5th grade Halloween math activities come together in this CSI Mystery Detective math review, a no prep pack of Halloween math worksheets that covers five fifth grade skills in one case. Students multiply and divide decimals, add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators, multiply fractions, find the volume of rectangular prisms, and use long division with two-digit divisors as they follow the clues of a Halloween costume parade. It makes a strong 5th grade math spiral review for October, from the first fall math centers to Halloween week, and works well as 6th grade review too. Print and go for math centers, early finishers, morning work, small groups and a sub plan the whole class can follow.
October is one of the liveliest months in a fifth grade classroom, and this case turns that energy into steady math practice. Each clue page reviews a different skill, so one packet shows you where your class is strong heading into November. Students check their own answers as they cross suspects off the chart, and the last name left tells them the case is solved.
The Case: The Costume Caper
The Golden Pumpkin, a hundred-year-old trophy for the best costume in Maple Hollow, vanishes from the judges' float in the middle of the Halloween parade. Fifteen marchers in costume were close enough to take it, and the clues left behind point to just one of them. Spooky, but never scary.
What's Inside
- Clue One, the judges' scorecards: check decimal multiplication and division and mark each card correct or error
- Clue Two, the candy trail: add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators to spell a hidden message
- Clue Three, the candy scales: multiply fractions by whole numbers and by fractions, then compare using >, < and =
- Clue Four, the stockroom boxes: find the volume of cube drawings, labeled prisms and joined boxes, then sort them as more or less than 100 cubic units
- Clue Five, the parade route: long division with two-digit divisors and remainders on a map of the town
- Detective story, suspect chart, teacher instructions, color and black-and-white pages, and answer keys for all five clues
What Is a CSI Mystery Detective Case?
A CSI Mystery Detective case is a printable investigation your class solves with math. Each clue page is a set of problems, and every correct answer rules out suspects until only the thief is left.
When to Use This Resource
Use it in October as a Halloween math review of five 5th grade standards, or save it for Halloween week to keep the whole class focused on math. Every clue is its own page, so it runs as one lesson or as one clue a day across a week of centers. Teachers use it for math centers, morning work, small groups, early finishers, homework and sub days.
Grade Levels
Written for 5th grade and drawn straight from the fifth grade standards. It is also a strong start-of-year review for 6th graders. Teaching 4th grade? The same case is available as a Grade 4 review.
Why Teachers Love CSI Mystery Detective Cases
- No prep - just print and teach
- Five 5th grade skills in one Halloween math case
- Self-checking - students find and fix their own mistakes as they go
- The wrong answers on each page are the slips students really make, like a decimal point in the wrong place or adding the tops and bottoms of fractions, so you can see where to help
- Prints clearly in color or black and white
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