Education Standards
Clusive
Mystery_image
Video promo for "Pretty Little Liars"
What's in a mystery?
Clusive Lesson: It's a Mystery
Overview
This Lesson was created to use in conjunction with materials in Clusive [https://clusive.cast.org], a free, online learning environment that makes materials flexible and accessible. The Lesson is designed for students in grades 6-8, and targets ELA standards as well as SEL skills of self-awareness and learner agency.
As you use this lesson, students will be guided to recognize, understand, and apply
- key elements of a mystery story,
- tools that they can use to build learner agency, self-awareness, and comprehension
Clusive Lesson: It's a Mystery
Name the lesson so that you and others can quickly find and use it.
In preparation for this lesson,
- Download the document What's in a Mystery? You can share this with students
- through Clusive or another online platform
- make paper copies for learners.
- Assign these Clusive texts to students:
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
Variability
Consider the barriers that you can reduce; provide choice and options for the materials that students may use, for example.
- I will make a few paper copies of stories and handouts as an option for students.
- I will give choices for stories students can read.
The options for stories:
- The Boscombe Valley Mystery in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mystery of Marie Rogêt in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Redheaded League in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
It's a Mystery!
About This Lesson
Description
Briefly describe the lesson topic, what students will be doing in this lesson, and why.
About this Lesson:
Mystery stories are not only fun, they get readers to use critical thinking and sensemaking skills. In this lesson, learners will start by watching a short video and identifying technique the video uses to build interest and suspense. Learners will then practice using the "What's in a Mystery?" as a whole group, then choose their own story to read and use the questions to evaluate six elements of the mystery genre. An optional culminating activity is for learners to write their own short mystery using the six key genre elements.
- see a quick high-interest video
- identify some ways that the video uses to build interest and suspense
- identify characters, the problem, cliffhanger, and possible solutions
- choose a mystery short story in Clusive
- use the resource, "What's in a Mystery?" worksheet during or after reading to identify key parts of the mystery genre in their chosen story.
Prerequisites
In student friendly terms, describe the requirements that need to be in place for students to start this lesson.
Students will know how to log into and find readings in the Clusive Library.
Goals
Clusive Goals:
Clusive goals are skills and understanding that students will work toward to become more expert learners. Focus on one or two of these skills during a lesson to support learner growth.
Engagement: Students can identify a topic or theme that they want to explore further.
Self-awareness: Students can identify a tool or setting and explain how it is useful for their learning.
Independence: Students can, and explain how, they choose and change settings in response to different needs and goals (e.g., purpose of reading, time of day)
Comprehension: Students can use their notes and comments to answer recall or inference questions, or to develop a perspective on an issue.
Instructional Goals:
Instructional goals are the overall skills or understanding that students will work toward during a lesson. Unless a specific means (production type) is the instructional goal (i.e., writing), instructional goals should be unrestricted by the means students use to achieve the goal.
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to
- explain the main components or parts of a typical mystery, including common characters and plot structure.
- identify how the author develops point of view in a mystery story.
- describe how the elements of a mystery story are used to convey a central theme or idea.
Learning Objectives:
Create objectives that serve as concrete, specific, measurable steps that will lead students toward accomplishing the instructional goals and inform adjustments to instruction. Express the objectives in words that will be easy for your students to understand.
- Look up words to understand their meaning in a story.
- Identify the six elements of a typical mystery story in a real story.
- Collect evidence to answer questions about mystery stories.
- Identify and explain how a Clusive tool helped you collect evidence.
- Optional Make-your-own: Use what you learned about the elements of a typical mystery story to write your own!
Estimated Time
Indicate the amount of time you think this lesson will take.
2-3 classes
Description
Mystery stories are not only fun, they get you thinking and figuring things out. In this lesson, you will
- Watch a short video and brainstorm about what makes it a mystery
- Read a mystery story in Clusive
- Use the resource What's in a Mystery? to identify key parts of a mystery in the story.
- Add key things that you think are part of mystery stories
- Write your own mystery!
How much time this wll take us: 2 classes
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to
- Look up words to understand their meaning in a story.
- Identify the parts of a typical mystery story.
- Collect evidence to answer questions.
- Identify and explain how a Clusive tool helped you.
Materials
Variability
In any class, there is wide variability in how students learn and express what they know. For this lesson, it is predictable that learners will come with varied levels of engagement, background knowledge, and skills. What are your thoughts on how this lesson can support this diversity as learners work through the lesson?
- I will use more than just text to build background understanding
- I will provide choice for
- what students read (choice of mystery stories in Clusive),
- how they read it (digital or paper), and
- the tools they use to interact with the stories (digital highlight, comment, read aloud, lookup or highlighters, post-its, dictionary. Students can pair for read aloud)
Clusive text(s)
List the specific texts you will use. Find texts in Clusive Public Library or upload your own content into Clusive to provide students with accessible, customizable, and adaptive materials.
