How to Make Alphabet Work Fun with a Mystery!

On some days, my son was finding the plain old alphabet worksheets a bit dull. Motivating him to practice these important skills became tough. So, to help keep his interest and keep him learning, I decided to design a set of alphabet mysteries for him to develop early foundation skills involving:

• letter recognition 
• letter sounds
• handwriting
• cutting and pasting
• counting
• number recognition
• reading
• and a very easy way to introduce deductive reasoning

Keep on reading to learn more about the new A-Z Letter Detectives series and grab a free Letter Mystery Resource Download too! 

In this post, you will discover what's involved in a Alphabet Mystery resource pack, how to set them up, and how it all works. I'll also include some tips and suggestions for differentiating, and for ways on how to make the mystery extra fun!

I'd like to point out that there's a mystery pack for every letter from
​A-Z; making this an ideal teaching resource for preschool and Kindergarten students to supplement your letter of the week work. 

Preparation

The prep of these mysteries is simple, and the additional materials required are small. 
You will need to:
1. Print the pages of the mystery file (choose between the color edition or b&w edition)
2. Make copies of the Mystery Mission Pages 1-8 as needed for your group
3. Set up a box or bag like a raffle (see image sample below). Paste the printed 'clues' label provided in the download. You will only need to do this once, then you can reuse again for future A-Z Letter Detective Mystery packets. 

4. Cut out your clues (you will need to leave one clue card of your choice out of the mix) and place eight of them in the Clue Box or Bag.
5. Set up your printed Suspects page somewhere in the room where your kids can see. I recommend sticking it up on your board or somewhere around the front of the classroom. 
6. Have the video hook ready for viewing on your IWB to begin the mystery.
7. Decide whether you would like your students to work as a class at the same pace on the mission worksheets, or if you want to use the mission sheets in a rotation. 
​8. Just before solving the mystery at the end, have the Ending Video clip to play on the IWB. 

OPTIONAL to save paper: You may wish to laminate the color copies to save paper and ink to reuse again in the future. Use washable markers for the writing parts and wipe clean with a wet wipe/tissue. For some mission pages,  you will need to cut and store any mission pages that have puzzle pieces. This is ideal for small groups or if you plan to use as centers and rotate.
​
Another option is to only laminate the clue cards and suspect pages for reuse. Then you can stick to paper for the worksheets only.  

Materials your kids will need to complete the activities:

• Pencils
• Scissors
• Glue
• Coloring crayons or pencils

Optional Extras just for fun:

• Magnifying Glass
• Detective Badges/Caps
• Mystery Mission Background Music - Click here for some recommendations. 
• Items or props (that you might have around the house or in your classroom) that go with the mystery to set up as part of the end of the case. For example, at the end of the Case of the Jaguar's Jellybeans, I hid a jar of jellybeans for the kids to find. (See example  photo below.) 

I didn't put too many jellybeans in there because firstly, I don't want the kids to eat too much sugar. Secondly,  I could say that the thief only left a few jellybeans in the jar.


Next, I will go through what is featured in a A-Z Letter Detectives Mystery Packet. You can grab the Letter A Pack free at the end of this post to try with your kids. 

The Mystery Stories & Videos

The mystery stories, from A-Z, follow a repetitive structure to help build early reading skills. After viewing a few videos, you can start to invite kids to read along while watching the video. Especially the intro and concluding sections of the story.  Check out the video hook below for the Letter 'A' Mystery, The Case of the Alien's apples.

I've made all of the A-Z Letter Detectives Mystery Video hooks free to check out. View them all in the Video Library HERE. ​

A written page of the story is included in your download too. 

An extra activity you can do with the videos is to invite students to point out (or highlight on the written page) all of the words beginning with the focus letter. 

The Mystery Thief

In this mystery series, you will be in control of which character you want to make the 'bad guy.' It's easy to do, and I'll explain how below.

Nine suspects will be presented in every case file. See example from the Letter A Mystery below:

You will also be given nine 'clue' cards to prepare.  See example from the Letter A Mystery below:

The clue cards are simple eliminating sentences. Each clue will tell you who is NOT the thief. So, the last suspect remaining on the list IS the thief!

