Improving your students’ ability to follow directions is not only a skill that will help improve your daily life in the classroom, but it will help your students out in the real world.
Practice Following Directions in the Kitchen
Improving your students’ ability to follow directions is not only a skill that will help improve your daily life in the classroom, but it will help your students out in the real world.
5 Mysteries Students Should Read
PART 4: 5 Mysteries Students Should Read
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is typically more appropriate for grade 8, so if that is where your student’s reading level is, then terrific! If not, your students reading at a grade 5 will appreciate our High-Interest/Low Readability Classic adaptation of TheAdventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of Baskervilles. These activity books break the mysteries into 10 chapters that include follow-up comprehension questions and vocabulary-building activities. Plus, you can pair the activity book with an audio CD, which features a word-for-word reading and exciting sound effects.
Nancy Drew
In 1993, the New York Times called Nancy Drew a “30s sleuth and a 90s role-model.” And we think that over twenty years later, this still holds true. Especially since the publisher continues to update and modernize Nancy Drew’s stories. Follow this link for a list of titles and their reading and interest levels.
Activities for After You’ve Read a Mystery
Part 3: Activities for After You’ve Read a Mystery
Wanted Sign
Have students create a wanted sign for the villain of their whodunit. Students can draw the bad guy and then beneath the picture write who, what, where, when, why about the criminal.
Follow the Clues
As students read, have students write down the clues and the paragraph or page number they are found on. Then, once students have finished reading the mystery, have students go back to their notes and label each clue: useful or red herring.
How to Read Mysteries with Your Students
PART 2: How to Read Mysteries with Your Students
Use this mystery story <free download> from one of our Mini Mysteries books to practice the following steps.
- Predict: Have students review the title, the synopsis on the back of the book, the cover of the book, and the pictures within the story. Ask students to write down what they predict the mystery will be about.
- Read: You may want to read the mystery to your students to test their listening ability, or students may read the stories to test their own logic skills. A combination of both may prove to be the best approach.
Tip: If you hand out copies or post the story on your whiteboard, only give students small segments at a time so they don’t read ahead.
- Investigate: Ask students to listen for interesting facts and clues.
· If you’ve given students a copy of the mystery, then ask them to highlight facts that give clues. Or have students write down the clues and the paragraph or page number they are found on. Tip: At the end of the story, have students go back to their notes and label each clue. Was it a useful clue or a red herring?
· Have students write down or underline the names of possible suspects. As they continue to read, students can make notes next to each suspect: the suspect’s alibi, motives, evidence, etc.
Why should your students read mysteries?
PART 1: Why should your students read mysteries?
High-Interest
Mysteries will get and keep your students’ attention! No matter what age, your students will want to solve a good whodunit. Mysteries introduce protagonists like detectives, inspectors, and even pre-teen girls and antagonists from all walks of life. And because an unsolved mystery can take place anywhere, this awesome genre will take your students all over the world.
Mysteries will get and keep your students’ attention! No matter what age, your students will want to solve a good whodunit. Mysteries introduce protagonists like detectives, inspectors, and even pre-teen girls and antagonists from all walks of life. And because an unsolved mystery can take place anywhere, this awesome genre will take your students all over the world.
Critical Thinking & Deductive Reasoning
Making Inferences - Using Logic – Predicting Outcomes
When reading a mystery, students must use facts and reasoning to come to a decision or an opinion. They’ll use logic to analyze the mystery, evaluate possible solutions, and follow sequential steps to arrive at a conclusion. These same steps are required in any problem-solving situation both academic and practical. Students will develop abilities in examining information, exploring possibilities, and sequencing.
Making Inferences - Using Logic – Predicting Outcomes
When reading a mystery, students must use facts and reasoning to come to a decision or an opinion. They’ll use logic to analyze the mystery, evaluate possible solutions, and follow sequential steps to arrive at a conclusion. These same steps are required in any problem-solving situation both academic and practical. Students will develop abilities in examining information, exploring possibilities, and sequencing.
Use our Story Map <free download> to help students come to a logical conclusion when reading.
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