Christmas Mystery Activity - Missing Reindeer ELA Skills Holiday Class Activity
Christmas Mystery Activity - Missing Reindeer ELA Skills Holiday Class Activity: Use this engaging Christmas mystery activity to assess your students' understanding of basic ELA skills like spelling, homophones, punctuation, figurative language, and parts of speech, while trying to solve the mystery of who kidnapped Dasher!
In this activity, students will take on the role of detective to solve the mystery of a kidnapped reindeer. Students must circulate the room in groups finding clues and solving ELA tasks to reveal information about the suspects, locations, and methods of the crime to ultimately find Dasher!
The best part is that your purchase comes with a hand-drawn video, created by the talented John Spencer, that introduces the activity to hook students in! Watch the preview video above to get a sneak peek of the video included and download the preview to get a closer look at the materials you can use to implement the Christmas activity in your classroom.
This is included in our popular holiday bundle:
>>> Christmas Video Activities Bundle
How Does the Christmas Mystery Activity Work?
- Students watch a hand-drawn video that tells the back story of Dasher's disappearance and goes through each of the possible suspects, locations, and motives! This video is highly engaging and will hook your students immediately. Watch the video preview on the product page to get a sneak peek.
- Students circulate the room in groups trying to find the hidden cards. When they find them, they must solve ELA-related tasks to reveal clues to help them solve the mystery
- Students keep track of their work in their detective booklet! Once they feel they have figured out the suspect, location, and method, they yell out, "We have solved the mystery!" Was it Fred Frosty in the stable with a carrot and net? Or, perhaps it was Gina Gingerbread at the cocoa station trapping Dasher in Santa's gift bag!
What's Included in the Christmas Mystery Activity?
➡️ Hand-Drawn Introductory Video: Use this engaging hand-drawn introductory video by John Spencer (1min 43sec) to set up the Christmas mystery and introduce the suspects, locations and motives. This will totally hook your students into the activity.
➡️ Detailed Teacher Instructions: Feel totally confident setting up and implementing this activity in your classroom with these detailed teacher instructions.
➡️ Introductory Slideshow: Use these slides to introduce the activity to students and walk them through the process, so they know exactly what to do during the Christmas mystery activity.
➡️ Dasher is Missing Classroom Poster: Build anticipation for the activity by putting this Dasher is Missing classroom poster up on your door as students enter.
➡️ Dasher is Missing Clue Cards: Each of these clue cards has students work with a different ELA skill to uncover information about the suspects, locations, and motives. The different skills addressed are:
- Spelling
- Homophones
- Commas
- Hyperbole
- Metaphor
- Simile
- Personification
- Adjectives
- Apostrophes
- Personification
- Capitalization
➡️ Student Response Booklet: While students circulate the room and complete the different Christmas mystery activities, they will record what they learn about each suspect in this eye-catching booklet.
➡️ Detailed Answer Key: Use the included answer key booklet and mystery solution answer key to help you review this activity with students when they are done. Answers are provided for each of the ELA skills on the clue cards.
This activity is highly engaging, but it also addresses many core standards. They will be having fun and learning, which is always a win-win!
© Presto Plans © John Spencer
➡️ Want 10 free ELA resources sent to your inbox? Click here!
The videos and resources in this purchase are for single-classroom use and are not to be uploaded to the Internet in any format without permission from the creators. Please contact prestoplans@gmail.com if you require more information.