Reporting a Crime





Crime Scene! A Fun ELT Lesson on Reporting Crimes

Level: B1–B2 (Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate)
Age group: Teens and adults
Duration: 60 minutes
Skills: Speaking, listening, reading and writing
Language focus: Crime vocabulary, reported speech, past simple and past continuous

Lesson Overview

Can your students solve a crime before the lesson ends?

In this fun, interactive English lesson, students become detectives, witnesses and suspects in a mysterious diamond theft. They will learn how to report a crime, interview witnesses, describe suspicious behaviour and use reported speech to explain what other people have said.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Warm-up: What Happened Here? (5 minutes)

The scenario:

Last night, something terrible happened at the City Art Gallery. A very expensive painting disappeared. The police arrived at 9:30 p.m., but nobody knows exactly what happened.

Ask students to discuss these questions in pairs:

  1. What crime do you think was committed?
  2. Who might be responsible?
  3. What evidence could the police look for?
  4. Have you ever witnessed something suspicious, either in real life or in a film?

Encourage students to use expressions such as:

Invite a few students to share their theories with the class.

2. Crime Vocabulary Challenge (10 minutes)

Match each word with its correct definition.

Vocabulary

  1. Burglary
  2. Robbery
  3. Theft
  4. Vandalism
  5. Witness
  6. Suspect
  7. Get away
  8. Report a crime

Definitions

A. Taking someone’s property by threatening or using force.

B. Entering a building illegally to steal something.

C. The act of stealing something.

D. A person who sees an event happen.

E. Deliberately damaging property.

F. A person believed possibly to have committed a crime.

G. To escape after doing something wrong.

H. To tell the police about an illegal act.

Answers: 1–B, 2–A, 3–C, 4–E, 5–D, 6–F, 7–G, 8–H.

Speaking Challenge

Ask students to choose three vocabulary items and create a short news headline using them.

Example: Art Thief Breaks into Gallery and Gets Away!

3. Grammar Focus: Reporting Witness Statements (10 minutes)

When we report what another person said, we often use reported speech.

Examples

Direct speechReported speech
“I saw a man,” said Maria.Maria said that she had seen a man.
“I am waiting outside,” said Tom.Tom said that he was waiting outside.
“I can identify the thief,” said Anna.Anna said that she could identify the thief.
“I didn’t take the painting,” said John.John said that he hadn’t taken the painting.

When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense often moves one step back.

Common changes include:

Time expressions may also change:

Mini Challenge

Rewrite these statements using reported speech.

  1. “I heard a loud noise,” said Maria.
  2. “The suspect is wearing a black jacket,” said the guard.
  3. “I didn’t see anything,” said Tom.
  4. “We can help the police,” said the neighbours.

Answers

  1. Maria said that she had heard a loud noise.
  2. The guard said that the suspect was wearing a black jacket.
  3. Tom said that he hadn’t seen anything.
  4. The neighbours said that they could help the police.

4. Main Activity: The Mystery of the Missing Diamond (20 minutes)

The scenario:

A priceless diamond has disappeared from the Grand Hotel during a charity party. The police have several suspects and need to interview witnesses to discover what happened.

Divide the class into groups of four or five. Assign each student a role.

Role A: The Detective

Your job is to investigate the theft, interview everyone and decide who is the most suspicious.

Ask questions such as:

Take notes during the interviews.

Role B: The Waiter (Witness)

You were serving drinks when the lights went out. You saw someone running towards the back door, but you couldn’t see their face.

Your secret: You heard someone say, “Meet me in the kitchen at nine!”

Role C: Alex (Suspect 1)

You were near the exhibition room because you wanted to admire the diamond.

Your secret: You borrowed a key from the receptionist earlier, but you insist that you returned it.

Role D: The Receptionist (Suspect 2)

You were working at the front desk for most of the evening.

Your secret: You left your desk for five minutes at 9 p.m. to answer a phone call.

Role E: Mr Black (Suspect 3)

You were a guest at the party and knew that the diamond was extremely valuable.

Your secret: You claim that you were on the balcony, but nobody remembers seeing you there.

How to Play

  1. Give each student their role and secret.
  2. The detective interviews each person for approximately five minutes.
  3. Witnesses and suspects answer in character. They can improvise, but their answers should remain consistent with their secret information.
  4. The detective writes a short police report using reported speech.
  5. Each group presents its theory and explains the evidence behind its conclusion.

Bonus Twist: Halfway through the activity, announce:

“The police have found a muddy footprint near the kitchen door!”

Give students a few minutes to reconsider their theories and question the suspects again.

5. Writing Challenge: File the Police Report (10 minutes)

Students write a short police report of approximately 80–120 words about the missing diamond.

Their report should include:

Model Police Report

Police Report: The Grand Hotel Diamond Theft

Case number: 204
Time reported: 9:30 p.m.

At approximately 9 p.m., a diamond disappeared from the exhibition room at the Grand Hotel. The waiter reported that he had seen someone running towards the back door. He also said that he had heard a person arranging a meeting in the kitchen.

Alex admitted that he had borrowed a key but claimed that he had returned it. The receptionist explained that she had left her desk briefly to answer a phone call. Meanwhile, Mr Black stated that he had been on the balcony.

Further investigation is required to identify the person responsible.

6. Plenary: Guilty or Innocent? (5 minutes)

Each group presents its final verdict. The rest of the class votes on the most convincing theory.

Encourage students to justify their conclusions using expressions such as:

Remind students that they need to explain their reasoning rather than simply name a suspect.

Optional Homework: Write a Newspaper Article

Ask students to write a short newspaper article with the headline:

“Diamond Disappears in Daring Hotel Heist!”

Their article should include:

Suggested length: 150–200 words.

Teacher’s Notes

For B1 students:

Provide sentence starters, allow students to use the vocabulary list during the activity, and focus on basic reporting verbs such as said, told and explained.

For B2 students:

Encourage students to use more advanced reporting verbs, including claimed, admitted, denied, insisted and alleged. Ask them to speculate using might have, could have and must have.

Assessment criteria:

Check whether students can:

Final Thoughts

This lesson combines mystery, role-play and problem-solving to make English practice engaging and memorable. Students practise useful real-world language while developing their speaking, writing and critical-thinking skills.

The best part? There is no predetermined culprit! Students must interpret the clues, question the suspects and create their own theories. This makes the activity easy to repeat with different crimes, new suspects and unexpected twists.