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. 

I developed math mysteries to be versatile in their use. After being in a teaching role that involved seeing 220 different kids a week across K-6, I initially made this math mystery range to be something that I could quickly prepare, engage, teach,  be mostly self-correcting, and quick to pack up before heading onto the next classroom.. So, if you've seen these math mysteries and ever wondered what you can use them for, keep on reading. 

We've listened to your feedback and decided it was time to give the Case of the Divided Dragons video hook a fresh new makeover. We think this new introductory video will help engage and motivate your students to use their division and problem solving skills to find the guilty dragon in this math mystery! Read on to check out the new video for the Division Skills focused math mystery - the Case of the Divided Dragons.

Math Detectives, we need your help!
If you are looking for a winter themed math activity that will engage and motivate your kids to do math this chilly season, the Case of the Snowman Army will capture their attention and educate along the way! Ideal for a seasonal math spiral review, continue reading to take a sneak peek what's inside this C.S.I. packet that will require your math detectives to save the day!

When using any of the math mystery resources from my range as a class activity, I recommend pacing the case clue by clue rather than giving your students all of the five clue worksheets in one go. By pacing the clues, it will stop some students from racing too far ahead of the rest, while others are left behind.  Turning a math mystery into a competition has its benefits, and certainly is still a fine approach to using these if you prefer to give all five clues in a booklet format for students to work on at their own pace. However, in this post, I aim to outline five tips with suggestions that will help set up ALL of your students for math mystery success!

A few of the mysteries in my Math Mystery range are structured differently by following a 5 W's Case File Format. These are particularly useful for younger students or special needs. In this post:

• I will be showing you the new little 'logo' marked on these packets so that you can easily identify that a particular math mystery packet follows this 5w's structure.
• A quick guide on grade levels and suitability.
• I will also outline how these math mysteries work and differ to the other math mysteries in my range..
• Plus, I will show you where you can download one for free to check out and try.

NEW 5 W's  LOGO LABEL ON COVERS
To enable you to quickly identify if a math mystery follows this 5 W's structure, I've added a new little logo somewhere on the covers. If this is the type of math mystery structure you would prefer to use with your kids, keep an eye out for this little image below: