🕵️Someone took the pumpkin pie, and your class has to work out who. Clue by clue, young detectives cross off suspects, explain their thinking and learn that an inference is a clue plus what you already know.
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Clue Crew Fall Mysteries is a printable making inferences resource for kindergarten, first grade and second grade. It wraps an abstract reading comprehension skill inside a fall detective game, so children practice inferring while they try to solve a real case.
The two cases, Who Took the Pumpkin Pie? and Who Took the Pumpkin Seeds?, are run with the whole class. You read the story from the teacher script, display the suspect line-up poster, and reveal the clue cards one at a time. After each clue, students decide which suspects can be crossed off and say why, using the evidence and what they already know.
Students record their thinking at one of two levels. Level 1 Detective Notes let early readers cross out suspects, follow the clues and trace inference sentences. Level 2 Evidence Log pages ask students to record evidence, explain their reasoning and write their own inference.
Practice continues past the cases with a How to Make an Inference poster, a Detective Words vocabulary poster, 12 "Who Was Here?" practice cards with a recording sheet, a "How Do You Know?" writing page and exit tickets. Detective badges, a magnifying glass craft, clue envelope labels and an award certificate add to the fun.
A 5-day study plan, teacher notes and complete answer keys are included in the 39-page black and white PDF, which suits fall and Thanksgiving ELA, literacy centers, small groups, intervention, sub plans and homeschool.
📖 Teaching guide · 12 min readTeaching Inference to K–2 Students With a Whole-Class Fall MysteryRead the guide →Children already love guessing who did it, and each clue gives them a small, concrete piece of evidence to reason with. Crossing off suspects one clue at a time makes the thinking visible, and the two recording levels let K–2 readers join the same case.
Two fall cases: Who Took the Pumpkin Pie? and Who Took the Pumpkin Seeds? Each has a case file cover, teacher script and story, suspect line-up poster, clue cards and a detective conclusion.
Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. Level 1 Detective Notes suit early readers, and the Level 2 Evidence Log asks for written evidence and reasoning.
The cases are designed to be solved whole-class, one clue at a time. The practice cards, writing page and exit tickets work for centers, small groups and independent practice.
Yes. A 5-day study plan, teacher notes and complete answer keys are included.
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