science goodies. Here are the resources for biography passages and science no-prep passages. Both of these bundles have MUCH more than passages, too!
Facebook Live Video
See it in action here!
