The teaching team that developed this unit had a Science partner with background in advertising.   He suggested that they do a project involving parents that would get families to talk about all of our lessons and what was being taught at school.    This murder mystery party, and the lessons associated with it, is the results of that effort.

The objectives of the unit are simple; provide students with a vehicle for learning about Roman history, modern criminology and forensics, while also improving their writing skills. As an added bonus, you get parent involvement, and hopefully some great Italian leftovers.

If you are worried that the evening won’t go as planned, just remember — it is supposed to be a mystery!   “Wow! What a mystery we have here! Isn’t this great?”  This party has been used over and over again with great success.

This culminating activity includes:

• Social Studies lessons for teaching about the Romans.  (This includes our Connecting Past to Present – The Fall of Rome lesson plan, our Caesar’s Dilemma, and also The Roman Times lesson plan!)
• Science lessons on fingerprinting and other resources.
• English/Language Arts lessons on using “show not tell” language.  Includes our Monster Drawing lesson.
• A complete guide to running a murder mystery party where parents are the suspects and characters involved in the mystery of who killed Caesar during an Italian themed potluck dinner.

There are handouts, complete instructions, scripts and invitations for the party, and more.

• Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Science, Humanities, Language Arts, Math
• Materials Required: All handouts and necessary lesson plans are included.  A shopping list of props and party items is included.
• Time Needed: This is an entire multidisciplinary unit and will require multiple class periods to complete.  The murder mystery is normally a two hour party.

May be used in a World History, Humanities or Language Arts setting.

• Subject Area: World History, Humanities, Language Arts
• Materials Required: Whiteboard or display, sample newspapers, paper, tape, pens, and optionally colored pencils/pens.
• Time Needed: Typically a full week of class time is devoted to this.

This dilemma is intended for a high school or middle school history class and works well with English classes reading All’s Quiet on the Western Front, or perhaps A Farewell to Arms.Be sure to download our free Cognitive Moral Dilemma Teachers Guide, too, as it provides the methodology and lesson’s process, too.

• • Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Literature, English
  • Materials Required: Whiteboard or display
  • Time Needed: Can run an entire class period or less.

Be sure to download the free Cognitive Moral Dilemma Teacher’s Guide, too, which provides the methodology and lesson plan process.

• Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Philosophy
• Materials Required: Whiteboard or display
• Time Needed: Typically an entire class period

This dilemma asks students to consider when might it be a more civilized act to break the law.

Be sure to download the free Cognitive Moral Dilemma Teacher’s Guide, too, as it explains the methodology and process behind this lesson plan.

• Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, History, Humanities, Government, Literature, Current Events
• Materials Required: Whiteboard or display
• Time Needed: Typically an entire class period

This lesson plan includes all materials needed but be sure to download the free Cognitive Moral Dilemma Teacher’s Guide, too.

• Subject Areas: World History, Humanities
• Materials Required: Whiteboard or display
• Time Needed: Typically most of one class period

Morality plays a part of everyday life, and yet teachers struggle with how to not inculcate their own moral code upon their students. This teaching strategy will give students the ability to consider all points of view, and articulate their moral choices with one another.

The teaching of cognitive moral dilemmas will provide teachers with the structure needed to allow students to debate and view alternative viewpoints.

This teaching guide provides a detailed description of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory and definition of cognitive moral development, detailed instructions for using this lesson format, and a guide for constructing your own.  It also has a sample moral dilemma you may wish to use with your classes, too.

• Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Government
• Materials Required: Whiteboard or display
• Time Needed: Typically an entire class period