5th Grade December Reading Adventure- The Holiday Mix-up Mystery

The Hacker is upset that one of the holidays of an important world religion falls on his birthday this year, and he's threatening to go back in time and erase that holiday completely from history!! In order to stop him and save the holiday, the Learning League will need your students' help. Fortunately, there are clues that will lead them to discover which holiday needs saving when they answer reading problems. This Reading Adventure will keep your classroom explorers engaged and working hard on English skills, while learning some social studies!
 
Also available for 3rd and 4th grade.
 
WHO is this mystery for?
Students on the 5th grade level who are practicing these reading skills: 
Match Prefix and Suffix to Meaning
Poetry Comprehension
Summarizing
Metaphors vs. Similes
Match Details to Topic Sentence
 
Teachers looking for a quick-prep, rigorous but differentiated, interdisciplinary activity that showcases topics that are often ignored or unexplored within social studies and science curriculum. 
 
WHAT is included?
This adventure is an hour-long activity that can be completed in 3 Tracks:
 
Track 1: ORIGINAL
Students read the mystery on a printed booklet, and they solve the clues by answering questions on Google Slides, which they can access with a QR code or link on a computer, tablet, or phone.
Track 2: ANALOG
Students read the mystery on a printed booklet, and they solve the clues by answering questions on printed task cards.
Track 3: DIGITAL
Students read the mystery in one browser window of Google Slides, and they solve the clues by toggling between another browser window of Google Slides to answer questions. This method works great for laptops, but is not recommended for tablets. 
 
No matter which track you take, the core of the activity is the same. Students always have access to the mystery story, 40 reading problems, 5 Social Studies Exploration posters, a Writing Challenge, and an integral poster about:
 
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, & Ramadan
 
Students will walk away from this lesson knowing these social studies concepts:
The scientific reason why many religions have holidays during the winter season
The unique beliefs behind the religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism
The commonalities between these three religions, and why belief systems can help people be their best selves
and more!!
 
WHEN is it designed to be completed?
These skills are best practiced sometime around the Winter Solstice, when many religions celebrate holidays. This usually tends to be around December 21st annually!
 
WHERE can students solve this mystery?
Students can complete this activity in your classroom with pen and paper or technology, and even from home, thanks to the Digital Track!
 
HOW can this activity be differentiated?
Using either of these methods, you can scaffold these activities to meet each of your students, exactly where they’re at.
 
CUSTOMIZATION: great for students above and below grade level
Each math problem can be edited to whatever you please! Hypothetically, you could buy this mystery for the framework it provides, and change every single question. 
AUDIO SUPPORTS: great for multilingual students
For the tracks including technology, your students have access to a read-aloud of not just the story, but each word written on Google Slides. 
 
WHY should your students adventure with the Learning League?
 
Low teacher prep/High student engagement
Anti-racist curriculum that uplifts women and Black and Indigenous people of color
Three activity tracks with DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION
Audio scaffolding and editable problems
 
TRY OUT A MYSTERY FOR FREE!
Download The Oil Spill Mystery for math and The Case of the Absent Abolitionist for reading.
 
Adventure also available on TeachersPayTeachers!