Middle School Mystery Genre Unit

Education 440 Monique Gayles Fall 2010 Unit Plan Project

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Mystery Genre Studies Unit Plan


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Table of Contents

Unit Plan Element Page Number Cover Page 1 Table of Content 2 Cover Letter 3 Text Rationale 8 Unit Plan Calendar 10 Day 1: Mystery Introduction Overview 11 Day 1: Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan 12 Day 1: Mystery Introduction Supplemental Reading

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Day 2: Mystery Terminology Lesson Plan 19 Day 2: Mystery Terminology Supplemental Worksheet

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Day 2: Mystery Terminology Student Worksheet Key

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Day 3: Recipe of Mystery Short Stories Lesson Plan

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Day 3: Recipe of Mystery Short Stories Supplemental Student Worksheet

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Day 6: Plot Exposition Review Lesson Plan 26 Day 6: Plot Exposition Review Student Handout

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Day 6: Plot Exposition Review Student Handout Key

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Reading Journal Rationale 29 Reading Journal At A Glance 30 Reading Journal Student Packet 31 Day11: Making Inferences Mini-Lesson 36 Day 11: Making Inferences Student Handout 39 Day 11: Making Inferences Student Worksheet 40 Day 16: How Do Detectives Pick Suspects? Lesson Plan

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Day 17: Suspect File Mini-Lesson 43 Day 17: Suspect File Student Handout 46 Day 17: Suspect File Student Worksheet 47 Day 18: Prosecution Presentation Lesson Plan 48 Day 18: Prosecution Presentation Evaluation Rubric

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Final Assessment Rationale 51 Final Assessment Student Handout 52 Final Assessment Grading Rubric 53


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Mystery Unit Plan Cover Letter

Dear Mr. Wright,

The Unit Plan that follows this letter is a spin off to the mystery unit that you taught during my practicum experience in your classroom. Watching you teach The Westing Game inspired me to design a unit of my own around the text. In my mystery unit of The Westing Game I take a different approach with addressing the needs of the students in a variety of lessons and activities that ultimately focus on writing, editing and revision.

Overview This Unit Plan will focus on the mystery genre with the novel The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Through this unit students will learn the elements of mystery by internalizing the skills of a detective. The novel will allow students to act as the detective to discover the culprits in the various mysteries that create the story line. This novel is best for the seventh graders at Belleville North Middle School because it will give them confidence and enjoyment at the same time. The book is a fairly easy read, but it allows students to make use of context clues to understand vocabulary and to witness the mystery terminology they will be learning in action. This text and several of the activities incorporated in this unit will allow students to role-play as a detective learning the skills and thought processes that detectives make to investigate a crime and suspects. The unit is designed to build on prior knowledge of previous experience with the genre of mystery through brainstorming activities that will assist the students in creating definitions and breaking down the mystery genre. Building on the prior knowledge of students will give them the confidence to establish connections between the information I will present to them and the knowledge that they have from their own experiences.

The unit will run for six weeks; each week we will cover a different concept that will allow us to better comprehend and interrupt the text. Those concepts include: mystery genre introduction, mystery terminology, plot exposition and making predictions, making inferences, and characterization. This unit is also built around four essential questions: 1. How do we solve mysteries? 2. How do detectives think? What type of skills do detectives use to think? 4. What do we need to do to think like a detective? Through these concepts and essential questions students will be able to investigate the structure, vocabulary and genre unique characteristics to mystery. As a final assessment students will be required to create a mystery short story to show their mastery of the skills and concepts that were taught through this unit.


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Explanation of Goals Through this unit I have some very specific writing and editing goals that I want to address with students. Through the unit we will be learning a lot of mystery specific terminology but it is also very important that they practice the writing process. All of the exercises in the unit plan students are encouraged to brainstorm, write, edit and revise their work. The following rationales are for the goals of the unit.

o Students will create a working and final definition for mystery. In my Educational Psychology class I have learned that students

retain information better if they feel that they have contributed in the creation of their knowledge. The discussions in the introductory lesson, and the ones throughout the unit will allow students to customize their own definition of mystery. This will encourage every student to participate in the mystery unit because we will be defining it through their own personal experience and the experiences that we have as a class. This will address state standards under the mystery genre studies that all students are expected to have knowledge of in the seventh grade.

o Students will analyze the roles and elements that are incorporated into mysteries.

Students will be encouraged to analyze mystery through The Westing Game novel, shot video clips, and their own personal experience. This will allow students to meet a common core standard that states students should be able to “analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.” Students will use the different media outlets to analyze how they produce the same elements of mystery in similar and different ways. This will be the foundation that students need to be able to self-define and analyze the elements associated with the mystery genre.

o Students will make inferences based on character interactions and clues from the novel.


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In this goal I want to address the importance of inferences and allow students to recognize how they use them everyday without even realizing it. The exploration of inferences is designed in a mini-lesson on Day 11 of this unit. On Day 11 I will introduce the concept of inferences through modeling, guided practice, and independent work time. Although the lesson is a general lesson it will be the foundation to help students understand how they make inferences everyday and use that knowledge to make inferences about The Westing Game’s characters and outcome of the story.

o Students will build their vocabulary by investigating vocabulary unique to the mystery genre

In this goal I wanted to address the important literary terms specific to the mystery genre. I chose this route instead of your traditional vocabulary words from the book, because I think that we will have several other chances to focus in on the “hard words” of any book. The Westing Game offers so much more than that when it comes to vocabulary; it allows students to see the literary terms that they will learn about in Day 2 of this unit, in action throughout the text. This takes us beyond the simple general knowledge of, for example, knowing what the dictionary definition of red herring, because in The Westing Game we get a few examples of red herrings that will allow students to witness them and label them using their new mystery vocabulary.

Relationship of Unit Components In this unit I want to explore the mystery genre in a completely different approach from the traditional literary studies, since the mystery genre is easily set a part from other genres. When I begin the unit I incorporate a lot of introductory lessons on mystery and helping the students to understand that they have, at one time or another, been exposed to the mystery genre. When I make the students feel knowledgeable about a subject they can feel confident when they share their experiences and/or answer questions posed for the class. At the same time I want to show students that mystery does take a similar plot structure of other genres. This idea is introduced through a review on Day 6. On Day 6 Students and I will briefly go over plot structure, because they should already be familiar with it from other genre studies. After the review of the plot structure the students and I will use the plot structure worksheet to begin outlining the plot structure of The Westing Game in Week 2.


