So, I posted recently that my sixth graders were writing a mystery that was going to take place in the library. I took two of the best mysteries that were submitted and combined them! Here's how our mystery looked: The Problem: Mrs. Svarda got to school on Monday morning and saw the mess. At first she was just mad that all of the books were out, then she saw that all the books were missing their endings. She picked up a book and noticed that the barcode was missing, too. She looked around and found that several books were missing their endings and barcodes. The scanners were also missing so no one could check out books! Then Mrs. Svarda was scared and mad. Who could've done such a thing? What happened here? How could this happen? She needed help. Starbelly Sneetch Alibi: It was 5:00 and I heard a knock on my door. It was Fox in Socks. He came in and I turned off my music and put away my IPod. We played at my house until we got bored. We decided it would be fun to go to the movies. We texted Hop On Pop and Yertle the Turtle to see if they wanted to come, too. Everyone came to the movie except Hop on Pop. After the movie we couldn't think of what to do so we walked around. We thought we might stop by the library to visit Hop On Pop. It started to rain as we walked so we stopped at Fox in Sock's house to pick up some blankets to keep dry on our walk. Hop On Pop Alibi: It was 5:00 and I was looking at my clock when the doorbell rang. It was Yertle the Turtle. He had brought me some homemade bread. He asked if I wanted to go to the mall. My mom said, "No. I had to work on my homework at the library." Yertle the Turtle got a text right after that asking if we wanted to go and see the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. Bummer. I really wanted to see a movie and hated that I had to go to the library instead. Yertle the Turtle left to meet everyone for the movie. I headed to the library with my homework. My animal report was due on Monday and mom said I couldn't do anything fun until I was finished with the report. The fun thing was that everyone came by the library after the movie and told me all about it. They had a great time. At 8:00, everyone had to head home. I had about thirty minutes left of homework, so I told them I'd have to stay around just a bit longer... Yertle the Turtle Alibi: It was 4:00 and I was cooking some homemade bread. When it was done I wanted to have some fun so I took some bread over to my friend Hop On Pop. I asked if he wanted to go to the mall, but then I got a text from Fox in Socks and Starbelly Sneetch asking if I wanted to go to the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. My mom said I could go to the movie, but his mom said he had to do homework. He tried not to show it, but boy, was he mad. I had to leave Hop On Pop to make it to the movie on time. I told him if we had time, we'd stop by the library after the movie to hang out with him. Fox in Socks' Alibi: I was sitting in my room when my mom came in and said when I finished my chores I could play. I decided to go over to Starbelly Sneetch's house to play. We thought it would be fun to go to see a movie and texted our friends to see if they could come, too. When the movie was over we went by my house to get some blankets because it was raining and we didn't want to get wet. Then, we headed to the library to visit Hop On Pop because he was doing homework there. At the library, I looked for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. I really liked the movie so I thought I would like the book. What the students do: When the students entered the library, they each grabbed a clipboard with a pencil, ingredients of a mystery checklist, alibis, map of the crime scene, and suspect list attached to it. They also grabbed a highlighter. I had the problem and alibis typed up on my SMART board including pictures of the characters. I read the problem and each alibi to the students. We walked through the ingredients of a mystery and checked off all of the mystery elements that our mystery had on the list. Then, I separated the students into two groups. One team surveyed the crime scene and drew the map of the evidence in the crime scene first. The second team worked in teams to read through the alibis and highlight evidence they found in the text that made them believe a character or characters might be guilty. After ten minutes, the teams swapped stations. We returned together as a group to discuss all of the evidence the students had found in the crime scene as well as the alibis that led them to believe that specific characters could be guilty of the crime. We completed the suspect list together. Students work in teams to highlight evidence in the alibis. Students sketched the crime scene. We taped off the crime scene with caution tape. The crime scene included Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, barcodes with fur on them (from characters), endings ripped out of the end of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (these were really just copies I ripped), a blanket, movie ticketes (3), and a book about bumblebees (this was the book Hop On Pop was using to do his research for homework). I found the copies for the ingredients of a mystery checklist and suspect list from Beth Newingham's Scholastic post about the mystery unit she teaches in her classroom. The Solution The students really thought like detectives in this lesson! I did catch a few of them off guard with my red herrings, though. The fuzz on the barcodes made some of them immediately suspect Fox in Socks and the Starbelly Sneetch. One of the kids said, "This is the best lesson we've had in the library all year!" So, you can make whoever you want responsible for the crime. I decided that Hop On Pop was guilty. He was mad that he did not get to go to the movie with his friends. He was working on his report about bumblebees (since bears love honey) and had to stay later than his friends in the library to finish up. All of the other characters visited the library to visit Hop On Pop and they did not say anything about something being wrong in the library. Hop On Pop tore the endings out of the books when his friends left. To excite the kids about checking out mysteries in our library, we created a mystery display. All of the books were sealed in brown paper bags with the barcodes on the outside so we could check the books out without opening the bags. Each bag had a different mystery inside. This was a fun way for our students to try reading something new in the library and practice their detective skills we learned in our lesson together! Mystery books in mystery bags!
