Updated for 2020!
Inspired by a session I saw Michael Riley give at the SHP conference many years ago, we have developed this free murder mystery which never fails to engage. This is a great way to teach the reasons behind the English Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries through one individual’s story.
You students have spent one lesson looking at how best to write the story of Whiting’s brutal execution. They now need to consider why he was killed. By dripping in carefully constructed clues and asking groups to hypothesise, you get ample opportunity to listen to great thinking. After each set of clues is introduced, your students have to come up with a hypothesis as to why they think Whiting was killed.
They are encouraged to use the language of the historian and be tentative. They are also asked to substantiate their thinking!
All of this involves lots of thought and very little writing.
This lesson is best taught in conjunction with our How should we tell the story of Richard Whiting’s execution lesson
Here is the SHP version, which gives you their rationale but not the resources to teach the enquiry.
- Lesson presentation: PowerPoint
- Lesson write-up: PDF
- Resource 1: PDF
- Worksheet 1: PDF