4th+Grade Mystery+Skype

Would you like to join us on a MYSTERY SEARCH for what state or country you are from? This is going to be a great experience for our students. If you are not 4th grade,[| click here] for contacts for other grade levels!! Here is how it works in 11 easy steps: 1. Sign up to be part of our project for the 2015-2016 school year.[|Click Here] To Sign Up!

2. [|Click here] to go to the Google Google Sheet to view 4th Grade Mystery Skypers contact info.

3. Contact teachers from link above to set up a SKYPE day and time.

4. In the meantime, have your students come up with at least 10 great clues about your state ranging from easy to hard. Make sure to stress to your students that the clues need to be fact based and well researched. You want to make sure you include topography. Great beginning clues would be who the Governor is or showing a picture of the state capitol. [|Click here for a Mystery State worksheet to have your students fill out].

5. Have a student or a group work on a short paper on your state. This informational paper should talk about your state, a little history, topography, favorite destinations, fun facts, famous people, etc. This will be shared when your state is revealed to the other class.

6. [|Here] are some great beginning questions to ask the other class during the Skype call. Have [|student roles] during the SKYPE call. Have note takers and if you have more than one computer in your classroom - have student researchers who can start researching clues from the other class that you get during the call.

7. Decide beforehand with the other teacher if you want your students to guess the "Mystery State" before the end of the call, or, take the clues and have a follow-up SKYPE call where each class will get a chance to guess the "Mystery State." You may also want to talk about the rules, do you want your class to continue asking questions until you get a "no" answer, or simply take turns asking questions?

8. Have a student or students read your informational essay on your state once the state is revealed.

9. You can reuse all of this material for your next call, or, anyone who didn't get a chance to contribute this time can contribute their essay or clues for the next call.

10. Follow up with the teacher you worked with - what a great way to form new classroom collaboration on another project!

11. Contact us to let us know how your project went!