Social Practice of the language. Guess and formulate hypotheses about past events.

Activities. Lesson 1

Watch the video “past events”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoci0MCX-Mw

(turn on subtitles) Immediately carry out what is requested.

Read the situations and mark (X) if you have experienced any of them. Write what they have in common.
____ a broken object ____ a person missing
____ a robbery ____ secret gifts
____ a mysterious package ____ a surprising accident

Which of the games below have you played? ________________________

1 2 3 4 5

Do you play brain games? If so, which one do you like the most?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Watch the video “Meaning of riddle”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO17fhP-G-Q

Immediately carry out what is requested.
Read the definition of a riddle and the examples below and try to solve them in groups.
A riddle is a puzzle to be solved. There are two types of riddles: a conundrum which is a question, statement or
poem that is a trick that describes something in a difficult and confusing way and has a clever or funny answer,
and an enigma which is a problem that requires careful thinking to solve it.
What is so fragile, that when you name it, it breaks?
_______________________________________________________
Flat as a leaf, round as a ring, I have two eyes, but can't see a thing
_______________________________________________________
You can touch me, but I can’t touch you back. You can see me, but I only reflect you and can never reject you.
What am I?
_______________________________________________________
I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body but come alive with wind. What am I?
_______________________________________________________
Answer: A riddle is an enigma? why?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Read the definition and work as a class, then discuss situations for a good enigma.
An enigma is a situation that is apparently inexplicable. It can be an entertaining game to propose an enigma
to others for them to figure out the solution. The enigma can be an event in the past that includes evidence as
clues to solve it.
Read the checklist and mark (X) if the riddle meet the criteria.
____ It's about the past.
____ It includes evidence (facts about it).
____ It's interesting for us.
____ We could propose a solution to the mystery.

The following article describes characteristics of a good enigma. Read the text and discuss which
characteristic Is the most important for a good enigma.
What makes an enigma interesting to solve?
In order to raise the Interest of readers or listeners, an enigma must have the following
characteristics:
• A background situation that Is well described. The more details you have, the more you will feel you are
there and you will get Involved on the situations.
• A hook - this could be the way; of telling or writing the enigma, generating suspense or using a tone that
Intrigues and Invites the audience to solve the mystery
• Giving a few clues may help, as these will trigger curiosity form audiences to get Involve and try to solve
the mystery. Elements the readers or the audience can Identify with also help for this purpose. In summary,
the audience must feel It Is possible to solve the mystery.
• When the answer Is revealed, audiences appreciate an elegant, simple solution, especially If they didn't
see It coming, but It Is logical enough. A funny answer that It Is also logical helps make the enigma valid.

Read the following riddle and based on the previous text, answer the questions.
Four prisoners were given the opportunity to be free if just one of them could work out the answer to a simple
logic riddle. The prisoners were lined up as shown in the picture. They were all facing the same direction. The
wall separated the fourth man from the rest. Prisoner 1 could see prisoner 2 and 3. Prisoner 2 could see
prisoner 3, and prisoners 3 and 4 couldn't see anyone.
They were told that there were four hats, two white and two
black, but they didn't know what color hat they were wearing.
The guard told them to shout out the color of their own hat as
soon as they knew the answer. They were not allowed to turn
around, move, talk to each other, or take their hats off. Which
prisoner shouted first and what did he say?
Is the situation well described? ____________
Are there enough details?
Is there a hook? _______________
Are there clues? Does it seem possible to solve? ______________
Is the answer reasonable even if it is funny? ______________
Which is the answer? ___________________________________
Solve the following riddle´s.
Juan's father tells his son that he is going to give him two legal tender coins. "Between the two they add up to
three euros, but one of them is not one euro." What are the coins?
__________________________________________________________
Two people travel by car. The youngest is the daughter of the eldest, but the eldest is not her father. Whom?
__________________________________________________________
A farmer has 10 rabbits, 20 horses, and 40 pigs. If we call the "pigs" "horses," how many horses will he have?
__________________________________________________________
What's next in this sequence of numbers: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211, ______?
__________________________________________________________
You are escaping from a maze, and there are three doors in front of you. The door on the left leads to hell. The
door in the center leads you to a deadly assassin. The door on the right leads to a lion that has not eaten in
three months. Which door do you choose?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Watch the video “Detectives Play CLUE”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qY83-rQb0I

