Looking for a way to spark excitement in your students while still building essential literacy skills? This October, bring a little mystery into your classroom with the Crime Scene Inference Activity—a hands-on literacy experience designed to boost critical thinking and writing for students in grades 3–5.
Your students will step into the shoes of detectives, combing through a mock crime scene of your own design, recording their findings in a Detective Journal, and piecing together the case using evidence-based reasoning. It’s the perfect mix of fun and rigor—ideal for inference practice, reading comprehension, and writing skills.
Why It’s Perfect for Halloween Season
Halloween is the ultimate time to add a spooky twist to learning. While costumes, candy, and decorations set the stage, this activity immerses students in a thrilling mystery that feels like play—but delivers real academic growth. With crime scene visuals, evidence recording sheets, and a student-friendly Detective Journal, your classroom transforms into a hub of curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking.
What’s Included 👇
✅ Step-by-step Teacher Instructions for easy setup
✅ Printable Student Detective Journal
✅ Engaging Crime Scene Visuals
✅ Recording Sheets for observations, inferences, and conclusions
✅ Low-prep setup—simply print and stage your own crime scene!
Skills Students Will Build
Make Inferences using textual and visual evidence
Draw Conclusions grounded in observations
Cite Evidence to back up reasoning
Strengthen reading comprehension & critical thinking
Develop purposeful writing skills
Work collaboratively or independently to solve the case
Classroom Uses
This resource is versatile enough to fit into multiple instructional moments:
Reading & writing centers
Inference mini-lessons or review
Test prep for reading comprehension standards
Small group instruction
Seasonal engagement—especially around Halloween!
Sub plans or enrichment
Why Teachers Love It
⭐ Student-approved & engaging
⭐ Brings inference strategies to life
⭐ Simple prep—print & go
⭐ Reusable year after year
⭐ Encourages thoughtful discussion & evidence-based analysis
Bring Mystery into Your Literacy Block
Whether you’re searching for a seasonal activity to captivate your students or a high-interest way to reinforce reading comprehension strategies, this Crime Scene Inference Activity delivers. This October, let your students’ imaginations run wild as they transform into detectives and use critical thinking to crack the case.
👉 Don’t just teach inference—let your students experience it.
This Halloween, give your class a lesson they’ll never forget! 🎃👻