Hansel and Gretel Hollis vanish into Blackthorn Forest and are found three days later, having emerged from the direction of a badly fire-damaged cottage belonging to the reclusive “Witch of Blackthorn.” The village is certain they know what happened. They’re wrong — and it’s up to your students to prove it.

This fully self-contained, no-prep activity gives students a genuinely difficult whodunit for one 70-minute lesson. They’ll question 6 fully-developed suspects — including the wrongly-accused woman the whole village fears — cross-reference 12 pieces of evidence, and work out that the real culprits aren’t who the rumour mill says they are. It’s built to subvert the fairy tale’s own assumptions: students have to set aside village gossip and build a case on evidence alone, including recognising when more than one person shares the blame.

• Teacher Instructions deck with full timing breakdown, facilitation tips, differentiation notes, and complete answer key
• Student Rules & Solving Sheet with roles, a Motive/Means/Opportunity grid, evidence log, and final accusation template
• Confidential Case File with scene summary, missing persons profile, and all 6 suspect dossiers
• 12 printable Evidence Cards, formatted as authentic in-world documents and objects
• Bonus deck: 14 Creative Writing Challenge Cards spanning narrative POV, dialogue, suspense, diary/epistolary writing, unreliable narration, description, persuasive writing, flash fiction, character study, script writing, poetry, speculative writing, and journalistic writing

Perfect for:
• Pairing with fairy tale, folklore, or fractured fairy tale writing units
• End-of-term or “chaos week” lessons
• Building deductive reasoning and evidence-based argument skills
• Sub plans (fully self-contained, minimal teacher input once launched)

Download. Discuss. Engage.

File information: Non-editable PDF, Not an editable PowerPoint
How to use: Upload to your LMS for digital learning / Print selected pages for classroom use / Display pages to guide discussion and activities / Adapt in presentation or design platforms if desired (formatting may vary)