(turn on subtitles) Immediately carry out what is requested.
What do you know about CLUE? Read the text and discuss the questions. Justify your answers.
Who Killed MR. Boddy?
Published in 1949, CLUE is considered the classic mystery board game in which players
compete to solve the ‘whodunit’ of the history. The main elements of the game are:
the game board, the tokens, the cards, and the detective notes.
The tokens represent each one of the characters of the game: Colonel Mustard,
Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Ms. Scarlet, and Mrs. White. The game
board is divided into nine different rooms. There are also two secret passages. The
cards contain the characters of the game, the murder weapon, and the rooms of the
mansion.
To play the game first you must select a character, a weapon, and a room from the
deck of cards and put them in the evidence envelope. This is the combination that will solve the case.
Then, throw the dice and move the token clockwise around the rooms. Throw the dice as many times as
necessary in order to get into a room. When in the room, make a suggestion on who you think is guilty. Then,
just use your Detective Notes to keep a record of the ‘clues’ that the other players have. The first player to
solve the enigma wins...
Do you know what a clue is?

What do you think 'whodunit' means?

Do you like solving enigmas? Why or why not?

Is there a similar game you like playing?

How important are past events to decipher enigmas? Look at the pictures and describe them.

Can you guess what happened in the pictures from previous activity? Try to answer the questions in the
detective notes. Complete the sentences with a suitable verb.
What happened? ______________________________________________________________________
Is there any weapon? ___________________________________________________________________
Where did it happen? __________________________________________________________________
Who could have done it? ________________________________________________________________
killed
1. Someone ___________________ the man.
2. The victim _____________________ to the study.
3. The victim _______________________ something in a diary.
4. There _________________________ a candlestick on the floor.
5. The suspect ______________________ through the secret passage.
6. The suspect's coat's color ______________________ purple.

Do you consider yourself as an observant person? Look at the following five clues of what could have
happened on previous exercise. Can you identify them? Work with a partner and formulate assumptions of
what could have happened.

Do you think mystery is a good topic for a board game? ______________

Do you think it would be entertaining? __________________
Activities. Lesson 2
Watch the video “The Bermuda Triangle Mystery”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_5n7URd2Gk
Immediately carry out what is requested.
Answer these questions:
Why has what happened in the Bermuda Triangle been a mystery?

What creates a mystery?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the text and discuss what it is about and is you think the enigma is interesting or not.
The Stolen pearls
Lord and Lady Sotheby returned from a dinner party last night. When they arrived.
Lord Sotheby went to his study to write a letter, and Lady Sotheby went upstairs to
change. Lord Sotheby was writing the letter when he heard his wife scream.
He ran upstairs as fast as he could. When lie arrived, Lady Sotheby was sobbing and
screaming, “I've been robbed! Someone stole my pearl necklace! I put it on my
bedside table and just turned around for some seconds to grab my robe! And it was
gone!” Lord Sotheby ran to the hall and phoned the police. They arrived really fast and the police chief
interrogated all the people who were at the mansion when the robbery happened (a cook, a chauffeur, a
maid, a butler and the Sotheby's son and daughter). The police were confused. According to Lady Sotheby,
there were no sounds, nothing else was out of place, no footprints, nothing! The police did not know where
to start because there were no clues. Who stole the pearls? That’s the enigma today.

Look at the main elements that an event with an enigma has.

Find them in the text and write them down below.

A mystery or an
inexplicable situation

A victim or someone who

An interrogator
ELEMENTS OF wants an explanation
AN ENIGMA

The place where

People involved things happen
Write the elements for the situation of your enigma. Think of details that are important such as people,
objects, places that involve the event. Follow the example.
Mysterious situation: Stolen pearls
People involved: Sotheby family, butler, cook, chauffer, maid
Interrogator: Police
Place: Sotheby’s house
Victim: Lady Sotheby

Mysterious situation: ________________________________________________________________________

People involved: ____________________________________________________________________________
Place: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Victim: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Read the interrogation of the police chief from the case of The Stolen Pearls. Then use Lady Sotheby's
description and in pairs, draw conclusions about what happened wih the situation.
Police: Lady Sotheby. I interrogated all the suspects. Police: What did you do then?
We searched the place, including the garden. Lady Sotheby: I got up and walked to the chair next
We thought the butler was the thief, but we only to the window to grab my robe. I drew the curtains
found a diary under the ground where he dug. and looked out the window.
I need to ask more questions. Can you help me? Police: How long were you at the window?
Lady Sotheby: Of course. Lady Sotheby: A minute, more or less.
Police: What happened exactly? Police: When did you notice the necklace
Lady Sotheby: I entered my bedroom. Then I sat on disappeared?
my bed. Lady Sotheby: As soon as I turned around. It wasn't
Police: Did you close the door behind you? there and I looked for it everywhere. I couldn't find
Lady Sotheby: Yes. I locked it with my key. it. Police: What did you do?
Police: What did you do next? Lady Sotheby: I opened the door and screamed for
Lady Sotheby: I took off my necklace. help. In a minute everyone was here.
Police: Where did you put the necklace? Then, my husband called you.
Lady Sotheby: On the bedside table.