- The Boscombe Valley Mystery in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mystery of Marie Rogêt in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Redheaded League in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Clusive Feature or Tool Focus
Identify the Clusive feature that you will encourage and support students to use.
This lesson will support and encourage learners to practice with a few tools that can promote learner self-awareness, motivation, and comprehension.
- Highlight and Comment
Read Aloud
Dictionary look-up
Other Materials and Supplies
List any other materials and supplies you and your students will use in this lesson. With your lesson goals and objectives in mind, use media and materials that address the variability in your classroom.
- Background building activity: Video promo for Pretty Little Liars
- What's in a Mystery? handout
- options for students who prefer not to work digitally:
- print outs of the stories and handout
- highlighters
- pencils
- post-it notes
- dictionary
You have a choice to read ONE of these Clusive text(s):
Choose ONE of these stories:
- The Boscombe Valley Mystery in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mystery of Marie Rogêt in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Redheaded League in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
We will be focusing on these Clusive tools/features:
Highlight and Comment
Read Aloud
Dictionary lookup
Other materials and supplies you can use:
- print outs of the story of your choice
- highlighters
- pencils
- post-it notes
- dictionary
What makes something a mystery?
Opening
Encourage student motivation and persistence by helping learners relate the lesson to their own priorities and concerns. Think about varied and flexible ways to prompt students to relate the lesson to their real-life concerns and interests.
- I'm going to open with a quick activity to get students' attention
- I will ask them questions that will get their thinking primed about the six elements of a mystery story
- I will ask them what questions or solutions they can think of
- IF I do this as a whole group activity, I will see which one the students want to use, and then go through the questions with the class.
What exactly makes something a mystery story? A mystery story is like a recipe. It has ingredients. Each ingredient adds something to the flavor of the story. And when the ingredients are combined, they make something that is delicious to read!
Choose: watch the video OR look at the pictures
Answer these questions:
- Who are the characters?
- What happens?
- What is the problem?
- What are some ways that suspense is built?
- What is the cliffhanger? [look up this word if you need to!]
- What are some possible solutions you can think of to this mystery?
What makes something a mystery story? A mystery story is like a recipe. It has ingredients. Each ingredient adds something to the flavor of the story. And when the ingredients are combined, they make something that is delicious to watch or read!
Choose: watch the video OR look at the picture
Answer these questions:
- Who are the characters?
- What happens?
- What is the problem?
- What are some ways that suspense (tension) is built?
- What is the cliffhanger? [look up this word if you need to!]
- What are some possible solutions you can think of to this mystery?
Guided practice
During
Think about the varied methods you will use during the lesson to support learner engagement, understanding and interaction with the lesson concepts. Include options and supports for how students get and process information, how students express their knowledge, and how you will support and evaluate progress toward the instructional goals.
- I'll use "I do, we do, you do" modeling, guided, and independent practice
Guided Practice
- Model how to use each of these tools in a sample story.
- In Clusive, display this section from The Boscombe Valley Mystery from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:
- Look up: Click on and look up "paradoxical"
- Highlight "It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult." and use the comment feature to note: This is a clue that what seems to be true will probably not be true.
- Use Read Aloud to hear this section of the text: “Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to understand it, in a very few words."
- As a class, read aloud the next paragraph (Options: teacher can read aloud, kids can read aloud, or have the text-to-speech tool read aloud).
- Have students suggest what might be clues in the paragraph,
- ask them to explain why these might be clues.
- Highlight their ideas and note their comments using the highlight and record tool. Some clue ideas:
- made his money in Australia
- Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian
- Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were frequently together.
- Stop after this paragraph and ask students what they think will happen in the story, based on the information they have so far. [possible solution]
Exerpt:
“The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult.”
“That sounds a little paradoxical.”
“But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a very serious case against the son of the murdered man.”
“It is a murder, then?”
“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to understand it, in a very few words.
“Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants —a man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the families. Now for the facts.
Let's look at a section of a mystery story together. We will
- collect clues
- find out what some confusing words mean
- propose a possible solution to the mystery!
Independent Practice
During
Think about the varied methods you will use during the lesson to support learner engagement, understanding and interaction with the lesson concepts. Include options and supports for how students get and process information, how students express their knowledge, and how you will support and evaluate progress toward the instructional goals.
Guided Practice (continued)
What's in a Mystery? Handout
- Model:
- Display the handout
- Choose one or two questions from the handout
- Use the Highlight and Comment feature to
- identify possible evidence
- answer the What's in a Mystery? question using the comment
Independent Practice
- Have students sign into Clusive
- Show students how to find the story choices
- Give them a few minutes to find and choose the story they want to work on
- Choices:
- continue this Sherlock Holmes story "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- OR choose one of the other mystery stories
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mystery of Marie Rogêt in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Redheaded League in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Tasks as students read...
