Adding some fun background music while completing a math or reading mystery can create a positive working atmosphere in the classroom. Your student detectives will feel more immersed in the mystery task and, hopefully, be more motivated to persevere through the more challenging questions and puzzles. Like a workout, the type of music you choose to go with the rhythm of the activity is important. So, in this blog post, I've rounded up some music track suggestions, from YouTube, for you to readily find and play when doing a mystery activity at home or in the classroom. 

For ELA based mysteries, I developed two different series that are structured differently:
- The Once Upon a Crime Reading Mysteries
AND
- The Private Eye CSI Literacy Mysteries

I'm often asked what's the difference between the two, so I thought this week it would be helpful to write a post to explain the difference and show samples from each type of resource. 

With Earth Day around the corner, some of you may be doing the Earth Day Math Mystery, the Case of the Litterbug, as part of your themed math sessions. It's been around for a few years, and I've noticed every year some get confused with the tricky message revealed in CLUE 1. So, this year, I thought I'd write a short guide in the thinking process of this clue to help if it becomes too tricky or causes confusion. 

While I love seeing the kids excited for Easter it can be a stressful time to get them to focus on their learning. How can you compete with all the excitement the Easter rush brings?  Well if you can’t beat it, join it!

There are LOADS of low-cost Easter props that can make great facilitators for learning and transforming the classroom.
 
Why not take your math class out of the classroom and turn the ‘Case of the Egg Thief’ into an Easter Egg Hunt. All the props used in this post were sourced from K-Mart or the Dollar Shop.

Add some Easter check points for each of the five clues and scatter some egg wrappings to set the scene. Students collect a clue worksheet at each checkpoint to complete. They can only move to the next clue checkpoint after showing that they have discovered the clue from that worksheet. 

P.S: Someone’s got to create that wrapper trail. Let’s face it, we all know who the real Egg Thief is! 
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Sometimes students need to be reminded that the answer to a problem isn't going to magically appear. They must work for it. Just because something is difficult to grasp doesn't mean it is impossible to understand! This is something I not only need to consistently reinforce with students, but with myself and my own learning. 
This week I have collected eight educational quotes to hang in the classroom that will motivate any struggling or unmotivated students! 

​Brain breaks are such an excellent way to get restless students out of their seats and moving!  I’ve found that brain breaks do wonders for refocusing my students’ attention and helps get them ready to begin a new lesson. Keeping brain breaks thematic makes it even more fun for everyone. Below I have collected my top five Easter brain break videos that  will get the students hopping with excitement this Spring! Simply play these videos on your Smart Board and press play! I hope this gets the students in the Easter spirit!