Murder in Gorky Park - a mystery in the Past Simple

My 9-11 year olds have been learning the Past Simple and have become so expert in the past forms that we are now beginning to hear things like, "Did you went...?", "What did you ate...?", so I decided it was time to focus less on the verb form and more on the question form. This activity is based on six students but is adaptable for more, and requires a role card for each student and a table in which to collect their findings.

Lead-in: I asked, "What did you do at the weekend?" We had a brief discussion. Then I announced that there had been a murder at the weekend in Gorky Park. "Ooooh!" "And you were all in Gorky Park at the weekend, so the murderer is one of you!" (Lots of giggles)

Grammar Focus: I told the students that they were going to interview each other to find out who had been where at the time of the murder. Because I wanted to focus on the question forms, I had the students complete questions with the correct verb forms, eg. What time .... you ........ (arrive)? Just in case, we verbally drilled the answer form too.

Task: Each student had a role card with information about the time they arrived and left the park, the colour of their cap and shorts, what they took with them and where they were exactly in the park. Nowhere on the cards did it say who the murderer was. They asked each student the same questions and filled the information in to a table.

Conclusion: When all students had a completed table, I asked them to look at their information and compare it with the police's description of the murderers. To make it more interesting for the students, I had two murderers. I then read out that the murderer had been wearing a red cap and blue shorts, had been standing by the fountain etc. Following the facts they had collected, the students were able to work out who the murderers were.

As the students were mingling, they initially relied on the pre-prepared questions, but with time they started asking the questions freely (and correctly). The whole activity took about 25 minutes and provided a fun drill alternative. Since this class, the kids have repeatedly asked me if they could play 'The Murder Game' again. The task is adaptable for different grammar points and topics. We have since played: Who will win the lottery? (Future Simple) and Who is hiding the Leprechaun? (St. Patrik's Day)