The boys read Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol. This is now a 51 year old book... and all of the boys loved it.
The girls read Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. Who doesn't like a punny, ridiculous Amelia Bedelia story? She rocks!
When the boys arrived, I handed them each a "Top Secret Detective File" filled with fun mystery-solving tools.
As they moved to the family room, they discovered a crime scene!
They were mystified, incredulous, and skeptical. I had them take notes about the clues they found. Who made this mess? Why?
Meanwhile, we had a celebrity appearance in the living room!
Amelia Bedelia.... in the flesh.... with a pie!!!! It just doesn't get better than this!
Amelia Bedelia read to the girls and I gathered the boys to learn about the Mystery Genre.
We learned about the elements of a mystery and we played a game to help the boys learn some mystery vocabulary words. I read the definitions and the boys had to slap the cards that matched.
We practiced our detective/thinking skills as we read and watched videos of some short mysteries. We also played the "tray game" where the boys studied the objects on a tray and then tried to figure out which ones were taken away. Then, we got back to our crime scene.
The boys had lots of outlandish theories about who made the mess and why. Santa Claus, Jon, and I were the main suspects. The fire place shield was moved over, there was white powdery dust all over the mantle and fireplace, there was a bag of powdered donuts, Jon's shoes were left by the fireplace, Adam's books and some cat toys were laying around, a feather duster sat on the chair, my phone was on the table, and Latin songs were playing on the TV. Which items were real clues and which were red herrings? Evidence was collected, there was some dusting for fingerprints,..... but finally it was a clue from me that allowed the detectives to crack the case.
I finally admitted to them that I had hired some help around the house. I asked my new helper to dust the mantel.
And then they knew....
They went running to the living room, pointing fingers.
It was Amelia Bedelia!
I asked her to dust the mantel and that's what she did....
she put dust (baby powder) all over the mantel!
The mystery was solved and then it was time for pie! The girls made these lovely Amelia Bedelia hats....
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| You may notice.... the girls club has a new member! ;) |
...and shared some yummy pie with everyone.
What a fun afternoon of learning!
Your bookclub looks like to much fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice activity. It's a great way of learning.
ReplyDeleteYou can easily learn when you actually perform it and you enjoy doing it. Nicely done boys and girls!