Setting Activity & Printables

Description

What do trash and setting have in common? Ask you students and see what they come up with – you might be surprised with the connection they can make! Truth is – you can learn a lot about a person by going through their trash – even where they’ve been!

In this fun, hands on activity – students practice inferring the setting of a story based off of the character’s trash and the evidence found in a short story that accompanies the trash bag.

This lesson includes 5 different stories. Some preassembling is required (very simple – promise!) to create the trash bags. Students go through the bags, write down the contents they found and then make a ‘prediction’ about the setting of the story. Then they read a short story and highlight evidence to help them create their inference.

Students LOVE going through the trash bags and the curiosity and suspense this lesson creates is outstanding. Sometimes I even tell them that we can go through my trash can when we’re done to see where I’ve been as an extra motivator!

I hope you enjoy this lesson as much as we did – not only are they having fun, but they are practicing a key skill needed for basic comprehension! Download the preview for a peek at one of the stories.