Read the conclusions from the police chief and write if you think they are possible or not according to the
events.
The thief was already in the room when Lady Sotheby came in. ______________________
The thief took the necklace when Lady Sotheby was looking out the window. _______________________
The thief hid in the room and slipped away during the confusion after Lady Sotheby screamed and opened the
door. ____________________________

Answer Yes or No.

Can you identify the element of an enigma? ________
Can you create clues for your enigma? ________
Can you describe an enigmatic event? ________
Activities. Lesson 3

Look at the pictures. How can we know if the following pictures are pieces of evidence or just objects?

Do you know the best way to find the answer to an enigma? Read the text and complete the statements.
Justify your answers.
Mystery Lover
Hello, my name is Lucia. I’m a board game lover. I like various types of board games, from Jenga to
Monopoly. However, mystery games are my favorite by far.
I met Sonia and Matt at Dragon’s Den, a popular board game café near campus. Yeah, it’s a café especially
made for people who love playing board games.
Anyway, they were playing a game named CLUE when I joined them. 1 enjoyed playing it a lot, I must admit.
Nonetheless, it will never beat my all-time favorite Mysterium. After we finished the round of CLUE, I invited
my friends to play my favorite game... and guess what? They absolutely loved it!
We sat down, playing for hours and trying to solve the puzzles and enigmas of the game. We found out that
the best way to give answer to the mystery is to carefully analyze clues and formulate assumptions about
what happened. In order to do this, you need to look carefully at the clues that you collect during the game.
From there you just have to connect the dots. Believe in me, after all, I’m a mystery board game lover!

Lucia likes board games, but she prefers ___________________ games.

Sonia and Matt met Lucia at a popular _____________________.
They tried to solve _________________ and ___________________ of the game.
They learned that the best way to answer a mystery is to analyze ______________________ and formulate
________________________ about what happpened.

Do you think they ore pieces of evidence? Discuss about the possible reasons why these objects are
damaged.
Watch the video “3 Ways to Talk About the Past in English”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZje3jrq61E
Immediately carry out what is requested.
Write sentences about the state of the objects. Follow the example.
A huge old glass vase got broken in the dark dining room.
A curtain __________________________________________________________________________________
The dress _________________________________________________________________________________
A poke ___________________________________________________________________________________
The golden candlestick ______________________________________________________________________

Look at the following enigma cards. Give your opinion of what happened each image.
Use the style of the following expressions.
I rather think that the vase got broken when...
It might have been a cat which tore the carpet...
I rather think that electricity was...

Choose a card from the previous exercise and create a story where you describe how the event happened,
mentioning the object used and a character.
My story's name: _________________________________________________

Write a list of the criteria you used for writing your story. Think about why you chose that object and how you
described your character.
Activities. Lesson 4
Read the following enigma and answer the
questions below.
In 2015, in a dark, peaceful night and with a sky with
no clouds, it was already late at night when the
residents of a place in the U.S. saw a bright light like
the one in the photo. After the light, there was a
strange and loud bang. The next day there were
traces that looked like thin clouds of different colors
in the sky. What happened?
What was the context? (the place and the situation where the event took place)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What was the main problem or enigmatic situation?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Which sentence(s) indicate the main problem?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Which sentences give you extra information?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Is the illustration necessary to solve the enigma?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Now it is your turn to elaborate your riddle. Here are two alternatives.
A detective enigma. Choose an enigma from another country and write some facts about why it is an enigma.
A story with a crime enigma. Investigate about an enigma dealing with a crime. Write a story about it and
include details about why it is considered an enigma.

Answer Yes or No. I can...

____ analyze enigmas to solve them.
____ identify details in the enigmas.
____ ask questions to got additional information about a past event.
____ describe events and give additional details.
____ make hypotheses and deductions about past events to solve an enigma.
____ exchange ideas, express possibility and agree or not with others when solving an enigma