Speaking: Baker Street Clues

This is not my idea but I have borrowed it from someone else and it has always been a hit in my classes.

Baker Street ? Team Logic

Preparation:
? Slips of paper with clues, cut up individually.
? If you will draw the diagram on wallpaper, you may want to prepare it in advance.

Procedure:

Draw the following diagram on the board/whiteboard/wallpaper:

Name
Marital Status
Pet
Book
Drink

Outline the situation for your participants: ?These are the five houses on Baker Street. One person lives in each house. The goal is to find out each person?s name, whether they?re married, what pet they own, which books they like, and what they like to drink.?

Pass out one clue to each participant. If you have fewer than 20 participants, give each person more than one slip until you run out. If you have more than 20 participants, cut up more than one copy of each and pass out duplicates.

Do not let participants read each other?s clues. They must speak and listen to identify, as a group, what they learn from each clue. The facilitator?s only role is to remind participants, as needed, to speak only in English.

Solution (for your convenience)

Name Mrs. Evans Miss Dudd Mr. Charles Mrs. Birt Mr. Abraham
Marital Status Married Spinster Single Divorced Widower
Pet Tortoise and Rabbit Dog Canary None Cat
Book Thrillers Love Historical Dickens Can?t Read (TV)
Drink Wine Beer Whisky Coffee Beer

Clues:

Miss Dudd owns a dog.

The widower and the spinster like beer.

There are five pets on Baker Street: a cat, a dog, a canary, a rabbit, and tortoise.

The dog owner living next door to the bachelor is keen on love stories.

The dog owner and cat owner do not live next door to each other.

Number 18 is the only house without a pet.

Mr. Abraham cannot read. He watches TV.

The bachelor likes historical novels.

The woman who likes coffee does not own a pet.

The woman at number 12 has two pets: a tortoise and a rabbit.

The whisky drinker owns a canary.

Mr. Abraham is a widower. His neighbor is divorced.

The married woman drinks wine.

The dog owner drinks beer.

Mrs. Evans is married.

The married woman reads thrillers.

Mrs. Birt likes to read books by Charles Dickens.

The pet at number 14 is a dog.

Mr. Charles lives between Miss Dudd and Mrs. Birt.

Mr. Abraham lives at number 20.

Hope that it is a hit in all of your classes.
K.G.
Wuhan, China