Murder mystery game based on Cluedo, students are detectives using yes/no questions to interview each other and find out what clues they have, and thus determine what cards the ALT has. Recommended for Junior High 2nd years and up. Questions can be tailored to the class.
Goal: for students to practice asking yes/no questions, and listening to other students' answers as well as giving their own.
Anticipated problems: 1)While the concept of this activity is pretty simple, it is somewhat difficult for teachers and students to understand what they need to do. Make sure that you thoroughly demonstrate the activity to the JTE so that they are not confused. 2) Some schools are very squeamish about the word "Kill" or "Die" so please check ahead of time, and change things appropriately. The concept should carry through, though you would have to change words and pictures.
Procedure:
1) Print and prepare clue cards and worksheets.
2) Give worksheets to students
3) Review asking questions, names and new vocabulary with the students. You can use the slide show.
4) Break students into 5 groups.
5) Take a Who, How, and Where card for yourself. These are the solution to the game.
6) Hand out the rest of the cards to the students. The reason for there being 5 groups is that there are 18 clue cards and you just took 3 of them. This way the remaining clue cards are divided evenly with each group getting a Who, How and Where card. If this is troublesome to you, feel free to add more clues or take some out, just make sure that each group gets an even amount of cards.
7) Have students determine what order they will be asking questions in so that everyone has a turn to ask and answer questions.
8) The first group has someone stand and choose another group. They ask a question to that group. Example: "Does she like bats?"
9) If that group has the Naomi card, they will answer "Yes, she does." Or they will answer "No, she doesn't," if they do not. Students can then mark on their sheets what they heard.
10) The next group will take their turn and repeat.
11) Once a group thinks they know all three cards, the can raise their hand. They can whisper the answer to you. If they have all 3 correct, they are the winner! If not, they are Out. (This is not necessary, if you think they will handle it poorly. Just tell them they got something wrong and continue, but don't tell them what it was.)
12) The group to figure what cards the ALT has is the winner. Give appropriate rewards (Applause or stickers).
This game is usually a little difficult the first time students play it, but after the first round, they can get very intense. It is similar to the trick of Go Fish- the questions asked are just as important as a group's answers, because no one is going to ask a question to another group about a card they already have. The bright classes realize this and will listen quite intently, and groups that aren't may struggle with this. But once students realize the trick of how to play, you can usually do two rounds in one 50 minute class, but the first game can take the full class.