Get students to be active, look for clues, and think while they read! I created this detective-themed activity as a way to motivate students to collect "clues" or bits of information while they do a close reading of a text. This two-page document can be used with literature or informational text. This form guides students to record their observations, vocabulary words, questions, and other responses as a way of annotating. Students will be performing a "close reading" of the text and thinking critically about the author's purpose, text structure, and central idea of the text. Space is included for students to list their prior knowledge ("Brain Files...I've heard of __"), textual evidence to support conclusions about the text, and clues that students found in the text about the topic or author as they read.