Mystery Sub Forecast

This worksheet engages students in Grades 4 and 5 with a suspenseful, two-part sports mystery that strengthens prediction and evidence-based reasoning skills. Learners pause at key moments in the story to analyze clues about a mysterious substitute player, character behavior, tone, and game action, then predict what will happen next and justify their thinking using details from the text.

Learning Goals

• Text-Based Prediction (Grades 4-5) – Students anticipate future events by analyzing narrative clues and plot structure.
• Character & Motivation Analysis – Learners infer intentions and likely actions based on behavior and dialogue.
• Cause-and-Effect Reasoning – Students connect earlier events to possible outcomes in a high-stakes situation.
• Evidence-Based Writing – Written justifications reinforce supporting ideas with text clues.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper-elementary reading comprehension standards.
• High-Interest Sports Theme – Competitive, suspenseful context boosts engagement and focus.
• Built-In Prediction Checkpoints – Two stopping points encourage purposeful reading and reflection.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Ideal for guided reading, literacy centers, independent practice, or formative assessment.

This mystery sub forecast worksheet helps students become active, strategic readers by practicing how to predict outcomes using evidence rather than guesswork. By explaining their predictions and tracking story pacing, learners strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and confidence in narrative analysis. Whether used in a classroom or homeschool setting, this printable resource offers meaningful, low-prep practice that builds strong prediction habits and deeper engagement with story structure.

This worksheet is part of our Making Predictions Worksheets collection.