Sunday, March 17, 2013

Mystery Unit: The Case of the Missing Earrings!


  My class just spent the last two weeks on a mystery unit.  We read Cam Jansen and the Basketball Mystery and Nate the Great & the Phony Clue.  My students really enjoyed putting on their detective hats and trying to crack the case before the main character! 
 
On Friday, I presented my class with a "real" mystery to solve called "The Case of the Missing Earrings!"  Prior to letting my super sleuths interview the four main suspects, I had to set the stage for this engaging activity.  First, I asked four colleagues to act as a suspect.  I presented them with the case and their alibi.  Days earlier, I showed off my beautiful earrings that I had just gotten from my husband (not really :).  Come Friday morning, the earrings had VANISHED!  Now it was time to solve the case!  Students brainstormed questions to ask each suspect.  I was fortunate, because our local police department always provides me with junior police badges to give to each of my young detectives.  With their clue collector sheet in hand and detective badge on, it was time to get this case solved!  
After interviewing the four suspects, each student created a WANTED poster on the suspect they felt was the guiltiest.  We created a class graph showing our results.  In the end, my principal safely returned the earrings.  Download for FREE the WANTED poster.  Please be sure to check out the ENTIRE unit at my Teachers Pay Teachers store by simply clicking on the image below.  Let me know if you have any questions on how to create a mystery in your classroom.  Your students will love it!
                                                           
 

No comments:

Post a Comment