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After making it clear that this is an exploration unit that the students and I will embark on together through self reflection and prior knowledge, I also want to make it clear that there will be a strong emphasis on the writing process, particularly writing, peer editing, and revising. I establish this in the first week of the unit where I will encourage students to write a mystery short story before we begin The Westing Game, but immediately after the introduction to the unit. This short story will be the short story they will revise in their final assessment of the unit. I chose to have students stick with the same story so that they too can witness their growth over the duration of the unit. By the end of the unit I expect the short stories to be full of the elements of mystery that we have talked about throughout this unit and be well groomed grammatically.

The reading journal was another element that I incorporated in this unit. I think that students are able to comprehend what they have read after they have given it some careful thought and consideration. The reading journals will allow students to focus their reading using the lens that are assigned for each week. Through the reading journals I am able to focus the students reading of the text, allow them to express their feelings about the reading response in writing, as well as engage students in the peer editing process that will be a large part of their final assessment. The reading journals are extended practice opportunities for peer editing and reflective writing that involves making claims and solidifying them with evidence.

My Teaching Philosophy Incorporated I believe that my job as an educator is to develop a community of student writers who can effectively communicate and interrupt the world around them. My belief is that writing a double-headed sword that can deliver you from the depths of your lows and show a glimpse of you in the moments of your highs. It is also what the outside world will use to judge how capable you are of “making it” in America. Through this lesson I will be opening up the horizons of my students writing and thinking abilities by introducing them to the genre of mystery through literary terms and reflective consideration. This unit plan shows my dedication to making students better thinkers and writers through the array of activities and lessons that I will teach them through one main text, The Westing Game, and several supplementary activities and readings.

A section of my teaching philosophy reads, “ On any given day you could walk in my classroom and see a community of learners, not students that are faced with disadvantages. This is because my classroom will be a commonplace where we all are there to achieve a common goal of learning. Although, we are all still individuals in the classroom we are able to join as one entity to work on a common goal, to learn more and to be more.” In this unit I intend on holding true to this promise of establishing a community within my classroom through our sharing of experiences through, our writing,


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and class discussions. This unit reflects the warm, encouraging environment that I would like to share with my students. I will achieve this environment through the mix of modeling, guided practice, independent practice, and engaging activities that allow critical feedback with every step.

I am choosing to share this unit plan with you because I think you will take a interest in some of the material in this unit plan. I have learned so much being a part of your classroom the past three months, and I feel that sharing material that was inspired by your classroom is the least that I could do. It was a pleasure being a part of your class. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Monique J. Gayles


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Mystery Unit Plan Text: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Unit Goals: This unit will be designed to introduce students into the genre of mystery. Although, students will have had previous exposure to mystery, students will be required to synthesize the structural components of the mystery genre so that they will be able to create their own mystery short story. At the start of the unit students will create a working definition of mystery that will be finalized by the end of the unit. The duration of the unit will be used to explore the structure of mystery, the elements of mystery and the different styles of mystery. Students will also gain extended practice on common vocabulary of genre writing, which would include words like antagonist, red herring conflict, and sleuth. As an essential part of the comprehension and summarization of the text students will learn to make inferences and draw conclusions from the inferences that they make to help them better understand the logical work mysteries are supposed to incorporate into the plot. By the end of the unit:

o Students will create a working and final definition of mystery. o Students will analyze the roles and elements that are incorporated into mysteries (i.e.

antagonist themes, internal/external conflicts, etc.) o Students will make inferences based on character interactions and clues from the novel. o Students will build their vocabulary by investigating vocabulary unique to the mystery

genre. Essential Questions: The guiding questions for this unit will fall under the umbrella theme of defining what is the mystery genre of literature. The essential questions will help students to investigate the structure, vocabulary and genre unique characteristics to mystery.

o How do we solve mysteries? o How do detectives think? o What type of skills do they use to think? o What do we need to do to think like a detective?

School Context: This unit plan was created for seventh grade students in Belleville North Middle School. Belleville North Middle School is one of the two middle schools in Belleville that serves students in grades six through eight. Specifically this unit is for Mr. Wright’s seventh grade English class. The classroom is a general education class and has no students that have any special needs at this time. The unit is designed to build on prior knowledge of previous experience with the genre of mystery through brainstorming activities that will assist the students in creating definitions and breaking down the mystery genre. This unit will consist of a series of mini and hour length lessons for the second half of the first quarter of school (~6weeks). The beginning of the unit will start around the beginning of the MEAP, so this until will run about 2 weeks simultaneously, during the hours where students are not testing. Students will have had previous exposure to the mystery genre in the sixth grade, but


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the seventh grade unit requires that they learn more terminology that is unique to the mystery genre, and have students to actually write their own mystery short story. After completing an introduction 3-day lesson where students will be set up to start writing a mystery short story of their own they will actually write a mystery short story. Once students have constructed their drafts of a mystery short story they will begin reading The Westing Game, a mystery novel that will allow them to see the work of a mystery novel in play. During thee reading of The Westing Game students will read it with a critical eye playing close attention to the structure and the path that the mystery takes (i.e. the discovery of the problem, the protagonist, antagonist, steps to solving the mystery and etc.). This will help the students’ prefect their drafts by making changes to their story lines where necessary.

Rationale for The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: The students will use the book The Westing Game as the text throughout the mystery genre. This book was chosen not only because it was the winner of the Newberry Medal award, but it also offers a plethora of other mystery unique elements that can be expanded into other genre studies that students will participate in later in the year. These elements are things such as using context clues to define words, and making predictions about future events. The Westing Game requires that students have prior knowledge of everyday things such as geographical locations, word structure, and sentence structure. The information presented in this novel will allow students to make logical connections in order to solve the crime of Sam Westing’s murder. This book will also require that students create inferences in order to construct the most logical explanation for the order of events. For example, in the book Sam Westing leaves a will where it is implied that he is murdered and students will have to use the wording, and reading of the will to make this inference, as well as other assumptions that they will have to make to solve the mystery. Perhaps the most useful skill that the students will gain from this novel is the skill to play close attention to detail. The novel has over sixteen characters that the reader will be responsible for knowing and making assumptions about. This task will help students to better comprehend the mystery so that they have a higher success rate of solving the mystery of the Sam Westing’s murder. The skills that students would gain such as making inferences, and comprehending character dynamics will be skills that students utilize during the duration of this unit, but will also be useful in other genres and classes throughout their academic career. NCTE & District Standards: The following standards are grade level content expectations from the Michigan Department of Education. These are also the standards adapted into the curriculum at Belleville North Middle School.