- USE "What's in a Mystery?" and answer the questions to find key parts of the mystery genre in your story.
- Look up 2 words to understand their meaning in a story.
- Collect evidence to answer questions about mystery stories.
- Identify a Clusive tool that helps you collect evidence.
Your turn!
- Sign into Clusive
- Go to our class' section of the Clusive Library
- Choose ONE of these stories:
- continue this Sherlock Holmes story "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
- OR choose one of the other mystery stories
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mystery of Marie Rogêt in Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Redheaded League in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
As you read...
- USE "What's in a Mystery?" and answer the questions to find key parts of the mystery genre in your story.
- Look up at least 2 words to understand their meaning in a story.
- Collect evidence to answer questions about mystery stories.
- Identify a Clusive tool that helps you collect evidence.
Day 1 Closing
Did you...
- Look up at least 2 words to understand their meaning in a story?
- Check the words in your word bank!
- Identify the six elements of a typical mystery story in a real story?
- Look at your answers in the What's in a mystery? question sheet!
- Collect evidence to answer questions about mystery stories?
- Look at what you have highlighted!
- Identify a Clusive tool helped you collect evidence?
- What tool helped you? How did it help you?
Before you leave today
Finish reading the story
Complete the exit ticket
Next session
Finish answering the questions on the What's in a Mystery? sheet
Turn in your answers to me (in paper or through Google Classroom)
Write your own mystery!
Day 2 Opening
What we are doing today
Finish answering the questions on the What's in a Mystery? sheet
Turn in your answers to me (in paper or through Google Classroom)
Write your own mystery!
Write your own mystery!
Create a template for students to use to build their own stories
Characters:
- Who is the detective or crime-solver
- What do they look like?
- What do they sound like?
- How do they behave?
- the suspects
- What do they look like?
- What do they sound like?
- How do they behave?
- How are they different from each other?
Setting:
Where does your story happen?
When does your story happen?
Plot
Beginning:
how will you hook your audience and make them want to keep reading?
the problem is usually somewhere toward the beginning of your story.
Middle:
characters are introduced, the main events and clues happen here
Make sure to include clues (and false clues) to keep your reader guessing
A cliffhanger usually goes somewhere near the later part of the middle.
End:
the mystery is solved and life returns to normal.
Problem:
What is the problem or question that needs to be solved?
Cliffhanger:
What exciting event will keep your readers wanting to read more?
The Solution:
What is the answer to the problem? Who did it? Why did they do it?
Keep digging into mysteries: create your own!
Create your own short mystery story using the six parts of a typical mystery story:
Characters:
- Who is the detective or crime-solver
- What do they look like?
- What do they sound like?
- How do they behave?
- the suspects
- What do they look like?
- What do they sound like?
- How do they behave?
- How are they different from each other?
Setting:
Where does your story happen?
When does your story happen?
Plot
Beginning:
how will you hook your audience and make them want to keep reading?
the problem is usually somewhere toward the beginning of your story.
Middle:
characters are introduced, the main events and clues happen here
Make sure to include clues (and false clues) to keep your reader guessing
A cliffhanger usually goes somewhere near the later part of the middle.
End:
the mystery is solved and life returns to normal.
Problem:
What is the problem or question that needs to be solved?
Cliffhanger:
What exciting event will keep your readers wanting to read more?
The Solution:
What is the answer to the problem? Who did it? Why did they do it?
Mystery wrap up
Assessments
Clusive Teacher Dashboard
Before the lesson:
Note what your Clusive teacher dashboard tells you about
student reactions
student interests
student use Clusive features
During / After the lesson:
Check in on your Clusive Dashboard. What does it show you about
student reactions, topics of interest, student use Clusive features?
What was the level of student engagement during the lesson?
What will you build on?
What will you change in your next lesson?
What will you do to further support learners to become more independent, self-directed learners?
Formative Assessments
List the formative assessments you will use to evaluate how students are progressing in the lesson. Formative assessments should be based on the lesson objectives. Use the feedback from these ongoing, formative assessments to monitor and adjust instruction, methods, or materials.
- 3,2,1 Exit ticket
- Looking at Clusive Dashboard to check in on student activity and identify barriers
Summative Assessments
Enter the assessment(s) you will use in your lesson. Summative Assessments are usually end-of-lesson or-unit measures that assess the depth to which students have learned the skill or content related to the instructional goal.
- Answers to questions from What's in a Mystery? sheet
- Mystery stories: did they identify and use the six characteristics of a mystery?
Look at your Clusive Dashboard
What does your Clusive dashboard tell you about
your reactions?
your interests?
which Clusive tools and features are helpful for you?
Before you leave today
Complete the exit ticket
Turn in your mystery story