{photo by Gregory Wake via flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0}
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”
~ Arthur Conan Doyle
Our students are currently reading stories from Sherlock Holmes, and we’ve heard about a few scenarios our teachers concocted to test the observation and deduction skills of their classes! Here’s an example – this is an excerpt from Mr. Newman’s grid/narrative last week:
To begin our Sherlock Holmes unit, I brought in a surprise visitor on Monday who, unbeknownst to the students, was the subject of the day's observation. Ms. Kaitlyn stopped by at the beginning of each class for a quick talk, then later on students were asked to describe what they had observed about her. They did fairly well, except three out of five classes “remembered” the flowered blouse she was wearing which had no flowers. On Wednesday, Mrs. Vanessa came in, not part of any plan, and students quickly began to write down their observations about her clothing, eye color, fingernail polish, etc. When she left the room, they quickly began listing off their observations. I assured them that she wasn't part of our lesson and, after a while, I think they believed me. All this to say, when these kids are posed with a challenge, they really take it to heart. Love it!
Other teachers did similar “tests” of their students – what a fun way to bring literature to life!
Today we want to pass along a handful of resources and activities (more mix-ins, really) all about Sherlock Holmes or solving mysteries, in case you and/or your student are loving these stories and want to do more with them. Below are only a small selection of the many sites related to the world-renown detective, but here’s a start.
A few videos:
Sherlock Holmes: 5 fun facts that you probably didn’t know:
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes – This is a 1985 documentary about the long history of Sherlock Holmes in print and film (obviously it won't have the many recent adaptations!):
Sherlock Holmes Museum – 221B Baker Street, London walk-through – A video tour of the Sherlock Holmes Museum:
Can you solve the locker riddle? – A TED-Ed video with a math mystery to solve. It’s definitely challenging! Try to solve it before you watch the solution at the end of the video:
And of course there are a host of Sherlock Holmes Movies and TV Shows (here’s just one list) to choose from, but check ratings and the Parents Guide comments on IMDB when possible.
A few websites:
Arthur Conan Doyle: 19 Things You Didn't Know – Check out these fun facts!
The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes – This is the website for a museum exhibition. Poke around and see what you can discover about Sherlock here.
Sherlock in the Classroom – This is also from the above website. There are 8 science and language arts lesson plans here, all with a Sherlock theme, which you can do at home if your student has the time and interest. You’ll also find 2 games for teens and adults: If the Shoe Fits, and Spot the Liar.
DIY Detective Lab – Here’s a pdf with a clever fingerprint activity for young detectives.
Detective Activities for Kids – The ads get in the way a little on this site, but there are some fun ideas here for aspiring sleuths!
The Detective’s Notebook Game – an interactive game that involves reading and inference skills
Secret Spy School activities and printables – While not Sherlock specific, these are more crafts and activities for kids who are into spying and mysteries.
Detective Games to play indoors or outdoors
Sherlock Holmes coloring pages
Sherlock Holmes printable word search
Our SLOCA store sells a few fun goodies for Sherlock fans:
- Jim Weiss' CDs (which are excellent!) – He has a Sherlock Holmes for Children and a Hound of the Baskervilles that we carry. Jim Weiss is the same person who recorded the audio version of Story of the World.
- Sherlock t-shirts in adult sizes are on clearance right now, 25% off.
- Sherlock Holmes journals – we have this one and this one, and another one that says “Singularity is almost always a clue.”
- The middle school version of the Sherlock Holmes book that we are using now is fantastic! If you love Sherlock, even if your kids are in Primary or Intermediate, you may want the book just for it's wonderful illustrations. Pick up a copy in the school store!
And here's a list of more Sherlock items for sale:
Sherlock Holmes Activity BookSherlock Holmes’ Elementary Puzzles
Sherlock Holmes’ Fiendish Puzzles
The Sherlock Holmes Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained)
Sherlock Holmes: Color In Classics
Sherlock: The Mind Palace: A Coloring Book Adventure
Undercover Spy Case Detective Gear Set
1 thought on “More Fun with Sherlock Holmes”
Such an amazing material! Thank you it helped me prepare a nice and interesting lesson for mu pupils <3