Objective Assessments: o R.NT.07.02 Analyze structure, elements, styles of mystery o R.NT.07.03 Analyze role of antagonists, protagonists, internal/external conflicts,

and themes o R.IT.07.03 Explain use of writer’s craft and text features o R.CM.07.03 Drawing conclusions and inferences


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Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan What is a mystery?

Day 1 An Overview: The Big Picture

This lesson is targeted for students in a seventh grade English classroom at Belleville North Middle School. The lesson should run for the duration of the entire hour. The classroom is a general education class and has no students that have any special needs at this time. The lesson is designed to build on prior knowledge with brainstorming activities that will assist the students in creating definitions and breaking down the mystery genre.

This lesson will be the introduction to a larger mystery unit that students will be taught this semester. They will be just starting the MEAP, so this lesson will run simultaneously during the hours where students are not testing. Students will have had previous exposure to the mystery unit in the sixth grade, but the seventh grade unit requires that they learn more terminology that is unique to the mystery genre, and have students to actually write their own mystery story. After completing this 3-day lesson where students will be set up to start writing a mystery short story of their own they will actually write a mystery short story. Once students have constructed their drafts of a mystery short story they will begin reading The Westing Game, a mystery novel that will allow them to see the work of a mystery novel in play. During thee reading of The Westing Games students will read it with a critical eye playing close attention to the structure and the path that the mystery takes (i.e. the discovery of the problem, the protagonist, antagonist, steps to solving the mystery and etc.). This will help the students’ prefect their drafts by making changes to their story lines where necessary.


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Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan What is a mystery?

Day 1

CT: Mr. Dan Wright Class Period: 1st hour 8:05-9:03am Setting: Belleville North Middle School

Objective: Introduce students to the genre of mystery by building off their prior knowledge/experience with mysteries from television, books, games and etc.

• R.NT.07.02 Analyze structure, elements, style of Mystery.

Instructional Goals: By the end of class students will be able to state the definition of mystery as a genre and classify books, text, story lines, and characteristics that will fit into the mystery genre. Assessment: Students will be given formative assessments through the lesson with the discussion questions that are listed in the “teaching plan”. Their questions will help me probe students so that they can begin to think about mysteries and how they can be defined. As a summative assessment students will write on their brainstorming sheet of paper what they have concluded a mystery is based on their own experiences and the experiences of their classmates. This will then lead to the creation of our class definition of mystery.

Materials:

• Pen • Paper • Mystery Short Story • Chalkboard/Elmo/Chart paper

Instructional Procedure:

Tell students that we are preparing to write and read the genre of mysteries. To start off this unit we will be exploring how mysteries are defined. (2 minutes)


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I will share a short brainstorm on a mystery novel/event that I recall. Then I will ask students to recall a mystery novel, television show, game, etc. that they remember. (Give students 3-4 minutes to complete this task)

“When I think of mystery I think of Scooby Doo, a cartoon show from my childhood. In the show Scooby Doo, a dog with limited speaking abilities traveled with a gang of friends to solve mysteries of the places they traveled. In the show Scooby Doo and his gang acted as the detectives, while they were trying to catch the villains who were usually after money. The places that they had to look for clues were spooky and forced them to break up into groups to try and find clues. Now I want you to take a few minutes to write down your experience with mystery that you have been apart of, or witnessed through a book, television or any other place.”

Ask students to turn and share with a partner what they have written on their paper. Then they must decide on one of their observations to share. (5 minutes)

Have each pair of students share their observation with the class (class brainstorm activity). While the students are sharing record what is being said using the elmo, chalkboard, or chart paper. (Students will also record this information in addition to their own thoughts.) While the students are throwing out ideas I will be restating the ideas out loud and making connections between the ideas that are brainstormed. (10 minutes)

After sharing our ideas about mysteries we have seen/read we will read a mystery short story (The Mystery of the stolen lunches) to see if it contains any of the features that we discussed and recorded in the class brainstorm activity. (9 minutes)

As a class we should engage in discussion so that everyone can share their ideas out loud. The students should consider their previous experience with mystery and the short story we have just read. The following questions should be used for discussion:

• What do you think a mystery should be? • When you think about mysteries, what comes to mind? • What is your favorite mystery book, movie, or TV program? • What do you find suspenseful? • How did the author make you curious? • What do you think makes a good mystery?

By the end of the discussion we will have created a class definition of what a mystery novel is. This definition will help lead into the discovery of terminology that is involved with the mystery novels. (20 minutes)

Notes after teaching the lesson:


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Introduction to Mystery Lesson Plan

Day 1

The Mystery of the Stolen Lunches

Character List: Jeremy Doyle, Larry York , Lisa Abrams, Mr. Clark, Fred Wallace.

It was Monday, and Sunshine Parker hurried to her desk where she pulled open her desk drawer

and threw her purse inside. Locking the drawer, she looked about. No one else had as yet taken a

seat at any of the desks behind her.

Sunshine ran to the lounge and opened the refrigerator door. She placed her brown bag, with its

cherry cola and tuna sandwich on the middle shelf. Her initials were written in blue highlighter on

the top of the bag. There was a half-eaten apple, turning brown around the edges, on the bottom

shelf. Sunshine wrinkled her nose. She had brought the apple to work the Wednesday before.

When she went to the lounge for her last break, someone had taken a bite of it.

There was a sound from the doorway, and Sunshine glanced around to see her boss, Mr. Clark

striding into the room. "Hello, Miss Parker. What are you doing in here?"

"I was just putting my lunch away," she stammered. Sunshine was nervous around her boss.

"Alright. I've put some files there for you to complete and put away." Mr. Clark walked toward

the refrigerator as Sunshine retreated back toward the area where her desk was located. She made

a mental note that Mr. Clark didn't have anything in his hand. Why was he looking in the fridge?

Sunshine sat down at her desk and picked up a paper lying there. It was a note, scribbled to her


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and she read, Watch out. Someone is stealing lunches." Sunshine looked about her. Fred Wallace

and Larry York were standing near the time clock talking. Jeremy Doyle and Lisa Abrams were

both seated at their desks, their fingers clicking computer keys.

Sunshine didn't recognize the handwriting on the note. She wanted to ask who had written it, but

if she asked someone, they might be the lunch thief. She didn't want to let anyone know that she

knew about the stolen lunches. She hadn't put her name on the apple, so no one could know it was

hers.

She bent over the files and turned to her computer. After a few minutes of working, she realized

Larry York was looming over her, a scowl on his face.

"Do you like apples, Miss Parker?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir, I do." She couldn't imagine why he would be asking. Was he the one who had eaten a

part of her apple?

"So was that your apple in the fridge?" Once more, Sunshine noticed the scowl on his face.

"I had an apple, but someone ate part of it. Why?" Sunshine was nervous and her hands shook on

the keys. Larry was the personnel manager and he could fire her.

Larry York took a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Thanks', he

said and walked away.

The morning went quickly and the stack of files became smaller. She thought she might be

finished by noon and after lunch she would file them all away. Her fingers flew across the keys,

entering the information into the computer database.

A rustling noise at her back caused her to pause and look around. Lisa was opening a brown

lunch bag. As Sunshine watched, Lisa took out a can of soda. It looked very much like her cola,

the one she had put in the fridge earlier that morning. She could almost feel the words about to

pop out of her mouth. Then, Lisa reached in the bag again and as Sunshine waited, holding her

breath, Lisa took out a banana and a plastic bag holding crackers and cheese.


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"Why are you watching me? " Lisa asked.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see what you had," she stammered.

"Why? Didn't you bring your own lunch? I don't have enough for both of us." Lisa was staring at

her as she opened her lemon cola can.

"Oh, no, I brought my lunch. I don't want yours. I just needed to know," and her voice trailed

away.

"Are you the one whose been taking my lunch?" Lisa's voice was angry.

Before Sunshine could answer, Lisa turned away and began eating her crackers. Sunshine was

embarrassed, but she realized she was going to be late for lunch. Jumping up, she pushed back her

chair and hurried to the lounge. As she opened the door of the refrigerator, she held her breath.

Her lunch sack was gone.

"Yours too?" A voice came from behind her, and she turned. Jeremy was smiling at her.

"Lose your lunch? He asked.

"Yes. Do you know who took it?" Sunshine noticed that Jeremy held a brown paper sack,

crumpled up in his hands.

"I wish. Whoever took it, probably took mine last week. And they stole my walnut brownie

today." Jeremy tossed the paper sack into the trash can and walked away.

Sunshine wanted to cry. She had talked to Lisa, Jeremy, and Larry. She felt fairly sure that neither

Lisa nor Jeremy had taken her apple last week, and her lunch today. Larry was asking her

questions, but only about whether she liked apples. Could it be that Larry wanted to know whose

apple he had bitten? She didn't think so, but decided she had to find out for sure.

First, though she needed to get something to eat. There was a cold drink dispenser down the hall

and a sandwich machine across the lounge. Turning, Sunshine hurried over the tile and searched

in her purse for quarters. One of the items said it was a tuna sandwich. Not knowing how old it


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was, she swallowed hard and stuck in a dollar bill. She couldn't find any quarters. The sandwich

was a dollar and a quarter. She would have to put in two bills. The machine spit out her sandwich

and picking it up along with the change, she raced from the room to buy a cola to wash it down.

Sunshine was returning from the hallway when she nearly bumped into Larry. "Miss Parker? I

thought you had a lunch in the fridge. I saw it there earlier. What happened?"

"Oh, Mr. York, Someone stole it. I had to buy a drink and sandwich and I think I'm going to be

late getting back to work." She gulped down a swallow of the cola. "How did you know I brought

a lunch?"

"Mr. Clark told me. I saw him looking at it. Someone has been stealing lunches and your apple.

We're trying to find out who it is." Larry took the paper and pen from his pocket and scribbled

again.

"Did you leave the note on my desk this morning?" she asked.

"No, that wasn't me. It may have been Jeremy Doyle. Will you give me the note and I'll check it

out?"

Sunshine walked back to her desk with Larry following her. The note was lying where she had

put it, behind the pencil cup. She pulled it out and placed it in his hand.

"Thanks. If I find out anything, I'll let you know."

Sunshine sat down and quickly ate the stale tuna sandwich. She wondered who could be taking

the lunches. She found a clean napkin in her purse and after wiping her hands decided she had

better take a trip to the ladies room.

On her way to the ladies room, she passed by Fred Wallace's desk. In the trash can lay a cola can

and a crumpled paper sack. Sunshine wasn't sure, but she thought she could see some blue writing

on the sack's top. As she paused to try to see for sure, Fred looked up from his desk.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked politely.


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"Oh, no, I just thought I saw something familiar." Sunshine wanted to be sure it had been her

lunch sack, but she couldn't see well enough without moving it.

"In the trash can? That's just a lunch sack. I could use it again except that I got chocolate icing on

it. You didn't want it, did you? Or maybe you save aluminum cans?"

Fred reached into the trash hamper and picked up the cola can. "You can have it if you'd like." He

held it out to her. Sunshine's eyes lit up at the sight of the can.

Sunshine saw Larry heading in their direction and stepped away from Fred's desk.

"I have something to tell you, Mr. York. I think I know who did it."

Solution:

Fred Wallace stole her lunch and Jeremy's chocolate brownie The crumpled paper sack in his hamper (CLUE) The chocolate icing on the sack (CLUE) The cola can (CLUE) Lisa had a banana, crackers and cheese and lemon cola Jeremy had something stolen from him and left her a note. Mr. Clark made sure she had a lunch and that she wasn't stealing one instead Larry York was trying to find out who was stealing lunches

** This story was adapted from Helium.com and was written by Summer Tyme


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Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan Mystery Terminology

Day 2

Objective: Introduce students to the terminology that will allow them to think more critically about the concepts in mystery writing.

• R.NT.07.03 Analyze role of antagonists, protagonists, internal/external conflicts, and themes

• R.NT.07.04 Analyze author’s craft including theme and point of view • R.IT.07.03 Explain use of writer’s craft and text features

Materials:

o Mystery short story o Terminology List o Markers


Recap with students the introduction to the mystery genre lesson and tell them that today we are going to learn about terminology that goes with the mystery genre.

Pass out the terminology sheets to all students.

The students and I will go over each term to create a definition. When it gets to a word that no one knows I will give the students clues as to how to find out what the word is. If students are still confused we will look up the word in the dictionary.


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After every definition the students have to give me an example of the term just discussed.

After reviewing all of the terminology on the sheet, we will use the mystery short story to point out these things in the story.

