Year 5 Mystery Story Writing Class

At Léman, our priority is to provide an unparalleled learning experience for our students. Our dedicated teachers strive to come up with innovative and creative ways to engage and inspire their students. This philosophy is exemplified by our Year 5 team who recently transformed a classroom into a crime scene as part of their latest Writing topic: mystery stories. 

The children were greeted by a classroom cordoned off by 'police tape,' and clues that were meticulously placed around the room. With the children working in groups taking on the roles of detectives, they became immersed in the engaging and interactive lesson, while simultaneously honing their communication, collaboration and teamwork skills. 

The immersive and experiential nature of the lesson was designed to encourage the children to use critical thinking skills and apply their problem-solving abilities in an engaging way. The children worked together to piece together evidence from the clues they found, which allowed them to identify potential suspects for the crime. 

Once the crime scene investigation was complete, the lesson continued with a ‘vocabulary focus’, where the children were introduced to key vocabulary and phrases used in mystery stories. Furthermore, the key text features (conventions) of mystery stories were explained to the children, and they practiced identifying and understanding these features by reading a short detective story. 

The children were fully engaged with this lesson and are now eager to learn more about this genre of fiction writing. This exciting Writing topic will culminate in the children applying their newly acquired skills to produce their own creative mystery stories. 

Our Year 5 team’s innovative, inclusive and immersive approach to teaching provides an excellent example of how Léman places students at the centre of their learning journey. At Léman, we are continuously exploring innovative teaching practices to ensure that all of our students receive an outstanding education.  

Class notes and homework of students presentation