Suspect

Submitted by: Patrick Bickford    Borrowed or inspired from: Stacia Wagner     Date added: 10-23-07

Brief Outline:  A famous person(s) stole Kumi Koda’s (Japanese singer) cake from her locker. Students interview the famous people to uncover the culprit.

Materials Needed:

Preparation Needed:

Teaching Suggestions:

• Write a story that accompanies the game. Read the story BEFORE asking for volunteers. This might help set the atmosphere for the game.
  • Story: “Ms. Kumi Koda (Japanese singer) made a white cake yesterday. She put it in her locker at 8 o’clock. At 1 o’clock, she opened her locker. There was NO CAKE in her locker! There was a red pen in her locker, a blue toothbrush on her locker and a black hat by her locker. Where is Kumi’s cake? Interview the five famous people. They are Bump of Chicken, Boa, Masami Nagasa, Yon Sanma and Mr. Children. Where is the cake? Please help!"

Detailed Explanation:

1. There are two rounds to this game.  The first round is played with famous people in Japan, and the second round is played by using the winners of the first round.
2.  
   For the first round, ask five students to play the role of the famous people. These students are the five suspects that stole the cake.
3. Divide the rest of the class into groups of 3-5 students. Each student receives a blank question grid.
4. One teacher stays in the room and explains the question grid. This group practice asking the questions on their worksheets.
5. The other teacher takes the five volunteers into the hall and explains that each student is a different character – Bump of Chicken (Japanese music group), Boa (Japanese singer), Masami Nagasa (Korean actress), Yon Sanma (Korean actress), and Mr. Children (Japanese music group). Each student receives a character card and practices reading it.
6. Bring the volunteers back into the classroom, introduce the characters and have them go the four corners of the room and one student remains in the front of the class.
7. One student stays at their group’s desk to write down the findings of their group.
8. Begin the game by sending the members of each team out to ask questions to each of these the characters.
9. The first group to figure out the criminal and correctly tell the ALT/JTE is the winner. However, while they are waiting for the other teams to finish, have them fill in the rest of their grids. This team becomes the suspects in round two. There are five suspects in round two, so you and/or the JTE might need to join into the game for the second round.

Variations and Options:

• N/A

Tips or Cautions:

• Students might try and ask more than one question at a time. Only allow them to ask one question at a time then go back and explain the answer to the student writing down the answers.

Attachments: