Mystery Writing Prompt #11

All of the cookies are gone!


Use this mystery prompt to see what ideas your students come up with about 'what could have happened?' This particular prompt will make for a great writing center activity during the Christmas season.

Continue reading for the visual prompt to go with this, plus lesson suggestions. 

Lesson Suggestions:

• Present the image above to your class. Either show on the Interactive Whiteboard, or print and hang somewhere. If using as an early finisher activity, print and laminate these images as cards to reuse. 
• Either brainstorm as a class or instruct students to think about what could have happened in the image scene. Setting a timer for 'thinking time' helps.
• For this prompt, encourage students to look at the images closely to see if they pick up on anything odd or perhaps a clue to what could have happened. 
• Invite students to share their ideas with the rest of the class to discuss.
• Set a writing task - Instruct students to pretend that they are detectives and must write what they think happened to the cookies. 

Remind everyone that there's no right and wrong, otherwise there would be no room for creative thinking.
To develop this as a writing activity, you could extend it by instructing students to write a full story.

The below video is my original story that goes with this prompt. This is not meant to be a 'correct' answer, but could be a fun way to show what 'actually' happened. 

Prep: Print and laminate the image below into a card to use as an early finisher task or writing center activity.
OR
​Display on the board for a whole class writing activity. ​

Help figure out who is the Selfish Elf!
Continue this fun Christmas activity by getting your students to solve the case! The Case of the Selfish Elf provides lots of math practice and review.  Each clue page will require solving math problems to unlock a hidden message. The message will reveal important information that the students must use, with their powers of deduction, to narrow down a list of possible elf suspects. 

The Math Mystery packet requires no prep, just print, copy and go!

Available in different grade editions, click the links below to see what math skills are covered in each. (Clue swapping across 2nd-7th grade editions allow for customization and differentiation).

1st Grade

5th Grade

2nd Grade

6th Grade

3rd Grade

7th Grade

4th Grade