CSI ~ End of Year Review

Blogging 3/31/2018

We just completed one of the most fun weeks of the year.  The students enjoy it, it is hands-on review and learning, and it keeps them truly engage and involved for the entire week.  With our standardized test following spring break, this week is an opportunity for us to spend 5 days reviewing with the students, without it being a 'test prep' horror.  

The Premise

We take an empty classroom and create a 'crime scene'.  The kids get to walk through it and determine - crime or accident?  We use this basis for reviewing all standards learned over the sixth grade year.

To start things off, I decorated Room #1113 with Crime Scene tape and a variety of question marks and Sherlock Holmes cut outs around!  I was suitably attired in my CSI costume, and each student received a miniature magnifying glass :)  As students arrived, they were handed a part of a poem, their task was to find the rest of the poem - and VOILA, their group was create!

1. They do a little bit of poetry to start and get minds moving.  They solve riddles and find definitions.

2. They silently walk the lab, looking for evidence.  There are clues to help them if needed.

3. In groups, they determine the 'story' and fill out a plot diagram and create indirect characterization for one character.

4. They film a Flipgrid telling me the story.

5. They collectively write an essay using hyperdoc format.  

   • Thesis

   • Introduction

   • Individual body paragraphs (one per group member)

   • Conclusion

6. Advanced students were challenged with creating a journalistic report of their choice to show me what happened