To select which character you want to make the thief in your mystery, simply leave out the clue card for that character.
For example, say I want to make Andy Ant be the apple thief. I will throw away his clue card from my mix of clues for the kids. 

You will then need to cut out the eight clue cards and place them in a 'clue' box or bag. See preparation above in this post. 
Optional idea: If at home, or doing with a small group, you might want to hide the clues for the kids to search for after a 'Mystery Mission Worksheet.' 
​Tip - When I do this with my son, we play spy music in the background to make it extra exciting. 

The Suspects

Every Letter Mystery Case file contains nine suspects. The first couple of times I did this with my son I had to explain to him that the thief could be any one of the suspects on that page. 

We kept the Possible Suspects page printed and pinned to our detective board. When we do this, naturally some kids will try to guess or hope the thief will be a certain character. I ensure to respond to comments like that with,  'We shouldn't judge based on looks or appearances . . . we need evidence to properly solve the case!'

The Clues

There are eight printable worksheets in each mystery packet focusing on various skills, but all based around the focus letter. 

I allow for one clue card to be picked from the 'clue bag' (or to search for a clue card) after a Mystery Mission worksheet is completed.  However, from my experience, I know how crazy a Kindergarten classroom can get! So, I recommend doing the clue selection and elimination of suspects process as a class if doing with a large group of kids. 
​
You can make this work in several ways that suits your teaching style and classroom setup. Here are some suggestions to help get you started:

• Assign so many Mystery Mission Worksheets. When the whole class is finished, call for students to look at the suspects page. Present your clue box/bag and announce how many clues your detectives earned from their hard work. Tip: I make it one clue per worksheet. But, if there are any worksheets in the pack that you want to leave out, you can assign an extra clue whenever you need to instead.)
• Call a student who worked well during the session to pick a clue card (like a raffle) from your clue box/bag.  
• Read aloud the clue card and show your students who they discovered is NOT the thief. Cross that character off the list on a shared classroom board. 

Tip: Unlike my other mysteries for older kids where they do their own eliminating, I recommend for this part of the mystery to be done as a whole class with teacher guidance. 

The Mystery Mission Worksheets

There are eight mystery mission worksheets in each case file. Once your students do a couple of these mystery activities, they will get the hang of what is required of them to do when they complete other Mysteries in the A-Z series. Eventually making this activity a useful option for the sub-tub too; especially if you plan to use regularly.

Each Mission involves some different skills. Check out the overview listing below. The structure is consistent throughout the A-Z Letter Detectives series. 

Mystery Mission 1 
Students must search a picture (see example to the side) for the upper case and lower case of the focus letter. Make it a little bit harder by also requiring your students to count how many they found and write the number. 
Differentiation Tips:

• Verbal count and tell instead of writing.
• Challenge students to see if they can find anything starting with the focus letter on the page. 

In the image below we are working on Mystery Mission 1 in the Letter E Mystery, The Case of the Eagle's Eggs.

Letter E Pack

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Mystery Mission 2
Students are presented with four blank photo boxes as 'evidence.' At the bottom of the page there are eight words with pictures. Students must cut out the four out of eight pictures that begin with their focus letter and paste into their evidence photo frames. 

Mystery Mission 3
The beginning letter is missing on six pictures. Students must trace the focus letter at the bottom of the page, then cut and paste into the empty boxes.

Then, students must pick something they know begins with the focus letter and draw it in the space provided. ​
Differentiation Tips:

• Encourage your child to write the word of what they drew on the blank line. 
• Assist with spelling by writing on a separate piece of paper to copy, or prompt verbally. 
• Instead of cutting and pasting, instruct your child to trace the letters, then write the letter free-hand into the empty boxes. 

Mystery Mission 4

This is my son's favorite page to do; it's an 'I spy' picture hunt. There are a list of words to look for at the bottom of the page, with how many to find. 
Make it extra fun by giving your little detective a magnifying glass to help them search the page!
Differentiating Tips: 

• Make it easier by removing the quantity needed and just request that your little detective find at least one of every item on the list.​
  

Mystery Mission 5
After completing the earlier missions, your students may start to get the idea of what things start with the focus letter. On this page, your Letter Detectives will need to circle (or color if using the B&W version) all of the pictures beginning with the focus letter. 

