mystery activity Archives - English, Oh My! https://www.englishohmy.com/product-tag/mystery-activity/ engaging, exciting resources for the English language arts student & teacher Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:14:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 https://www.englishohmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cropped-Favicon-32x32.png mystery activity Archives - English, Oh My! https://www.englishohmy.com/product-tag/mystery-activity/ 32 32 The Mystery of Your New Teacher Back to School Activity https://www.englishohmy.com/product/the-mystery-of-your-new-teacher-back-to-school-activity/ https://www.englishohmy.com/product/the-mystery-of-your-new-teacher-back-to-school-activity/#respond Sun, 13 Jul 2025 20:56:00 +0000 https://www.englishohmy.com/?post_type=product&p=24898 This no-prep activity is perfect for middle school and early high school ELA classrooms. Students work in pairs to analyze clues, piece together evidence, and uncover who their new teacher really is beyond the classroom. It’s the perfect way to kick off the year with ELA skill-building, classroom community, and a little mystery.

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Looking for a fun and engaging back-to-school activity that’s more than just an icebreaker? The Mystery of Your New Teacher Back to School Activity is a critical-thinking challenge that gets students collaborating, inferring, drawing conclusions, and solving a mystery—all while getting to know YOU!

This no-prep activity is perfect for middle school and early high school ELA classrooms. Students work in pairs to analyze clues, piece together evidence, and uncover who their new teacher really is beyond the classroom. It’s the perfect way to kick off the year with ELA skill-building, classroom community, and a little mystery.

This Back-to-School Activity is Perfect for:

  • First day or first week of school
  • Middle school ELA and reading classes
  • Creative icebreakers for grades 5–9
  • Building foundational reading skills (inference, conclusions, synthesis)

Skills Students Will Practice:

  • Making Inferences using text and images
  • Drawing Logical Conclusions based on evidence
  • Critical Thinking & Collaboration
  • Analyzing clues across multiple formats (written, visual, riddles)
  • Building classroom culture through curiosity and connection

What’s Included in the New Teacher Mystery Back-to-School Activity:

✅ Full Lesson Plan with pacing, objectives, and post-activity discussion


*Pre-Activity Instructions for classroom setup and flexible delivery


✅ Editable 8-Page Student Clue Packet-Canva & Google Slides
– Backpack Evidence
– Text Message Transcript
– Mystery Poster
– Riddle Clue
– Music Playlist Puzzle
– Reading Passage
– Context Clue Challenge
– Final Teacher Profile Sheet


* Editable Exit Ticket


✅ Questions & Answers / Teacher FAQ Page


*Canva & Google Slides Versions</strong> for print or digital use


✅ Designed for Grades 5–9 (easily adjustable for 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th grade)

 

Why Teachers Love This Activity:

  • No prep required—just print, pass out, and go!
  • Encourages deep thinking on day one
  • Builds rapport and student curiosity about their new teacher
  • Aligned with ELA standards (inference, analysis, comprehension)
  • Fully editable to reflect your personality, humor, and teaching style
  • Flexible for use with desk pairs or station rotation

 

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]]> https://www.englishohmy.com/product/the-mystery-of-your-new-teacher-back-to-school-activity/feed/ 0 Back to School ELA Mystery https://www.englishohmy.com/product/back-to-school-ela-mystery-back-to-school-activity/ https://www.englishohmy.com/product/back-to-school-ela-mystery-back-to-school-activity/#respond Thu, 18 Aug 2022 03:00:29 +0000 https://www.englishohmy.com/?post_type=product&p=20320 This Back to School ELA Mystery is the perfect activity to give your students during the first few weeks of school, so they can review their ELA skills. Your students will solve activities that include literary terms, figurative language, grammar, and commonly misspelled words, in order to figure out who kidnapped the principal. In this product, your […]

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]]> This Back to School ELA Mystery is the perfect activity to give your students during the first few weeks of school, so they can review their ELA skills. Your students will solve activities that include literary terms, figurative language, grammar, and commonly misspelled words, in order to figure out who kidnapped the principal.

In this product, your students will receive a list of suspects who possibly kidnapped the principal on the first day of school just in time for the Back to School assembly. The students will be asked to solve four clues in order to solve the mystery.

