This is a developmental tool built to assist in the creation of murder mystery activities. It will automatically generate a ‘suspect list’ based on characteristics that you specify. It can then automatically assign male/female names, convert the list into a table with alternating colours, and then automatically generate clue cyphers - leaving you to just create worksheets where the answers match the clues provided. This is done through a series of automation scripts in Microsoft Excel. Compatible with PC and Mac.

For this activity, each letter of the alphabet has been assigned a monetary value. Eg. A=$1, B=$2, C=$3, etc… Students must work to calculate the following: Who has the most expensive name in the class Who has the most expensive name in their family Which teacher has the least expensive name What’s the most expensive item in the room a word that equals exactly $100 The attached spreadsheet is a calculator which automatically calculates the cost of any collection of words. As an extension you can start to add decimal places and change the values. Eg. A=$1.50, B=$3.75, C=$2.70, etc… You could also give students a set amount of money and ask them to work out how many items from a shopping list they could buy using the nouns as prices, with a prize to the student who budgets for the largest quantity of items.