What's in the Present? Drawing Conclusions

Our first grade story this week in reading was Mama's Present. Our reading skill for the week was drawing conclusions. What better way to actively engage students in drawing conclusions than to have them wondering what is inside a wrapped present?

Each day, I gave them a clue and time to guess what was inside. Each clue contained an adjective because we are learning about using adjectives to describe nouns. On Friday, children opened three more clues to help them draw conclusions as to what was inside the present. Here are the clues:
   
           #1 red
           #2 small pouches
           #3 delicious fruit
           #4 smooshy
           #5 stretchy
           #6 long

Once we read the final clue, we gathered all students, kindergarten and first grade to unwrap the present and find out the mystery inside. We took one more round of guesses before opening the present. There were some very creative predictions: Twizzlers, gum, play dough, and more. Students really took the clues and tried to figure out what was inside.

Students were elated to see their surprise unveiled. They enjoyed their treat and talked about how it fit the clues provided. It was interesting to hear their conversations. I think they will remember how to draw conclusions after this activity in reading.