Mystery Stories | Claim, Reason, & Evidence Writing | Argumentative Paragraph

Help your students practice identifying evidence, creating a claim, and writing an argumentative paragraph with this collection of mystery activities. Students will work in small groups to read 4 engaging short stories. Then, students will collaborate with their partners to write a paragraph that defends their opinion about who they think committed the crime in the story.

As a culminating activity, students can present their cases to the classroom in a mock "courtroom." A jury of their peers can then vote for the most convincing case.

The paragraph writing portion of each activity includes a graphic organizer with categories that guide students to write a strong argumentative paragraph, including a clear topic sentence (claim), two concrete details as evidence, commentary statements, and a compelling conclusion.

DESCRIPTION OF STORIES INCLUDED IN THIS BUNDLE

• Murder or Accident - Students will work in small groups to read a story about two 7th grade best friends who love playing video games, riding the school bus together, eating junk food, and listening to music. The story ends with the death of one of the characters. Then, students will collaborate with their partners to write a paragraph that defends their opinion about whether or not the main character's death was a murder or an accident.
• Case of the Missing Hardware - Students will work in small groups to read a story about a small town robbery. Then, students will collaborate with their partners to write a paragraph that defends their opinion about who stole the box of hardware.
• Missing Hummus Mystery - Students will work in small groups to read a story about three friends who are in the school cafeteria when the hummus goes missing. Then, they will collaborate with their partners to write a paragraph that defends their opinion about which animal or person stole the hummus.
• Lunch Box Mystery - Students will read a story about a student who is put in charge of carrying his class's lunch boxes down to the lunchroom. When the lunch boxes disappear, his classmates and teachers wonder what happeneed. Students will try to help the student solve the case.
• Summer Pool Mystery - Students will explore a story about the sabotaging of a pool on the first day of summer vacation. They will help four best friends who are trying to identify the person or animal who contaminated the pool and stole food from the concession stand.

This 8.5 x 11 in pdf can be printed in black and white.

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