Teacherfiles
Detective Stationery
Inspire your investigators with fun stationery. On the page is colorful, detective-related clipart, lots of lines for writing, and a space to write in a title.
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
Mock Investigation
Students explore detective investigations. In this introduction to mysteries lesson plan, students role play eye witnesses and investigators related to a "crime" committed in their classroom. Students collect evidence and record...
K5 Learning
What Police and Detectives Do
What do police and detectives do to keep their community safe? Six short-answer questions make up a worksheet designed to reinforce reading comprehensions skills while providing information about police officers and detectives.
Curated OER
The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what...
PBS
Crack the Case: History's Toughest Mysteries
Young sleuths don their trench coats, tip their fedoras, and grab their notepads to investigate one of four famous unsolved mysteries. After examining multiple primary and secondary sources related to their cold case, they propose a...
ConnectED
Crime Scene Investigation
How exactly does a crime scene investigation work? The resource, a unit on criminology, covers everything from the deductive reasoning skills needed for detectives to DNA fingerprinting, all the way to how to gather evidence and bring...
Curated OER
Detective Fiction: Focus On Critical Thinking
Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...
PBS
African American History: Honored as Heroes
To gain an understanding of the treatment of African American soldiers during World War I, class members watch an excerpt from the History Detectives film, Our Colored Heroes, and then examine three recruitment posters from that...
Curated OER
Doctors as Detectives
Students consider the investigative and detective work that goes into disease control. They research specific diseases and simulate a doctor-patient diagnosis situation.
Curated OER
CSI Lesson Plans Can Turn Students Into Learning Detectives
Children learn to use the methods of good detection for solving a crime, and even analyzing literature.
Curated OER
Hands-On Investigation!
Learners read, analyze, and solve a mystery using problem-solving skills. They explore the History Detective website, discuss the difference between clues and red herrings, complete a dot-to-dot sheet, take notes in a detective...
PBS
Think Like a Historian: A Viewing Guide
Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...
PBS
Predicting/Making a Hypothesis
As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a...
PBS
Using Primary Sources: The Rogue's Gallery
What would be in your life's scrapbook? Scholars use short video clips, primary and secondary documents, and photos to investigate a 1909 scrapbook. They analyze and uncover what the Rogue Book tells them about the past in Western...
PBS
Family History: Treasure Troves
It's time for show and tell! Scholars investigate historical artifacts to determine what secrets they reveal about the time periods they represent. They then research their own personal artifacts, as well as those from World War I.
PBS
Document This
Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...
PBS
WWII: Detained
Imagine being forced against your will behind barbed wire for doing nothing but being yourself. Scholars investigate the impact Japanese-American internment camps had during World War II. Through video and archival evidence, they create...
PBS
1000 Words
A picture really can speak a thousand words—no matter how old! Scholars become history detectives as they learn how to analyze historical photos and evidence to uncover the past. The fun hands-on activity makes history come alive through...
PBS
Myth of the West: The Battle of the Washita
Go West, young man! Scholars use PBS video clips, slide shows, and interactive materials to create a picture of Manifest Destiny in the American West. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, young historians learn about the...
Mr. Roughton
Cold Case Rome
Pupils are transformed into detectives in the case to solve the motive behind the assassination of Julius Caesar. This resource includes eight engaging "exhibits" of unique primary and secondary sources for students to analyze...
Curated OER
In Cold Blood: A During Reading Activity
Following the method used by Truman Capote, class members research a major character from his novel, In Cold Blood, and then conduct an interview with that character. The resulting research is used to craft a newspaper article about the...
Curated OER
Investigating Jack London's White Fang: Nature and Culture Detectives
Young scholars explore images of the Klondike and read Jack London's White Fang to become culture and nature detectives. In this novel analysis lesson plan, students analyze the setting of the novel and the ways London portrays...
Curated OER
Become a Word Detective
Young scholars investigate the origin of words in the English language. In this language history lesson, students examine words by breaking them down and finding their roots. Young scholars analyze words from a poem and...