The Summer Reading Program at the Wichita Falls Public Library in Wichita Falls, TX came to a close at the end of July. This summer, we were fortunate to be the recipients of the ALSC/BWI Summer Reading Program Grant, which enabled the library to provide quality programs to youth of all ages in our community. Our theme this summer was Get a Clue…at the Library, and many of our programs involved a mystery aspect. Some of our mystery-themed programs included: Murder Mystery Night: Our original plan was to have staff members perform a murder mystery play for our patrons. However, time and staffing constraints caused us to come up with a Plan B, which consisted of inviting the Actors Creating Together 4H Club to put on the murder mystery. Rather than putting on a play, we created crime scenes throughout the library, in the Youth Department, Teen Zone and Bookstore. ...
Keeping students engaged before and after breaks can sometimes be a challenge. Are you looking for an engaging whodunnit to captivate your students at the beginning of the year? Then look no further! Thousands of teachers have used these mysteries for back to school activities, engaging students b...
Students follow the clues to solve a crime. Keys provided. Practice on Past Simple, mainly was or were............................................................... - ESL worksheets
Discover 19 cozy mysteries to warm up your autumn nights. Get ready to curl up with loads of charming suspense!
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A mystery unit is perfect for a classroom of curious kids! There’s excitement in the suspense, significance in every detail…. and spooky thrills to keep students engaged throughout the class’ mystery literature studies. Mystery units can work in amazing ways by integrating problem-solving and close-reading skills in a painless
Exposing students to a wide variety of genres is so important to creating lifelong readers. It helps students begin to identify who they are as readers, including their likes and dislikes. By building genre background
Years ago, as a brand new librarian, I attended a librarian round table discussion. Each librarian was asked to share something that they had found success with in their own library. A very experienced librarian, who retired that very year, shared that she had her students earn library licenses. I fell in LOVE with the […]
Getting tweens into the library to do library activities and explore books takes some creative thinking. Activities that are interactive, fun, challenging, and hands-on are the best way to get started. We need curiosity and mystery in library activities that will keep them on the edge of their seats for more.
The Secret Detectives is a gripping, beautifully written historical mystery, from an incredible new voice in children’s fiction. On board the S.S. Marianna Isobel Petty witnesses a shocking act – somebody being thrown overboard in the middle of the night. But the ship’s captain insists nobody is missing. . . Download these activity sheets to […]
Use 'pixels' and data to reveal the Summer Mystery Pictures in these coloring pages for kids.
Try some mystery writing activities with your kids! Create traditional mapped mysteries, paper bag detective stories, or puzzle pictures.
Check out this list of mystery picture book recommendations for your third or fourth grade students!
Fun, Color by Number Pixel coloring pages for all seasons! You'll find fun mystery picture coloring pages for Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Great for Early finishers, take home activities and distance learning. Builds key logic and fine motor skills.
Do you have a detective in you who loves solving mysteries? See how many riddles you can get right in this bumper list of detective riddles.
Welcome Super Sleuths! If you love classroom transformations and engaging students while they are learning, you have just cracked the case wide open!
Here is an amazing list of clever, unique and simple set up STEM challenges and lesson plans from other teachers.
Take part in a super fun STEM activity using recyclables and other basic materials in this mystery bag STEM building challenge with free printable STEM challenge cards! Kids will receive a bag of mystery items and then use those materials to complete a design challenge. This activity is perfect to do both in the classroom or at …
The Secret Detectives is a gripping, beautifully written historical mystery, from an incredible new voice in children’s fiction. On board the S.S. Marianna Isobel Petty witnesses a shocking act – somebody being thrown overboard in the middle of the night. But the ship’s captain insists nobody is missing. . . Download these activity sheets to […]
This is a perfect activity for kids that are learning numbers and love to color! These Pets Color by Number Mystery Pictures are only revealed once the activity is completed and are great for keeping
9 printable mystery picture fill in the grid coloring pages.
The Mystery Guest A Maid Novel by Nita Prose Release date: November 28th, 2023 🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟 I received a complimentary ARC copy of The Mystery Guest, A Maid Novel by Nita Prose from NetGalley and Pe…
A limited edition giclée print of a painting of Library Walks No. 2 at Night, a narrow passageway in the city of Manchester, UK. Called No. 2 because it is the second version of this same scene I painted. The prints are hand-signed in traditional pencil, printed onto high quality, Hahnemühle German Etching paper and presented unframed. Sizes are approximately the same as the original painting 50x70cm with an additional 3cm border area. Run of .. only
This FREE resource will challenge your students' critical thinking and will add to your collection of mystery puzzles for students.
Planning a mystery or detective party? Here are some fun & free mystery party printables you can use for your planned activities. Fun game ideas!
If you love reading a good mystery, these intense page-turner mystery and thriller novels will keep you reading past your bedtime.
In this post, I am sharing how to teach inferencing with a Mystery Box! It is an excellent way to encourage kids to think whil having fun!
Looking for fun mystery activities for kids? Let your students try secret codes, invisible ink, fingerprinting, and more!