We will reread the story as a class and I will have students point out the examples of the terminology we just learned. If students miss an example I will point out the example and ask that they associate it to a term.

Once the students have identified the examples in the story they should have a marker to highlight the terminology on the list and take that same marker and underline the place in the story where it occurs. (For example, when there is an alibi being told we will under the alibi in the story in blue and highlight the word alibi on the terminology sheet in blue as well.)

• This activity will work as the assessment of what students have learned about the terms

By the end of this lesson students will have learned the definitions of mystery terminology and be able to point out examples of them. The story and the terminology list will be useful as a guide in case students need to refresh on terminology while writing their own novels. The highlighting of the text is useful because it connects the definition with an example.

This will lead up into the Day 3 lesson where I will introduce students to the structure and “recipe” of mystery short stories.

Handouts: (pages that follow)


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Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan

Day 2: Mystery Terminology

Alibi: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Clue ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Deduction ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Evidence ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Red Herring ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sleuth ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Suspects ______________________________________________________________________________


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______________________________________________________________________________ Witness ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Genre ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Protagonist ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Antagonist ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dynamic Character ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Static Character ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Plot ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exposition ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rising action ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Climax ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Falling Action ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Resolution ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Idioms ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Conflict


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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Setting ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interference ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Foreshadow ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Point of view ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mystery Introduction Lesson Plan Day 2: Mystery Terminology (KEY)

Alibi: A story from a suspect in which they claim to have been a place other than the crime site. Clue: Aid in solving mysteries Deduction: The conclusion that was pieced together Evidence: A sign/ proof of a crime or guilt Red herring: A misleading clue Sleuth: The detective on the case Suspects: A person who is believed to be guilty of the crime Witness: A person who watched the crime take place Genre: Category of artistic work Protagonist: The main character of the story (hero) Antagonist: The character in conflict with the main character Dynamic Character: A character that undergoes a permanent change in the story Static Character: A character who goes without change the entire story Plot: The story line (what the story is about) Exposition: Detailed description of discussion of details Rising action: The actions/events that happen before the main event of the story Climax: The key moment of the story


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Falling Action The actions/events that happen after the key moments are dealt with. Resolution: The final decision made in the story Idioms: Fixed expression with non-literal meaning (ex. break a leg) Conflict: The plot tension of a story Setting: The location that a story takes place Interference: An action taken to stop another person or thing’s progress Foreshadow: A warning signal of what is about to happen next Point of view: A perspective that someone has.

Mystery Introduction Lesson Recipe of Mystery short stories

Day 3

Objective: Introduce students to the brainstorming activities to writing mystery short stories.

• W.PR.07.01 Purpose, audience, style • W.PR.07.02 Pre-write

Materials:

• Handouts from Previous lessons • Mystery recipe handout • Pen • Paper


The class and I will create our own mystery story outline using the brainstorming worksheet

First we must create a plot summary (what will happen in our story)


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We will use the 5 W’s and H

• Where- Where will your story take place?

• Who- Who is the detective, villain, and victim?

• What- What crime will be committed?

• When- When was the crime committed?

• Why- What is the motive?

• How- How was the crime committed and solved?

We will go over the expectations of the following handout, then students will break up into groups where they will use the handout to brainstorm their mystery essay. A group will consist of 2/3 students. They are all required to have a handout completed, but they will compose 1 essay to turn in.

After the Brainstorm activity is finished students will spend the next 2 days (Day 4 &5) composing their essay.

The Recipe of Mystery Short Stories Day 3

1. Start with a crime: What will be the mystery in your story? What are the characters of the story trying to solve? What will the crime scene look like? Where is the crime scene?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Add an investigator: Who will be the person acting as the detective? What will they look like? Is it a professional detective or are they just a normal everyday person?

a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Throw in two or three suspects: Who will be the suspects? What makes them a suspect? How will they look? What are their alibis when questioned about the crime?


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a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Add a twist of Surprise: Will your story have a twist/surprise? What will it be? Who will it include? What will it help the detective realize?

a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Solve the crime: How will the detective solve the crime? Who will be guilty of the crime? How does the detective figure this out? Why was the crime committed?

a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Create a happy satisfying Ending: What happens to all the characters after the crime is solved? Give explanations of why the story took the path that it did. Make sure you tie up all loose ends here.

a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Plot Structure Review Day 6

Lesson Rationale: Students will be familiar with the plot structure, but this short lesson will serve as a review so that students can begin thinking about the plot structure of The Westing Game as we begin reading.

Objective: Students will be refreshed on the components of plot structure.

Materials:

o Plot Structure Worksheet o The Mystery of the Stolen Lunches (Day 2) o Pen


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o Elmo o Paper


o Students will be asked to share plot structure components from memory. o Together we will review the components

Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Resolution

o Using the plot of Mystery of the Stolen Lunches we will complete the Plot Structure worksheet.

o Tell students that we will now begin reading The Westing Game to find the exposition of the plot structure for the story.

o After 20 minutes of reading the students will complete the exposition portion of the structure worksheet for The Westing Game.

Plot Struture Outline

1. Exposition

2. Rising Action 2. Rising Action


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Plot Structure Outline (KEY)

3. Climax

4. Falling Action 4. Falling Action

5. Resolution

1. Exposition (Provides background information, setting information, as well as character descriptions.)


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The Westing Game Reading Journal Rationale

Overview: The purpose of the reading journal is to provide students with the opportunity to utilize and show their mastery of the concepts that we will be covering during the duration of the

2. Rising Action (Events that build up the tension in the story.)

2. Rising Action

3. Climax (The most intense part of the story that the rising action has built up to.)

4. Falling Action 4. Falling Action (Ties up the loose ends of the story, as the tension decrease.)

5. Resolution (The final outcome of the story.)


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unit. There will be four assigned reading journals in which students will apply their knowledge of plot exposition, inferences, detective knowledge, and persuasion. Students will start their reading journals in Week two and complete one a week until Week five. The reading response topic will correspond to the theme of the week.

Students will also be assigned a partner and it will be their responsibility to edit their partners reading journal every Friday that there is a reading journal assigned. This will allow students to brush up on their editing skills as well as see what others think about the themes we are discussing.