In the image below we are working on Mission 5 from the Letter B Mystery Packet, The Case of the Banana Bandit. 

Mystery Mission 6
You can prep this by laminating and keeping in a zip-lock bag to do as a quick puzzle OR give your students the opportunity to also work on their fine motor skills with cutting and pasting. Your little detectives will be piecing together a puzzle to reveal a picture of something that begins with the focus letter!

Mystery Mission 7
This mission involves handwriting practice and a picture to draw. 

Mystery Mission 8

The final mission is a letter recognition maze to retrieve the stolen item/s. Your Letter Detectives will start at the bottom and can only move horizontally or vertically through boxes marked with the focus letter to reach the item/s. 

After completing all eight missions, ensure that all eight clues are awarded to eliminate eight of the suspects from your list. The last character remaining not crossed out is the thief! 

Optional Extras at the End of the Mystery

To make it fun and rewarding at the end of solving the mystery, here are some extras you can do to celebrate:

• In the download, there's a page where you can cut out the thief and paste the picture in jail.

• There's also a short video clip for the end that kids can watch. Because you are able to choose the thief, I've had to leave seeing the thief out of the video. However, you can use the cut out from the above page and place on the board if your students want to feel like they are putting the culprit in jail. 
• In the packet download, you can print out the awards and give to your Letter Detectives for their awesome work solving the case!

I hope to write more about ways to implement these alphabet resources in your classroom or at home. The more I've been using them, the more ideas I've been experimenting with to amp up the fun level. 

The A-Z Letter Detectives resources are easy and flexible to work with to suit your style and needs too. Once you and your kids do them a couple of times, implementation gets easier and your detectives will be pros at solving cases in no time at all!

Grab the Letter A Mystery Packet FREE!

Letter A Activities Mystery! The Case of the Alien's Apples

$0.00

Letter A Worksheet Activities combined with a fun mystery to engage and motivate your students!

This NEW A-Z Letter Detectives series is aimed for Preschool and Kindergarten students to work on:

• Letter recognition (upper case and lower case) /Aa/
• Beginning Sounds of /Aa/
• Words beginning with the letter /Aa/
• Counting (1-10 range only)
• Fine motor skills
• Handwriting (Aa)
• Drawing

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Collect the whole A-Z Series Here!

Letter A Activities Mystery! The Case of the Alien's Apples

$0.00

Letter A Worksheet Activities combined with a fun mystery to engage and motivate your students!

This NEW A-Z Letter Detectives series is aimed for Preschool and Kindergarten students to work on:

• Letter recognition (upper case and lower case) /Aa/
• Beginning Sounds of /Aa/
• Words beginning with the letter /Aa/
• Counting (1-10 range only)
• Fine motor skills
• Handwriting (Aa)
• Drawing

Shop

Letter B Mystery Activities - The Case of the Banana Bandit

$3.50

Letter B worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

In your download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads (one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter C Worksheets with a Mystery! - The Case of the Cat's Cookies

$3.50

Letter C worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

In your download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads (one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter D Worksheets with a Mystery! The Case of the Dragon's Diamonds

$3.50

Letter D worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

In your download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads (one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter E Worksheets - Alphabet Activities and Mysteries

$3.50

Letter E worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter F Activities and Worksheets - Alphabet Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter F worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!


In your download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads
(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter G Activities and Worksheets with a Mystery

$3.50

Letter G worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter H Activities and Worksheets - Alphabet Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter H worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter I Activities and Worksheets - Alphabet Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter I worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter J Worksheets: A-Z Letter Detectives Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter J worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter K Worksheets: A-Z Letter Detectives Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter K worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

In your download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

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Letter L Worksheets: A-Z Letter Detectives Mystery Series

$3.50

Letter L worksheets and activities wrapped up in a fun mystery!

 

Inyour download you will receive a video hook mystery story, two pdf downloads

(one color and one black & white), and a short ending video clip.

Shop