Mystery Person is a writing activity that I adopted from another teach while doing her maternity leave. It's a great way to introduce the aspects of letter writing to kids. The kids love it and it gets them writing :)
In September I give out a piece of paper and have each student fill it out with their information. The data collected is used to identify the mystery person each time. (You can find the sheet at the link below).
*A friendly tip after doing this for a few years - make sure you read over the answers once they are handed it and check to make sure you can understand all answers - most kids don't remember what they wrote in September when you have to ask them in March :)
Once I have had each child fill out the information needed and put their name on the back, I keep all the pieces of paper in a file folder for future reference. Another piece of the mystery person that is needed are posters to keep in the room so students can read the clues about the mystery person. (See photo below)
I have attached a link to download the posters, once printed I glued them onto coloured paper and laminated them so I could write each time with a dry erase marker. If you are unable to laminate you could also put inside a page protector and write with a dry erase marker.
So, how to actually implement mystery person!
I did mine every other Monday but depending how many students you have in your class you may need to adjust (by the end of the year I was trying to fit everyone in).
Before class begins I take out a students information sheet and I fill their answers onto the "Mystery Person Posters". Once it is writing time for the day I direct the students attention to the Mystery Person Board and I read all the clues aloud. After reading the clues, I go around the room and ask everyone for their guess as to who the mystery person is. I do not answer with a yes or no, I just say "thank you" and move on to the next guess. Once everyone has guessed I will reveal the mystery person. The mystery person then gets to pick a friend to make 2 titles pages (one front, one back) out of construction paper for their book. I have a little basket with special markers and stamps for the mystery person and their friend to use.
While the mystery person and friend are making the title page the rest of the class is writing a letter to the mystery person including questions and comments about the clues on the wall. I use any type of writing paper for this part (you can have them draw a picture as well if you'd like). Once all the letters are collected and the title pages are finished, I staple everything into a book and the mystery person can take it home as a keepsake.
The kids absolutely LOVE reading what their classmates have written to them and I reinforce that everyone will get to be mystery person at some point so to remember to do their very best each and every time :)
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