Here is our HIT on How to Host a Murder. We are taking all the ideas,
swirling them around, and will make up our own. I'll post next year on
how it works. Thanks to each and every one of you!
I am an elementary level SLMS. I obtained an "Anyone's Guess Jr." from
my
local BOCES (although they are $39.95 from Upstart). The kit was called
"Who's a Fraidy Kat?", and it was perfect for elementary level since it
did
not involve a murder or someone getting hurt. Everything I could have
possibly needed was included in the kit, and it only required a few
hours of
planning.
I opened the event to 4th and 5th graders only. Out of a possible 90
students, I had an attendance of 34 students. I held the event on a
Saturday
morning from 10-12. Myself and the reading teacher split the attendees
into
2 groups and we each led them around the "evidence". It took about an
hour
to finish the game, then we had pizza.
It cost about $100 to hold the event, which my principal paid from his
discretionary fund ($50 for pizza/refreshments, and the rest for goodie
bags
and prizes).
If you would more information, I am happy to share. You can look at
some
pictures if you click on "WhoDunIt? at the Library" at our school's
website:
http://www.camdenschools.org/mcv/index.htm
I did one using a kit from Upstart ( a division of Highsmith). We did
the Egyptian-themed one where the prom queen is found at the bottom of
the stairs. I think the kit was in the neighborhood of $40-$50, but it
had all your reproducibles, clues, etc with complete instructions.
I opened the event to all the students in the school but had a maximum
number that could participate, so they had to sign up by returning the
permission slip to stay. We let them work in small teams of no more
than 3 people.
We also fed them a pizza supper while I and the other "judge" went
through their solutions to select the winner. Each participant received
a pencil & notepad (from our supply closet), a bookmark (I already had
some Egyptian-themed ones) and a free Wendy's Frosty coupon (donated)
for participating. The winners also received a free movie pass that our
local theater donated.
I also had some detective and Ancient Egypt-themed books on display for
them.
The students that stayed had a GREAT time. After the event was over, I
kept having many students (both those that had and had not stayed) ask
me when the next one was over. I have bought another kit, but haven't
had time to get it together yet! It did take a lot of preparation and
work to get it together.
Here's the website if it comes through:
http://www.highsmith.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Production/Search.jsp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10010&langId=-1&N=0&Ntk=OverallSearch1&Nty=1&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&D=&Nu=CategoryId&chkForFilter=Y&s=1&Ntt=anyone%27s+guess&Nf=&Nr=NOT%28Field4%3A825000%29
If the link doesn't work, go to www.highsmith.com
<http://www.highsmith.com> , click on Upstart at the top of the page
, and search for "Anyone's Guess".
Hope this helps!
Brandy Huffman
Media Coordinator
Walter Johnson Middle School
Morganton, NC 28655
(828) 430-4737
bshuffman@burke.k12.nc.us
I did this as a class with 5th grade students. It was wonderful! I
purchased "Death Gets a Red Card" from Anyone's Guess (they have quite
a
few titles to choose from) and made some adaptations so that my 5th
graders would be able to read and understand the clues. Every class
was
able to solve the crime. (It ran for 2 periods, which is 80 minutes).
The teachers are hoping that we can do another one in the Spring.
Cathe Brown
Herber Middle School
Malverne,NY
I'm in a public library & I did one called Clue in the Library.
I based it on the Clue board game.
Someone had killed Novella Reads, our library's manniquin.
In advance, I found 8 co-workers to be suspects.
I took their picture with my digital camera, made a detective's
notbook with one page for each:
Nate the page
Cherise the Children's librarian
Tom, the Adult librarian,
Me, the teen librarian
Mike, the college student (a trusted, older teen patron)
Scott, the janitor.
etc, etc, etc.
I also got a city police officer to help with the investigation.
Each suspect had a reason why he/she disliked Novella. For example:
She keeps stealing my lunch, (janitor)
she's so ugly she keeps scaring the little kids, (childrens
librarian)
(in my case) she's always kicking teenagers out of the library.
She never returns her books on time (the circulation lady)
She never puts the books back in the right place (the page)
She takes credit for all my hard work (the adult librarian)
She takes my parking spot (deputy director)
Then, there were various menthods of death.
Run over by a book cart
smothered by magazines
poison lunch
stapled to death
bludgeoned with an unabridged dictionary
Strangled by a typewriter ribbon
Each suspect was placed with one of the weapons near him/her. For
example, the page had a book truck that had a hank of blond hair from
Novella's wig caught in the wheel. The deputy director is playing with
a tangled typewriter ribbon, etc.
Identify distinct areas of the library
Lobby
art gallery
sorting room
Teen area
clock tower
childen's story-time room
quiet study room
Tom the adult librarian had our large stapler and was madly stapling
things.
So, they came in, the officer explained the "case."
Ms. Reads was found murdered here in this room earlier today. She
was killed elsewhere and moved into this room. Your mission is to
discover who did it, what was the motive for and method of the death,
and what area of the library the murder took place.
So, they get their notebooks, with a page, complete with photo, of
each suspect, a list of the methods, a list of the motives, and a list
of various areas of the library.
They go out into the library and question the suspects. They are
permitted to ask ONLY
1. Did you hear that Novella Reads was killed? (Take notes of the
person's reaction)
2. What was your opinion of Novella (nobody liked her--each one has a
motive).
3. Where were you when Novella was killed?
(I write scripted answers for each. If a kid goes off-script, the
suspect gets mad, says, "What's going on here? Are you trying to frame
me? I'll let my attorney do my talking for me from now on." Then they
get up and leave.
So, they re-assemble and begin making guesses written on cards.
EX I think Miss Dawn did it in the teen area with the book truck
because Novella threw her teens out of the library.
Then, I have a person, mybe a suspect, maybe not, come in to say, "It
couldn't have happened in the teen area because I was there when Novella
was killed." or maybe
Novella did not throw any teens out today."
So, something is now eliminated, a method, a motive, or and area or
suspect, just like in Clue.
Finally they will hit on the correct combination and the winner gets
a prize, a mystery book or something.
Dawn Marie Sardes
Teen Services Librarian
Euclid Public Library
Euclid, OH
yayagoddess@sbcglobal.net.omit.this
Check out my Harry Potter Fan Fiction at:
http://www.fanfiction.net/~yayagoddess
Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three
decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.
- Thomas Sowell
Mary B. Simmons
Currituck County High School
4203 Caratoke Highway
Barco, NC 27917
NBCT/Library-Media
msimmons@currituck.k12.nc.us
Visit our Lucy and Ethel blog for high school media specialists at:
http://lucyandethelinthelibrary.blogspot.com/
*********All email correspondence to and from this address is subject
to the North Carolina Public Records Law, which may result in monitoring
and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.
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