Description
Help! One of the animals has escaped the zoo, and we need your students’ help to find out which one! Your students will need to complete challenges to get the clues needed to eliminate suspects.
This resource includes 8 low-prep challenges perfect for practising Year 1 maths and phonics skills. Quick and easy setup plus clear student directions make these activities perfect for centres or substitute days, too!
Skills covered include:
- Common long vowels (oo)
- Vowel digraphs (ai, ay)
- Consonant blends (dr, br, gr)
- Addition to 20
- Measurement with informal units
- Skip counting on a number line (from 10s, 100s; counting in 1s, 2s, 5s & 10s)
- Place value (tens & ones)
Students will love completing these fun activities to solve the mystery, and won’t even realise how much they’re learning!
‘The Case of the Escaped Animal’ Mystery pack includes:
- Teacher set-up guide
- ‘The Case of the Escaped Animal’ Case File cover sheet (colour and blackline for students to colour)
- Animal suspect elimination sheet (colour to display and blackline for students)
- Clue envelope labels
- Clues (easy and riddle versions)
- Challenge labels for creating challenge packs
- 8 Challenges (more details below!)
- Student response sheets
- Answer keys
After each challenge, students will receive a clue to eliminate a suspect! You can decide if the clues are given after completing a particular challenge, or given at the completion of one rotation if using this resource in your group rotations.
Some differentiation is provided, with easy and riddle clues, and some different level worksheets, but ultimately, you determine when the clues are revealed.
Prep is quick and easy… Just print the student pages, gather the materials listed, and you’re ready for a fun and engaging mystery!
You may like to create a booklet for students to complete, with the cover sheet and suspect sheet. Students can colour the cover sheet as a fast finisher activity.
The 8 challenges are:
- ‘oo’ Challenge
Student complete an ‘oo’ worksheets that includes letter tracing, completing words, and an ‘oo’ word search.
Curriculum Links
use short vowels, common long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs to write words, and blend these to read one- and two-syllable words
(AC9E1LY11) (RF.1.3)
- Measure-up Challenge
Students measure a range of animals using an informal measurement ruler. They then record the measurements on the recording sheet.
Curriculum Links
measure the length of shapes and objects using informal units, recognising that units need to be uniform and used end-to-end
(AC9M1M02) (1.MD.B)
- Vowel Digraph Challenge
Students sort ‘ai’ and ‘ay’ words using the activity and/or worksheet
Curriculum Links
use short vowels, common long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs to write words, and blend these to read one- and two-syllable words
(AC9E1LY11) (RF.1.3)
- Consonant Blends Challenge
Students complete a consonant blend maze, finding the path of gr, dr and br words within a grid.
Curriculum Links
use short vowels, common long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs to write words, and blend these to read one- and two-syllable words
(AC9E1LY11) (RF.1.3)
- Addition to 20 Challenge
Students complete 5 number wheels, each with 10 addition sums.
Curriculum Links
add and subtract numbers within 20, using physical and virtual materials, part-part-whole knowledge to 10 and a variety of calculation strategies
(AC9M1N04) (1.OA.B)
- Number Line Patterns Challenge
Students use the spinners to determine starting number and number pattern to complete 7 number lines.
Curriculum Links
recognise, continue and create pattern sequences, with numbers, symbols, shapes and objects, formed by skip counting, initially by twos, fives and tens
(AC9M1A01) (2.NBT.A)
- Chatterbox ‘oo’ Challenge
Students trim and colour their own chatterbox to practise reading, sounding out and writing ‘oo’ words.
Curriculum Links
use short vowels, common long vowels, consonant blends and digraphs to write words, and blend these to read one- and two-syllable words
(AC9E1LY11) (RF.1.3)
- Catch the Hippo Place Value Board Game
Students take turns to move around the board – when they land on a space, students read the place value shown and find the matching number to ‘catch’ a hippo. The student who catches the most hippos wins.
Curriculum Links
partition one- and two-digit numbers in different ways using physical and virtual materials, including partitioning two-digit numbers into tens and ones
(AC9M1N02) (1.NBT.B)
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