My students love when we have a classroom crime scene. And I’m so excited to share pictures and information with you on this month’s crime scene which is..
Who Stole the Bear’s Honey?
In January, I almost always to like have a focus on hibernation or bears. So this classroom crime scene is a perfect way to bring them both together in one activity!
What’s the crime?
While the bear has been hibernating, someone has stolen his honey!
Students have to investigate using the clues provided to find out who committed the crime out of 4 possible suspects.
And I can assure you, I have seen a whole new side of my students since we have been doing crime scenes in the classroom. They love them. Their confidence is blossoming and it’s amazing to watch them transfer so many skills into the crime scene.
Now, we like to take things a little bit extra when we do our crime scenes. Because my students love these so much, and we do them every month, I’ve purchased some props online. I store these away after each crime scene and then pull them out again. The props really do add something extra to it and make the whole crime scene seem a bit more alive – and you can get them so cheap on Amazon!
There are 8 activities included in the crime scene, and I usually set them up as separate stations so that my students are moving around the crime scene to find the clues they are looking for. They need to complete all the activities, to get the clues, to find out who the culprit is.
Each student has their own work book to go through to track their clues and who out who stole the honey.
Hibernation
Students need to look at the animals and work out who does – and doesn’t – hibernate through the winter. This way they are able to cancel out one of the possible suspects – because they would have been hibernating – so they couldn’t have stolen the honey!
Taste
Something has been left behind for students to taste! (Nuts) Students have to taste the item, decide what it is and then match it to the suspect who likes to eat it.
Smell
Something has been left behind for students to smell! (Grass) Students have to smell the item, decide what it is and then match it to the suspect who likes to smell this.
Interviewing Witnesses
The bear has interviewed some witnesses for you. Students need to read the short passage on top of the page and then answer 3 questions underneath linked to the passage. This is a great way to add some comprehension to the activity.
Matching Footprints
Whoever the culprit is, they spilled some honey on the floor and left their footprints in it! Students need to look at the footprints and try to match them to the suspects footprints in their workbook. We like to use magnifying glasses for this for an extra bit of detective fun!
Eyewitness Statements
There were 4 eye witnesses of the crime! Students need to read through their witness statements and see if their information matches any of the suspects.
Wanted Poster
Once students have decided who they think the criminal is – they need to make the wanted poster to capture them! Students can either draw and write the criminal’s face and name onto the wanted poster or use the pictures and names we have included to cut and stick onto the wanted poster instead.
My students really love being able to take part in a range of activities in a hands-on way. Whereas for me, it gets them working on a variety of different skills, and it’s so much fun to watch how engaged they get. Crime scenes have been the best room transformations that we’ve tried and my students honestly look forward to them each month.
If you want to try this classroom crime scene out with your students. Download it here.
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