Process: At the start of the lesson on days that reading journals are assigned students will be introduced to the reading response prompt for that day. This will help students read with a critical lens of the theme for the week. Then students will begin their 25 minutes of silent or group reading. After the reading time is up students will have 10 minutes to response to the text in their reading journal. Once students have completed their responses I will lead the class discussion by asking students to share their responses. (This process will be followed on Days 9, 14, 19 & 24)

On days where there is reading journal edits the reading and discussion would go as planned, but the 10 minute reading response time will be switched to a 10 minute editing response. (This process will be followed on Days 10, 15, 20 & 25)

I will collect the reading journals at the end of each week to review what students are writing about and how their peers are commenting on their writing. In this time I will also make edits and comments if necessary.

Common Core Standards:

o Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and example

o With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed

Assessments: The reading journal itself will serve as a summative assessment of the students’ ability to apply the concepts and themes that the unit will address. The entries and class discussions will help me to gauge students’ progress.

o Reading Journal (4 entries & 4 edits total) o Class Discussions

The Westing Game Reading Journal At A Glance


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Week Number Theme Reading Response Prompt

Week 2 Plot Exposition & Predictions What stages of plot exposition do you I identify chapters 5 & 6 in? What predictions can you make about the 16 Heirs?

Week 3 Making Inferences What type of inferences can you make about the characters with the given information on them?

Week 4 How Do Detectives Pick Suspects?/ Characterization

What character did you pick for your suspect? Do you still think that person is a suspect? What character was presented that you now think is a suspect?

Week 5 Reflection & Catch-Up Write a letter to Ellen Raskin telling her why you liked her novel. Or Write a letter to your friend recommending the book. While writing your letter think about the elements of mystery that we have learned and explain why The Westing Game does or does not make a good mystery novel.


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The Westing Game Reading Journal

Name: ________________________________________________ Hour: ________________________________________________


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Chapters Read: ______________ Date: _________________

Reading Response # 1

What stages of plot exposition do you I identify chapters 5 & 6 in? What predictions can you make about the 16 Heirs?

Editor Name: __________________________________________

Editor Comments: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Chapters Read: ______________ Date: _________________


What type of inferences can you make about the characters with the given information on them?

Editor Name: __________________________________________ Editor Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Chapters Read: ____________ Date: ___________________


What character did you pick for your suspect? Do you still think that person is a suspect? What character was presented that you now think is a suspect?

Editor Name: __________________________________________ Editor Comments: ______________________________________________________


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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Chapters Read: ____________ Date: ___________________


Write a letter to Ellen Raskin telling her why you liked her novel. Or Write a letter to your friend recommending the book. While writing your letter think about the elements of mystery that we have learned and explain why The Westing Game does or does not make a good mystery novel.

Editor Name: __________________________________________ Editor Comments: ______________________________________________________


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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Mini-Lesson (During Week 3)

Mini-Lesson on Making Inferences Day 11

Lesson Rationale: This lesson will occur in the third week of the unit, where the theme of the week will be making inferences. Later in the week students will be required to response to a prompt in their reading journal that will ask them to make inferences about the story; this lesson will help them understand what an inference is and how to make them.


o This activity will lead up to students being able to cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Objective: Students will be able to define what an inference is and make inferences from any given scenario. This knowledge of inferences will help them make inferences about what will happen next in the text. Assessment: The assessment for this lesson will be an inferences worksheet that students are to complete during the independent practice portion of this mini lesson.

Materials:

o Inferences worksheet 1 & 2 o Pencil o Elmo


Mini-Lesson Format

o Learning Objectives


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o Students will learn what inferences are, and be able to make them using the given scenarios.

“Today we will learn about inferences and how they can help us to better comprehend what we are reading”

o Connection to Prior Learning o Students will use prior knowledge of making predictions to make

inferences from the book, as well as consider the inferences that we make in everyday interactions.

“In everyday life when we are not given all the information that we need to solve a problem we come up with conclusions based on what we know about the situation already. When we make those assumptions we are making inferences. Inferences are reasonable conclusions that we make with our prior knowledge and current information we have received about a subject”

o Modeling o I will provide a scenario and create an inference for it, by detailing

the thought process and prior knowledge that I used to get there. (Modeling done using the making inference worksheet.)

• Read the example scenario from the worksheet. And explain the prior knowledge that I know that could be related to the scenario and create my inference from there.

o Guided Practice o Students will help me to make more inferences using the scenarios

listed on the making inferences worksheet. Together we will fill out the worksheet with the inferences that we have created together.

• “What are some possible reasons for this persons actions? What prior knowledge led you to that conclusion?” Use answers to fill in worksheet.

o Invitation to Independent Work o Students will work independently to create inferences for the

scenarios that are on the worksheet. After completing the worksheet students will be allowed to participate in a “think-pair-share” to discuss their answers

• “Now let’s try the scenarios on the next page on our own“

o Independent Work & Conferencing o I will walk around the round and see how students are doing with

creating inferences for the scenario. • “ What are the inferences that you created? What

prior knowledge/experience helped you to make this inference?”

o Wrap-up/Review/Sharing


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o I will lead the students in a review of the answers by allowing students to share the inferences that they have created with the class and explain their rationale for creating those inferences.

**For more practice with making inferences students can visit: http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=11&act=2&que=1


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Making Inferences

Inferences are educated conclusions that we draw from prior knowledge and current information that is given to us.

Making inferences during reading allows us to:

o Draw conclusions from text o Make reasonable predictions o Make critical analysis about they are reading o Remember what we have read o Create new background knowledge o Reflective response to text

**Inferences can vary from person to person depending on their background knowledge and experience with the scenario.

Example:

Scenario 1: Samantha is blowing out candles and has received presents from her family and friends.

Question: What can we infer about Samantha?

Answer: We can infer that Samantha is celebrating her birthday, because usually when people celebrate birthdays they have candles to blow out on their cake and they receive presents from people.

Let’s Try One Together!

Scenario 2: Steven woke up and took a look at his alarm clock. Within seconds Steven was out of the bed and racing towards the shower. After quickly showering and getting dressed he dashed for the door.

Question: What can we infer about Steven?


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Answer: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Making Inferences Independent Practice Worksheet

Directions: Read the scenario and answer the question that follows. When answering the question be sure to include any prior knowledge that helped you to create your inference.

Scenario 1: When Sandy received her reading journal back from her editing partner she smiled.

Question: What can we infer about Sandy?

Answer: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scenario 2: In the middle of math class Stephanie’s stomach growled. She looked at the clock and said, “Only ten more minutes.”

Question: What can we infer about Stephanie?

Answer: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scenario 3: Samuel walked up to Suzie with two prom tickets in his hand.

Question: What can we infer about Samuel?

Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Scenario 4: Sally went to Robert’s pool party, but she sat in the beach chairs the entire time.

Question: What can we infer about Sally?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


3-day Sequence (During Week 4) What Process do Detective take to pick suspects?

Day 16

Lesson Rationale: This sequence lesson will occur on days 16-18. During the course of the unit there is focus on detectives and the role that they play in mystery; the sequence lesson will help students to put the skills and knowledge that they have developed from observing and investigating detectives into action. The lesson will allow students to address the essential questions of the unit that investigates detectives and how they frame people as suspects.


o Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). (In what ways do detectives and suspects interact with each other and the setting in The Westing Game?)

Objective: Students will be able to indentify characteristics of a suspect, using The Westing Game, and other media avenues.

Assessment: The assessment for this lesson will come from my observations of the groups and listening to the students input during the class discussion. From the student’s input we will create a how to spot a detective and criminal procedure; this will also serve as an assessment.

Materials:


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• You Tube/ Video Clips • The Westing Game • Laptops (?) • Elmo • Paper • Pencil


o Students will be informed of the objective for today’s lesson o “Today we will be studying detectives and how they work. Throughout the

unit/reading of The Westing Game we have been serving as detectives trying to solve the various mysteries of the story. Today we will work on becoming professional detectives by observing how they pick suspects. “

o Students will be asked to think about who is playing the detective and who is playing the suspect in a video clip.

o “In order to observe some detectives we will be watching some video clips of detectives. During the first viewing of the clips I would like for you to play close attention in identifying who the detective is in the clip. Once you have identified the detective jot down what lead you to that conclusion. “

o After watching the clip we will discuss what we seen in the video clip, to make assumptions about detectives, and suspects.

o “Who did you identify as the detective and why?” What type of assumptions does our observations say about detectives and suspects?”

o Then we will watch the video clip again. This time to point out how the detective labels someone as a suspect.

o “This time while watching the clip identify what things leads the detective to the suspect. Or consider what made the detective label someone as a suspect.”

o We will discuss what the students have observed to create assumptions about how suspects are selected.

o Using the Elmo we will record this information to create a “how to spot a detective/ suspect” procedure.


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o Using this procedure students will be broken up into four groups to view four different clips where they have to point out the detective and suspects, by using evidence from the video clips to support their claims.

Video Clips:

Blue’s Clues Arts & Crafts: (0-2minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77s9eV9oPk4

SpongeBob Squarepants Mystery with a Twistery Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfpZfk80nvs

SpongeBob Squarepants Mystery Short Clips:

http://spongebob.nick.com/tent-pole/mystery


3-day Sequence (During Week 4) Mini-Lesson on Suspect File Folders

Day 17

Lesson Rationale: This lesson will allow students to utilize their detective skills as well as practice making claims and supporting them with evidence. In this lesson students will act as a Westing Town detective and pick a suspect from the character list to frame as a suspect for a crime that is committed in the book. This lesson will be presented in a mini lesson format so that students observe the thought and procedure process that is expected of them.


o Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

o Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

Objective: Students create claims about characters and gather textual evidence from The Westing Game to support their claims.


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Assessment: The assessment for this lesson will be a large part of the guided practice and in the invitation of independent work. During those periods I will question the students to see if they are following along. I will also have them to create a suspect information sheet of their own, which would serve as a summative assessment for this lesson.

Materials:

• The Westing Game • Manila File Folders • Markers/Color Pencils • Index cards • Poster Boards • Paper • Pencils

Instructional Procedure: (Mini-Lesson Format)

o Learning Objectives o Students will identify one character in the book as a suspect. After

students have identified that character they have to make claims about the character that frames the character as a suspect, and use textual evidence to support their claims.

“Today we will be framing characters from The Westing Game as suspects. Once we have identified a suspect we will make claims about the suspects using textual evidence to support them”

o Connection to Prior Learning o Students will use their reading journals and notes that they have

taken in their character charts to help them narrow down a character to use as a suspect.

“Yesterday and throughout this entire unit we have been talking and thinking about Detectives and how they work to identify suspects. Today you will use the knowledge that you have gained to identify a character that you want to frame a suspect to a crime in the book”

o Modeling o I will select a character to frame as a suspect. I will talk my

thinking process aloud with the students so that they will understand how I created my claims, and backed it up with evidence. (Modeling done using the suspect information sheet.)

• “The Character that I have chosen as my suspect in the “Who murdered Sam Westing” case is Turtle Wexler.”—Present the suspect information sheet.

o Guided Practice


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o Students will help me to make more claims about Turtle using evidence from the book to support their claims. I will continue to fill out the suspect information sheet using the claims and information that the class is helping me to uncover.

• “What are some qualities that you have witnessed in Turtle that would frame her as a suspect? What could be her possible motive to kill Sam Westing?”—Use answers to fill in information fact sheet.

o Invitation to Independent Work o Students will be broken up into pairs, and they must agree on a

character to frame as a suspect. (I will check in at the 2 minutes point and ask each group to name their suspect). Then students will be required to fill out the suspect information sheet using the claim and evidence method that we used as a class to present Turtle as a suspect.

• “What will be the crime that your group is investigating and who is your suspect?“

o Independent Work & Conferencing o I will walk around the round and see how students are doing with

finding evidence to back up their claims. • “ What are the claims you are making about your

suspect? What page can we find the evidence?” o Wrap-up/Review/Sharing

o Students will present their suspect and one of the motives that they claim their suspects to have, and the evidence from the book that supports their claim. ---More formal sharing will happen in Day 3 with their pair presentations.


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Westing Town Detective

You have been hired as a detective in Westing Town. You must identify and frame at least one character as a suspect for a crime in the book, The Westing Game.

The crime that you choose to solve can be either of the following:

o Who killed Sam Westing? o Who is the bomber? o Who is the thief? o Who is the bookie?

You have to create a suspect file that includes the following:

o At least 4 claims (clues) about your character that frames them as the suspect. With each claim you have to have textual evidence from the book. (Include the page numbers)

o A photograph of the suspect o A completed suspect information sheet

To tie all of your information together you will write a persuasive letter to the Judge of Westing Town to convince them that your character is in fact a suspect for a crime.


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You may work with a partner to complete this project. Everyone must complete and submit the bottom portion of this paper to the teacher by November 30, 2010.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tear Here _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Westing Town Detective Proposal

Name: _______________________________________

Hour: ________________________________________

I will be investigating the crime of ____________________________________________.

