Thursday, July 26, 2012
Professor Plumb Murder Mystery Activity -- Past Modals for Specualtion
For a high-intermediate grammar class, I used the power point presentation and the worksheet that follows to create a context in which students can use modals plus the present perfect to talk about past speculations. Students listen to the power point, which tells a murder mystery story. While they listen, they take notes on the four suspects in the case. After they've taken notes, they write sentences that make speculations about "who done it." Lively class discussion follows. I used this over the past two days in class, and it was really fun. I suggest dividing it into two days to leave students wondering who the real murder is. Enjoy! If you use it, let me know how it works. I'd love to get feedback.
P.S. As an expansion activity, I used www.polleverywhere.com to create online polls. Each poll contained a modal plus present perfect sentence that speculated about the murder mystery. Students could vote whether they agreed or disagreed with the speculative statement via text message or email on these polls. Students enjoyed being allowed to use their phones in class! I highly recommend this as an expansion activity.
Professor Plumb Murder Mystery Activity.docx
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i cant get the sound to play. any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for the idea! One question - what's the solution? Who did it?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it. The solution is up to you, but I'll tell you what I usually tell my students: SPOILER ALERT! -- the professor was killed by the ice that fell from his roof after he slammed his office door shut. This produced a lot of groans from my students, but it also really fueled them to continue asking questions and utilizing past modals.
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