Mini Lesson Presentation

Brenna Herting
10/22/21

Grade level: 6th

Mystery Bag Activity: Speaking and Listening

Common Core Standards

6.SL.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making
comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.

Learning Objective
The students will be able to engage effectively in posing specific questions with elaboration
and detail building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Materials
Non-transparent bag
Small item to go inside bag
Pieces of candy
Sticky notes
Instruction/ procedure (include time allotments)
1. Introduce the activity by holding up the mystery bag to show class and saying, “As a
fun Friday activity we will be doing a mystery bag activity. There is an object inside
this bag that is a mystery to you!” Shake bag a little. “Your goal is to figure out what
this object is. Whoever figures it out first will get to keep the item if they would like, if
everyone else is a good sport and participates, you will get a piece of candy. Now this
next part of instructions is very important. You will need to raise your hand to ask yes
or no questions about the object. You will need to listen carefully to the questions your
classmates ask and the answers I give so your questions will be logical. Is the question,
‘what color is it?’ an acceptable question?” Wait for student response. “Would it make
sense to ask, ‘is the object edible?’ after we already determined that the object is made
of plastic?” Wait for student response. “Also, you should not guess what the object is
because there are many possibilities, you need to ask questions about the
characteristics of the object.” (2 minutes)
2. When students ask questions give positive reinforcement for intelligent questions and
repeat the questions. Guide students if they need hints. Some sample answers may be,
‘yes, the object is smaller than an apple’, ‘no, the object is not edible, that is a great
question’, ‘did everyone hear what Suzy asked? Is the object something you can wear
on your body? Yes it is’, *guess made by a student right away* ‘the object is not slime,
remember we are asking questions about the object instead of guessing what it is’,
‘remember we already learned from Timmy that the object is fabric so, no it would not
break if you dropped it, make sure you listen to your classmates’ (6 minutes)
3. After they guess what the object is, pass out a sticky note to everyone for the
 assessment activity. “Write your name at the top of the sticky note. Then I want you to
write a question that one of you classmates asked that gave you an idea for what the
item could be, or write a question that one of you classmates asked that gave you an
idea for another question you could ask.” Collect sticky notes when students are done
and review answers to conclude if students listened to their classmates. (2 minutes)
Assessment activity
Observe: Watch to see if students are listening to their classmates and asking logical questions
based on the pervious questions asked.
Write: What is a question one of your classmates asked that gave you an idea for what the item
could be or gave you an idea for another question you could ask?