We Are Awesome Spies!! (Week 1)

A few weeks ago, a student sat in the doorway of our classroom with a stop sign and binoculars.  When asked what he was doing, he said he was "spying" on people.  This idea immediately sparked a lot of interest and everyone ran back into the classroom, grabbed a disguise and joined in on the "spying."  And just like that, a new play inquiry was born!!

Spy Mission: Day 1

When planning a spy mission, one needs to have a "hook"  or something that will create a lot mystery and intrigue. Escape rooms and locked boxes have become very popular recently and have been seen in a lot of middle and senior years classrooms.

What better way to set up a mystery for spies to solve than to have a locked Escape Box, mystery bags and a magnifying glass waiting to be discovered?!?



As soon as we saw the Escape Box and lock box we immediatly had to go and investigate.  Questions and theories started flying.  We tried to open the lock, but without the secret code, the box stayed locked up tight.

Some of us become very curious as to why one of the boxes had a magnify glass tied onto it with a red ribbon.  We quickly unwrapped the ribbon, but the box would not open!  We needed another code to open this box too!




















We went back to the carpet and noticed our first set of clues. We found a row of upside down cups with the numbers 0-10 on them and a page of the Smartboard that said "Break the Code." Someone noticed that there were three empty boxes on the Smartboard and the small box had a code with three numbers on it.  Maybe there were more clues hidden under the cups?

As a class, we figured out the 3 digit lock code by using our developing number sense.  We asked to see if there was a clue hidden under the cup before or after a certain number. Within a few minutes, we had uncovered three numbers.

When we opened the box, there was a single sheet of paper inside the box.  The Color Monster was asking for our help!  We recognized the Color Monster immediatlty and remember for reading the story that his feeling and colors were all mixed up.  We knew just want to do!

Right after we got our first clue we noticed 4 big bags with lots of colourful things in them.  The bags were also numbered 1- 4.  After a little brainstorming, we figured out that the numbers on the bags matched the numbers under the locks.  We would have to split into teams so we could quickly figure out the code for each lock.

We sorted the different coloured pieces that were inside the bag on to the coloured mats.  We had to count each group of objects to figure out what the code was for the 4 digit lock. 

   

          

                        

The clue inside the Escape Box was a picture of our classroom with a single word.  When we looked in the secret spot, we found a book.  One of our fabulous helpers, Mrs. Sagert read to us as we enjoyed some "Book  Gummy Worms" as a special treat.

Mission 1 Complete!

Spy Mission: Day 2

When we entered the classroom the next day, we saw that the Escape Box was back, and it was locked up tight again.  The Color Monster was also on the Smartboard, along with rows of coloured circles and what looked like the monster's calm zone.

We praciticed using our Spy skills and used non-verbal communication/hand signals to tell another Spy what path they should take to get the Color Monster to the calm zone.

To check for understanding, we took our learning to a floor mat and created another path.  One student became the Color Monster, while the other student "programmed or coded" the path with hand signals. 

Everyone did a fantastic job learning how to create a path, but this didn't get us any numbers for the locks on the Escape box.  We needed more clues!  When we got our bags, we found a game board and numbered arrows.  After trying lots of different placements with the arrows, we finally found the four arrows that created the correct path.  The numbers on the arrows became the new code for the four digit lock. 

                    

                    

                       

                             

                            

Since it was I Love To Read week, our clue lead us to another book!  We asked another one of our fantastic volunteers, Mr. McKiel to read to us!

Mission 2 Complete!

Spy Mission: Day 3

We were getting really good at this Spy stuff and now we looked like spies too!  Before we went inside our classroom, we had to get into our Spy teams.  Ms. Dowd told us that something strange was now in our room and that only one spy team could go in at a time.

One at a time, the Spy teams carefully entered the Kindergarten room.  To our surprise, there were lasers by our lockers.  We had to maneuver through the lasers, put our inside shoes on and safely get to the discovery tables.

With a little help from some Kind Kid Spies, the the adults managed to get through the lasers too!  

After dodging all the lasers we were ready for our next mission!  We immediatly noticed that the locks on the box were DIFFERENT!!  The locks now had letters on them.   We also saw another giant game board on the floor and the Color Monster was all tied up!

We gathered around the big game board and found letters on each of the square.  We decided that our mission was to find the mystery word that would unlock the locks...but how would we know what letters were the correct ones? 

By using arrows, like the previous mission, we were  directed to the correct spot on the game board.  A recorder wrote down the letters that we landed on. After a few attempts, we realized that we were creating different words.

     

     


It was time to break into our four Spy Teams again.  This time the bag had a game board with letters,  five paper strips with arrows on them, a recording sheet and a stuffed toy.  We moved the stuffed toy on the game board making sure to carefully follow the arrows. Once we landed on a letter, we added it to our recording sheet.




                                

                                

  

We cracked the code and successfully opened the box again!  We found another book for I Love to Read week and asked Mrs. Mitchell to read it to us!  We are awesome spies!!

Mission 3 Complete!

Spy Mission - Day 4

After reading some I- Spy books at discovery and doing some stretching, we were ready for the next spy mission.  The Escape Box was waiting for us again and was locked up tight with four key locks.

        

It seemed that the Color Monster needed our help again.  We pointed to each word as we read where to put the Color Monster. We were told to pay close attention to the positional language as it would really help us find the clues on the next mission. 

   

  

When the Spy Bags were handed out, the only thing we found was a envelop with a single clue. The clue had a dot pattern on one side and a location in the school where we would find the next clue.  

    

Once we had collected all of the clues, we headed back to home base.  First, we counted the dot patterns on the clues and then put them in order. We were then given a black flashlight to help us closely examine the clues in case we missed anything.  To our surprise, one of the cards had a glowing star on it!  Once we found the star, we were given the key to open our lock.

                         

                   

                       

Once we found the hidden book, we huddled together in the house center, turned off the lights and read by flashlights.  The black light made the neon colours glow and shine!  The perfect ending to our first week of spy missions and I Love to Read week!

Thank you Mrs. Toth for all your help with the creating and planning of such an amazing learning experience.  

Also, thank you to Mrs. Sagert, Mr. McKiel, Mrs. Gluska, Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Rogala, Mrs. Dale and Ms. O.  We couldn't have done it without all of your help. We make an amazing team!!