Introducing the NEw Thanksgiving Thief Digital Game!

Is your classroom transitioning to being paperless? Is your school encouraging more use of technology?  Over the past year, I've been working on building digital mystery options to start a new line that will help teachers cater for their classrooms if technology resources are needed. These mystery games take me a while to make, so at the moment I don't have too many available. But, this week I'd like to share with you my latest digital mystery creation for the Thanksgiving season, The Case of the Thanksgiving Thief! I'll include a free trial so that you can see how it works. It might be a fun option to keep your students engaged and learning in the build up to the holiday break!

The Mystery Game Structure

Like with my paper math mysteries, the CSI Digital Mystery Math Games also start with a video hook. Check out the intro story for the Case of the Thanksgiving Thief below:

Then the game continues clue by clue. Each clue involves answering a series of math questions to crack a code which will reveal an important piece of information. 

The clues will require your students to carefully think about which suspects they can eliminate from the list of characters. 

At the end of each successful elimination round, a password will be revealed. This password will be the key to unlocking the link provided for the next clue! Making these CSI Digital Mystery Games a fun paperless way to set up an escape room. 

At the end of clue 5, students will need to select which character is the Thanksgiving thief! This will unlock a bonus game round, with yes more math! Once completed, an ending video-clip will wrap up the story! 

Implementation Suggestions

You can use the Digital Mystery Game, The Case of the Thanksgiving Thief, a few ways in your classroom. Here are a few suggestions:

• Set the game as an individual/pairs task for students to complete on their tablets, Chromebooks, PCs, or any other device you might be using (test with the free trial).
• Set a timer for students to aim to beat to solve the mystery. You can do this by breaking it up clue by clue, or for the whole mystery at once. I recommend 45 minutes to aim to complete the game. 
• Turn it into a competition for students to race through and see who can solve the mystery first! 
• OR complete as a class on the IWB by taking turns to answer questions. 

TechnicalThe Digital Mystery Game should work on any device with a stable Internet connection. Cookies must be enabled too!

Here's a FREE clue trial from LEVEL 1 of the Thanksgiving Thief Game for you to see if it works on your device:
>>CLICK HERE<< to access CLUE 1 from the LEVEL 1 version
The Password is turkey362
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Encountered technical errors? Try the following first:
- Clear your cache and browsing history
- Ensure Cookies are enabled
- Is your Internet connection steady?
- Could your firewall be blocking the link? 

Differentiation

There are three math levels provided in the packet of this Thanksgiving Thief game. Select a level of difficulty that suits your students best. The mystery outcome in each level of these digital mysteries is different (but that also means clues cannot be swapped like with the paper mysteries). 

Here's an outline of math skills involved in each of the levels of the Case of the Thanksgiving Thief Math Mystery Game:

LEVEL 1

• Clue 1: Triple-digit addition with no regrouping
• Clue 2: Matching fractions to fraction models
• Clue 3: Triple-Digit subtraction with no regrouping
• Clue 4: Identify 2D shapes
• Clue 5: Place Value Models (Hundreds, Tens, Ones)
• Bonus ending round - Mental Math (Double-digit addition and subtraction)

LEVEL 2

• Clue 1: Addition with regrouping (four-digit numbers)
• Clue 2: Reducing Fractions to lowest Terms (simplifying fractions)
• Clue 3: Subtraction with regrouping (four-digit numbers)
• Clue 4: Identify 3D shapes
• Clue 5: Write the value of the underlined digit - up to hundred thousands place value
• Bonus ending round - Mental Math Mix of Times Tables (Facts 1-12)

LEVEL 3

• Clue 1: Adding & Subtracting Decimals
• Clue 2: Finding the Equivalent Fraction
• Clue 3: Order of Operations (Some given with brackets, some without)
• Clue 4: Divide double/triple-digit numbers by single-digit numbers with remainders
• Clue 5: Read decimals written in word form and match with their numerical form.
• Bonus ending round - Mental Math Mix of multiplying decimals by ten

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Sharing with Students
I'm still fine-tuning this and keen to take on any constructive feedback when possible. At this stage there are a few ways you may choose to share the game with your students:

• Upload the Student Copy PDF file to a classroom shared drive, cloud or Dropbox where all students can access the PDF file.
• Email the PDF file to your students to obtain a copy
• Use the QR codes provided for students to scan. These can be printed or shown on the IWB for students to scan from.
• Do as a class on the IWB with your access to the links only.
• If all of the above fails, you can send an email to me and we can try to resolve the issue.

Try a piece of the game free and see if it works for you. I'd love to know what you think or any constructive feedback you might have on it. 
Thanks for reading!​

​>>CLICK HERE<< to access CLUE 1 from the LEVEL 1 version
The Password is turkey362

Find the FULL Thanksgiving Math Mystery Game HERE
Did you like the trial? Do you see this something that your students will have fun doing while sneaking in lots of math practice? Do you think this will keep your kids learning and engaged in the few days building up to Thanksgiving? If you liked it, you can purchase the full game (with three different math levels) on my Teachers Pay Teachers store HERE.
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Buy the Game