Detective classroom game

The twist in this story is that it is not a murder mystery; rather, it is just a mystery. The students are told that a Mr. Grim has died, and they must figure out how he died. Naturally, they assume he has been killed later, in the end, they discover that he had a heart attack after coming across a lost cobra in his house. The first part of the activity has them question each other in order to get background character information, possible weapons, and motives. The second part requires students to ask each other what rooms they were in a map is provided before and after the murder.

Here are the mystery character cards 11 possible roles :. The necessary characters are: Wally the cobra-bringer , Dr. Watkins the doctor who tells of Mr. The rest are optional. Some pairs e. Many other guests were invited too. Grim is dead. But I think one of your killed him! No one is leaving here until we find out who it was! You are all suspects. You all knew him someway. Interview each other and find out your names, jobs, what you brought to the party, and how your relationship was with Mr.

Guests interview each other to get character information. Give them the below sheet so they can write down information about the characters. They only need to fill in the first three columns. The other two columns about time are for later. Each character has the answers to these questions on their character cards name, and 1 and 2 on the character card. Cut them up and put them in an envelope separating the 8 pm and ones. This will decide what room they were in before and after the death of Mr.

Unless their character card indicates what they were doing at that time, the students can invent whatever reason they want for why they were in that room. Ask them what they were doing. Write your answers in the last two columns of the interview sheet. There was no blood anywhere or on the body. Please think about it. That is all the information I have.

Discuss in groups. If you think you know what happened, please come see me. However, they should be able to notice that Wally found his snake in the adjoining room at And the fact that there was no blood on the scene should eliminate most of the items carried by the guests as the death weapon. Students will likely accuse Dr. Watkins, since he had medicine. If they do, remind them that Dr. Watkins was only there to take care of Mr.

Grim who has a weak heart condition. Once they remember Mr. My students enjoyed the activity. But, why was the doctor there?? Who do the players copy? Do we tell the detective who the leader is? Do you know the rules? Are you allowed to speak?

More Activities. Begin the mystery by reading the introduction. Students get so excited about the activity and will be talking about it for months! They were engaged, on task, and most importantly, learning! This was a great addition to my inferencing unit and my kids are begging to do it again. Each mystery includes a graphic organizer to help keep students focused and organized. Use this worksheet at the end of the lesson to see how students processed the information and to determine how involved they were.

One of the most powerful pieces to this lesson is the whole group discussion at the end of the lesson. Students use the information provided to debate and discuss their theories about the mystery.

I use these mystery games every other week as incentives. My students love them so much, they beg for more. Some teachers use the mystery games at the end of units, before or after school breaks, at the beginning of the year as an icebreaker, or for a sub. I usually plan for about 60 minutes, but depending on your students, you may want to plan for more time. Helps solidify inference skills. Each group had different ways of organizing their notes my third graders struggled a bit more with this, but it was so good for them and I also really enjoyed listening to their discussions along the way, I especially loved that they had to write their prediction and explain why.

This was a perfect way to explain using text evidence to draw conclusions and how they can apply this any text they read. Thanks so much for creating such an engaging activity.

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Sort: Relevance. This FUN whole-class game will surely engage the construction lovers in your class while introducing them to new vocabulary words and concepts. Make your students get excited to participate as they try to identify the mystery construction vehicle using visual and auditory clues.

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