Activity

I Was Alibi Searching

Whole class mingles asking and answering questions to find two mystery criminals.

Archived from Englipedia.
Originally submitted by Daniel Arnett on May 30, 2013.

DETAILED EXPLANATION:

  • Print out and cut out a set or two of cards depending on your class size. Each student is to get one card and it is ok for more than one student to have the same card.
  • Set the scene by introducing a ficticious bank robbery or other crime of your choosing. Say when and where it happened, how much was stolen, and that the police are looking for two criminals/suspects.
  • Hand out worksheets and cards.
  • Demonstrate with JTE the three interrogation questions and their corresponding answers on the cards: 1 - What is your name? 2 - What were you doing when the bank was robbed? I was ... 3 - Who were you with? I was with ... Drill the questions. You may also wish to drill the names.- Explain how to fill in the worksheet. If two suspects have the same alibi (i.e. each other), they are not guilty. Students stand up and walk around the room, interviewing each other and filling in the worksheet. - After some students have finished, elicit who the criminals were and which students had those cards. The criminals are Victoria and Josh.

TEACHING SUGGESTIONS:

  • I gave boy cards to the boys and girl cards to the girls.
  • Hand out only one Victoria and one Josh card.
  • This activity, including explanation, can take some time - almost all of a 50 minute lesson.
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Submitted by Englipedia Archive July 15, 2019 Estimated time: 30-50 min
  1. rachelay June 11, 2020

    This game was super fun! My Japanese isn't too good, so I printed out some pictures to set the scene and it really helped the students follow along with the premise, filling in their vocabulary gaps. I printed a picture of a bank, two robbers running away with money bags, and a detective. More pictures could definitely be used, but that was plenty for me

  2. emilychampagne June 29, 2020

    Great game! I gave the girl cards to girls and boy cards to boys, but I might switch it up next time because boys and girls rarely talk to each other. Haha.

  3. katiegregory June 9, 2022

    This is a great game! The students really enjoyed it and got a lot of practice in. I randomised the cards and it worked well. Thank you for sharing :)

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