Unsolved Mystery Research Project
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- Easel Activity
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Description
This is a research project I have been using with my upper elementary and middle school students that students love! First students choose an unsolved mystery to research from the list of topics included. New in 2023 are two student topic lists. Topic list 1 is for more mature students because the topics are more suited for middle school students and includes 29 topics. Topic list 2 has less mature themes, but are equally interesting and could be used for students at any grade level. This list contains 27 topics, some of which are repeated from Topic List 1.
After students choose their topic, they start to research! Students fill out a graphic organizer organizing their research and complete a research summary. Last, students create a slideshow to orally present their findings. This would be a perfect unit to use as a standalone project or an ongoing project that early finishers could work on.
Included in this project:
-Detailed directions for the teacher in how to implement the project
-An Unsolved Mystery Topic List of over 27 topics divided by difficulty/depth of topic for easy differentiation (included are two topic lists- Topic List 1 (more mature) contains 29 topics; Topic List 2 contains 27 topics)
-A two- page graphic organizer for students to use to complete their research
-An example slideshow (in pdf format and Powerpoint format) that you can present as a teacher to show students what the slideshow should look like as well as show them what a good presentation should look like
-A Student Research Summary Example with directions for students when writing their own research summary
-A handout for students that gives clear directions on what should be included in the slideshow presentation
- A scoring rubric for the Student Research Summary
-A scoring rubric for the Slideshow/Presentation
Now updated to include a link for a Digital Version in Google Slides. Students can work on the project digitally with the link. This student version includes the topic list (you choose either Topic List 1 or Topic List 2), graphic organizer, example slideshow, example student research summary, and rubrics.