The game of Mystery Person is a great one to play at the beginning of the school year as it helps students learn the names of the students in their class. During game play, students try to discover a mystery name which is revealed one letter at a time. The game reinforces expressive language as students discuss letter formation and how letters are different from one another.
Materials:
– name cards (one for each student, teacher, class pet, class helper, etc.)
– mystery envelope (two pieces of bristol board decorated with question marks
and stapled/glued together at the top and bottom
Grouping: whole class
Playing the Game
- Explain to the students that the object of the game is to discover the name of the person in the mystery envelope.
- Choose a student’s name card and hide it in the envelope. Slide the name card to reveal part of the first letter. Have students talk about the letter and its features.
- Encourage students to guess the mystery name.
- Slide the name card again to reveal the next letter. Again have students discuss their observations of the letter.
- Have students continue guessing the mystery name.
- Repeat until the mystery name is completely revealed.
Note: Once students are familiar with the game, they can create their own versions by cutting off the end of a letter-sized envelope and using strips of bristol board for name cards.