My Detective Partner is ____________________________________________________.

I will be investing ______________________________________________ as my suspect.


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3-day Sequence (During Week 4) Prosecution Presentations

Day 18

Lesson Rational: This lesson will allow students to publicly present their claims and evidence about the suspect they have chosen to the class. This will give students a change to present their claims in a presentation manner, while the other students will be listening for the claims and evidence that are being presented. This will allow students to compare and contrast the differing viewpoints on characters and understand the assumptions that others are making while reading.


o Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.

o Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

Objective: Students will argue their claims and evidence against the characters to their classmates in efforts to categorize characters as suspects.

Assessment: During this lesson the students will assess each other through the presentation checklist. This entire day will be based around the summative assessment of the prosecution presentations. Students will be aware of what they are being evaluated on so that they can prepare their presentations accordingly.

Materials:

• Prosecution Presentation Props • Prosecution Presentation Evaluations Sheets • Paper • Pencil


o Students will be asked to present their suspect file using their claims and textual evidence from the book.


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o Students who are not presenting will have to decided whether the claims that were presented were supported enough by the evidence, to convince them that the character could possibly be guilty.

o This evaluation process will take place via a presentation evaluation sheet.


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Final Assessment Rationale

As a final assessment to this unit students will participate in a three part writing assessment. Although the assessment is designed to be cohesive, it is designed with a check point system to monitor the student’s process. The assessment will consist of writing/revising a mystery short story, writing workshop, and creating a final mystery short story. This lesson will be especially helpful to the students at Belleville North Middle School, because outside of the literature focus, the seventh grade English class also has a focus on helping students to classify genres and grammar.

The mystery short story writing component of this final assessment will allow students to apply the knowledge that they have learned about the mystery genre. In the unit we will be reading a mystery novel to pick up on elements of plot structure and the story line that usually occur in mysteries. When students are creating their own mystery short story they will be required to follow a rubric that will include plot structure and unique to mystery vocabulary that will mirror the information that students have learned throughout the unit. At the end of this part students will turn in a copy to the instructor and keep a copy with them that they will take to workshop with a peer.

The workshop component will help the students to actively use the skills that they have been working on all semester with their daily proofreading sentences. Students will be required to use the grade level expectancy standards that expect students be able to complete all of the steps in the writing process. This activity will be a hands-on application of the writing process steps that the students have been learning in mini lessons, during the mystery unit. In the workshop students will be authors and editors. In other words, they will get their story reviewed and they have the chance to view other students’ work. This will help students see the different approaches that their peers took and will help them to create new ideas and pick up on good and bad traits of the mystery short story. As editors, the students will have to provide feedback to other students using a checklist. The checklist will also serve as a formative assessment for the instructor; the checklist can be used to evaluate how students are interrupting the steps in the writing process and the mystery genre.

After the workshop component of this assignment students will be directed to revise their short stories with the comments and feedback that they received from their peers during the workshop. Students can take this time to clarify any unclear information with their peers or the instructor in conferences. After students have polished their stories they will have to submit it to the instructor for the second time.

At the end of this project students will be required to turn in their pre-writing worksheet, mystery short story draft, their editor workshop checklist, and the polished version of their short story. Since the final project has three different components students will receive a check or minus on the pre-writing sheet, draft, and workshop components, but they will be graded on their final story.


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Mystery Short Story Final Assessment

Part I: The Short Story Using a mystery brainstorming sheet (Day 3 of Unit), update or create a new mystery short story that uses vocabulary and structure tools that we have covered in the mystery unit. Each story must use at least seven mystery elements (unsolved problem, alibi, suspect, solution, detective, etc.) in the context in the story. For example, instead of just saying that the suspect has an alibi, give the alibi and label it in the story. The short story will be assessed using the rubric that was presented earlier in the unit. (See below/back)

Part II: Writing Workshop you will participate in a writing workshop as both an author and an editor.

As the author you will meet with a peer who will serve as your editor. You will be responsible for addressing any problem issues that you want the editor to work with you on. When you visit the editor s/he will read through your paper for the elements and evaluate them using the rubric as a checklist. After the editor is finished evaluating your paper you two should discuss the comments that were made about your paper so that you can revise it accordingly. After your conference with the editor you will have seven minutes to sit alone and record any notes, or begin to make changes to your draft.

After you have conference with your editor, you will switch into the role of editor. As the editor you will be responsible for editing the story in regards to the mystery element content and the author’s request. Once you receive the story you are to read through it and use the checklist sheet to evaluate and comment on the author’s work. Once you have completed the checklist engage in conversation about the comments you have made. In the conversation you should suggest, at least, one positive thing about the paper, one thing that needs improvement and any other helpful information.

**Workshop with take roughly two days, each author will be designated a day. During workshop I will be circulating the room to listen in on conferences, and offer help when needed.

Part III: Revising The Short Story After you have completed part I and part II you have to revise your draft considering the feedback you received during the writing workshop. If any thing is unclear about the feedback you received or if you would like more feedback you can set up a conference with the instructor. Conferences must be set up at least two days before the assignment is due.

By the end of this process you should submit:

o Pre-writing sheet


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o Drafts of the mystery short story o The checklist you completed as “editor” in workshop o Final Draft of mystery short story

Mystery Short Story Workshop Checklist & Rubric

Does the short story include the 5 W’s and H?

o Where- Where will your story take place?

o Who- Who is the detective, villain, and victim?

o What- What crime will be committed?

o When- When was the crime committed?

o Why- What is the motive?

o How- How was the crime committed and solved?

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Does the short story include all of the elements of the plot?

o Exposition- Does it introduce characters, the conflict, and the setting

o Rising Action- Where is the suspense? Are there at least 4 event/ clues that build the suspense?

o Climax- Are the suspects exposed after the crime is presented? Why are the suspects, suspects? Are the suspects’ alibis exposed?

o Falling Action- Is the villain exposed? Did the reader find out why the villain committed the crime?

o Resolution- Does the story give a satisfying ending? Is the reader informed on how everyone ends up?

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Writing Mechanics

o Are the paragraphs coherent in the way to best tell the mystery? o Is there appropriate use of punctuation and grammar? o Are words spelled correctly? o Is the pre-writing handout completed and attached to the essay?

/20


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Other Comments:

What did you really enjoy about this short story?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where do you think this short story has room for improvement?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are some editing suggestions that you can give to the author?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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Middle School Mystery Genre Unit

Documents

Transcript of Middle School Mystery Genre Unit