Students will immerse themselves in an interactive mystery game on ThingLink, where they must collaborate to solve a murder case.
They will answer questions and complete puzzles to uncover clues and discover who the killer is.
Target Age: 6th grade - 11/12 years old
Target Language Level (Based on CEFR): A2
Location: Classroom
Reception (p. 56):
Students decipher meaning from brief texts and puzzles and comprehend oral and written cues.
Interaction (p. 83):
Students work together to solve the case, negotiate, and share ideas.
Mediation (p. 105):
Students provide their teammates with a summary of hints and an English explanation of their reasons.
Students will be able to:
Comprehend and finish brief English exercises (hangman, riddles, fill in the gap.
Make use of the target vocabulary associated with deduction, mystery and crime.
Using modal verbs of speculation, such as "It might be", "I think it was", discuss and reach to conclusion on logical conclusions.
Clearly state their ultimate hypothesis in English.
Link to Thinglink
Laptop or tablet
These are the instructions the teacher will give the students when the teacher has set up all of the equipment.
STORY CONTEXT:
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE MODULE
It was a Monday morning at the Faculty of Education, UAB.
Four friends, Arnau, Fàtima, Laia, and Norah, were getting ready for their final school project about teamwork.
They had planned to meet at the Plaza of the Olive Trees to finish everything before turning it in.
But when everyone arrived… Arnau wasn’t there.
“He’s probably in the Blue Module, checking the papers,” Norah said.
So Fàtima and Laia went to look for him.
When they entered the hallway of the Blue Module, the lights were dim and flickering. The place felt quiet and strange.
Then they saw something on the floor.
Arnau was lying still next to a broken cup and a folder with papers all over the ground.
There was also a note written in blue pen:
“Someone had to do it. I couldn’t let it keep going.”
The girls froze. Something terrible had happened to Arnau.
Pre-task: Before starting the activity, students will receive a brief contextualization of the story: a mysterious crime has occurred, and Arnau has been found dead. The students have to take on the role of investigators and work to find out what went wrong. They will read the case's introduction, learn about potential suspects, and familiarise themselves with the game's setting during this initial phase. Activating prior knowledge, igniting curiosity, and preparing them for the challenge ahead are the objectives of the pre-task.
Main activity: Students will access an interactive Thinglink during the main activity, where they will discover various locations and case-related items. They will investigate the pictures, access interactive elements, gather hints, examine testimonials, and interpret hidden messages by following the given instructions. They will get closer to cracking the case with each hint. Students will collaborate to identify Arnau's killer by exchanging theories, analysing the data they find, and applying logic.
After-task: After the investigation is over, each group will present their findings and provide an explanation of how they identified the offender. Students will be urged to reflect on the process in this last phase, taking into account their teamwork, information-gathering techniques, and capacity to defend their conclusions. Lastly, the case's solution will be disclosed, and the activity's main learning objectives will be covered.