Worksheet: Reading Logic Puzzle Clues to Plan an Eisteddfod Line-Up

Cover teacher: you need no subject knowledge

What this practises: reading strategies through a maths logic puzzle. Pupils skim an invented school eisteddfod programme for gist, scan it for details, then link 8 clue cards together in logic grids to work out who performs which act and when. They finish by reading between the lines of the programme and writing a clue of their own. Every step is reading; the maths is the reasoning.

Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “Ysgol Glan Morfa eisteddfod: programme and clue cards”, one between two. Hand the stimulus out face down. No computers or calculators are needed. Pupils need a pen and a pencil (pencil for the grids, so they can rub out).

Run: 3 min read “What you are doing” aloud · 4 min Step 1: say “Turn over. 1 minute, starting now”, then after 1 minute say “Stop. Turn the sheet face down” · 6 min Step 2 · 22 min Step 3 · 4 min Step 4 · 8 min Step 5 · 8 min Step 6. Total 55 minutes.

Collect: this sheet. Quick checks: the line-up is 1:00 Seren, recitation · 1:15 Mali, solo singing · 1:30 Gethin, harp · 1:45 Dewi, clog dancing · 2:00 Ffion, piano. Scanning answers: doors open 12:45 pm; judge Mrs Eleri Prys; second place wins a £5 book token; Welsh cakes 50p; performers wait in the library.

What you are doing

Ysgol Glan Morfa is holding its eisteddfod. 5 pupils from Year 6 will perform, but the running order is a secret. The Year 6 teacher has hidden it in 8 clue cards.

Step 1: skim for gist (1 minute)

When your teacher says so, turn the stimulus sheet over. Skim Part A only. Look at the title, the headings and the first sentence of each section. You have 1 minute. Then turn the sheet face down and answer from memory.

Step 2: scan for detail

Question	Your answer
(a) What kind of text is it, and what event is it about?
(b) Where does the event happen?
(c) Who is the text written for?
(d) Which parts of the text helped you most when skimming?

Turn the sheet back over. Find each fact as fast as you can. Do not read every word: run your eyes down the page looking for the key word. Write the key word you looked for, then the answer.

Step 3: link the clues

Step 4: the line-up

Step 5: read between the lines

The answers to these questions are not written in the programme. Use the clues in the text to work them out. Write the words that helped you.

Step 6: write your own clue

Write one new clue that is true for your line-up. It could take the place of one of the 8 cards, so that the puzzle still has only one answer. A good clue links 2 things, for example 2 people, or a person and an act.

Step by step

Success criteria

I can skim a text quickly to find out what it is about and who it is for.
I can scan a text for a key word to find an exact detail fast.
I can link 2 or more clues to work out something that no single clue says.
I can record each deduction and the clue numbers that gave it.
I can use inference to explain things a text suggests but does not say, and point to the words that helped.
I can write a clear, true clue that gives the same answer.

Question	Key word I scanned for	Answer
1. What time do the doors open?
2. What is the judge’s name?
3. What does the second-place performer win?
4. How much does a Welsh cake cost?
5. Where do performers wait before their act?

Time	Performer	Act
1:00 pm
1:15 pm
1:30 pm
1:45 pm
2:00 pm

Question	My answer	Words in the text that helped
1. Why are families asked not to clap until the end of each act?
2. Why are the hall doors closed while each act is on?
3. Why do you think the drinks and Welsh cakes go on sale at 2:15 pm, and not at 1:00 pm? Link 2 facts.
4. What can you work out from the note about the harp?
5. What might happen to the winners’ photo if it rains?

Reading logic puzzle clues to plan an eisteddfod line-up