Ready-to-teach lesson
Key Details
Mighty Muskrats: The Case of the Windy Lake - Grade 5 - Short lesson
TIME
OBJECTIVE
10 minutes Identify and explain the three physical causes that resolve the abandoned-boat clue.
PRODUCT
A three-detail cause-and-effect explanation supported by evidence.
Essential question: Which details explain how the boat reached the delta and why its rope was stretched across the mud?
- Materials
- Text to mark
- • The book
- • Passage 6 - Write the three-part explanation.
- Prepared passages: Passage 6, Passage 8, Passage 11, Passage 12
- Student response materials
Lesson sequence
1 Set the focus - 2 min Identify the three causes.
Prepared text:
Passages 8, 11, 12
- Passage 8 - Write the three-part explanation.
- Passage 11 - Write the three-part explanation.
- Passage 12 - Write the three-part explanation.
2 Work the evidence - 5 min Match each cause to its effect on the boat or rope.
- Prepared text:
- Passages 6, 8, 11, 12 3 Make the student product - 3 min Write the three-part explanation.
- Prepared text:
- Passages 6, 8, 11, 12
Teacher key
Raised water freed the boat, the storm carried it to the delta, and a hawk stretched the rope while trying to lift it.
Support & extension
Above: Explain which clue most strongly changes the direction of the investigation and why.
Assessment
- Names all three causes.
- Explains the effect of each cause.
- Uses only information supported by the prepared passages.
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