This product is perfect for…

*Group Activities

*ELA Skills Review

*Independent Work

*Stations & Centers

*Engaging Competition

In this product, you will receive:

1. Directions for the Teacher

2. PDF & Digital Version of the Activity

3. Answer Key

What other teachers like you have said about these mysteries…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Catherine W said, I had purchased this to fill in in March but we ended up with so many weather days I set it aside. In the last week of school, we had time to try it. The students really enjoyed the different approaches and figuring out all the bits of each puzzle. THANK you!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kris’s Classroom said, My students, LOVED this assignment!! They were engaged the entire time!! Thank you for making a fun, creative, and rigorous activity for the students!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ JoAnn W said, I love this resource! I used this with my 8th graders on a few wonky school days around the testing season. The puzzles were challenging but manageable, and my students really enjoyed narrowing down the list of suspects over time.

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Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

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]]> https://www.englishohmy.com/product/back-to-school-ela-mystery-back-to-school-activity/feed/ 0 “Is There a Traitor Among Us?” Digital Escape Room https://www.englishohmy.com/product/is-there-a-traitor-among-us-digital-escape-room/ https://www.englishohmy.com/product/is-there-a-traitor-among-us-digital-escape-room/#respond Mon, 14 Dec 2020 00:10:43 +0000 https://www.englishohmy.com/?post_type=product&p=17158 Is there a traitor among us? Among Us™ is what our kids are raging about right now, in and out of the classroom.  They absolutely LOVE this game, so why not incorporate it into the classroom while practicing reading comprehension?  Kids are really engaged in relevant information, and this cannot get any more relevant! Are you getting ready for state testing or just want to review some reading comprehension skills, figurative language and grammar skills? This is it!

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]]> Can your class solve this engaging digital escape® room? This “Is there a traitor among us?” Escape Room is designed around the theme of the highly acclaimed, popular video game that all the kids are playing right now! Can your class solve this engaging digital escape room? Kids are really engaged in relevant information, and this cannot get any more relevant! Your students will be reviewing figurative language, main idea, words in context, grammar, and other important ELA skills.

This escape room covers the following reading comprehension skills:

  • Main Idea
  • Fact & Opinion
  • Figurative Language
  • Literary Terms
  • Words in Context
  • Homophones
  • Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

These activities are perfect to use in…

  • Groups and collaboration
  • Review for state testing
  • Reviewing figurative language
  • Practicing reading comprehension

In this digital escape room, the students are crewmates on the spaceship, and they are heading to Venus for a very important mission.  However, someone is trying to sabotage the mission.  The students have to figure out who it is by solving clues, puzzles, and activities.

**There is no killing or hurting of others in this escape room. It is just a fun old game of cat and mouse!***

What are the positive aspects of a Digital Escape®?

  1. It is NO-PREP! There is nothing to make, print, cut, laminate, clues to hide, buy, or locks to set. Everything is ready for your students on the Google Slide!
  2. Students will encounter multiple-choice questions, as well as a word reveal.
  3. Your students will solve puzzles, cyphers, and clues to open the lockbox!
  4. All you have to do is share the link with your students or assign the link in GOOGLE Classroom.
  5. You can have your students complete this on Chrome Books, on an IPad, or in a computer lab.

In this product, you will receive:

1. Instructions & Digital Links (Updated 2023-NEW PLATFORM!)

2. Detailed walk-through of the entire escape room

***This escape room uses a special platform to host the activity. Please click HERE to test out an escape room and elements that are included in the activity. I also use Puzel.org. Please also test this site to make sure your students can access the activities***

 

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Click HERE to become my latest follower. You will then receive customized email updates about this store.

Join my AMAZING SECONDARY ELA MASTERMIND FB GROUP, and collaborate with ELA teachers who are like-minded!

How would you like 5 ELA & Classroom Resources for ABSOLUTELY FREE?☆

Grab these ABSOLUTELY FREE PRODUCTS RIGHT HERE: FREE PRODUCTS ⭐

✏️ FEEDBACK ✏️

I greatly appreciate your FIVE-STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ feedback, and it helps you build points to use towards FREE TPT purchases!

I greatly appreciate your feedback, as I take great pride in my work.  If you have any issues with the product, please contact me BEFORE leaving feedback.  I greatly appreciate you! Email me at englishohmy@gmail.com.

——————————————————–

Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

-Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

-Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

FOLLOW ME!

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

PINTEREST

BLOG

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