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Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
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Lesson Mystery: The Game is Afoot
Learners enter and experience the world of Sherlock Holmes and hard-boiled detectives in this unit on mysteries. They review and analyze the ""Whodunit Requirements" and the "Mystery Contract" that accompany this activity. Each student...
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Marvelous Mysteries
Fifth graders explore mystery stories. In this reading and writing lesson, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery. Students use the writing process to create a mystery story.
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Exploring the Mystery Genre
Students determine the story elements of typical mystery stories including characters and plot structure. They look at vocabulary that is common to mystery stories before reading and responding to mystery chapter books. Working in guided...
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The Game is Afoot - A Study of Sherlock Holmes
Mystery is an exciting genre for young readers to investigate. The plots are so intriguing! Here is a series of lessons featuring Sherlock Holmes stories that invite learners to enter the world of the mystery genre. Based on what they...
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Whodunnit?
Want to create an exciting mystery activity? Investigators will identify the elements of a mystery, review mystery stories, then write their own mysteries. They engage in forensic science experiments related to mysteries and learn to ask...
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Mysteries in the Bag
Students write a story. In this creative writing instructional activity, students guess what is in various containers and open and discuss the contents. Students use one of the container contents to write a mystery story.
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Computer Mysteries
Who has been messing with my trampoline? Young writers choose local events as the basis for their own “Who Did It?” mystery. They then devise a plot, problem, and cast of characters and write an introduction explaining the problem and...
Moanalua Gardens Foundation
The Mystery of Rapa Nui
What caused the collapse of the environment on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)? Who constructed the Moai? What was their purpose? Class members assume the role of investigators and use evidence drawn from field studies, ships' logs, and...
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Picture the Process!
Learners read "Chasing Vermeer," and then study the author's writing process. They make connections between the book and the author's real life experiences. They then write an original mystery story, following the writing process.
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Character in a Bag
Develop a mystery character using clues from a bag. This engaging activity will help learners understand character traits. They develop a list of the items from the bag, discuss and develop the character with a partner, and create a...
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Secret Agent Stan
Learners use a worksheet imbedded in this lesson that goes along with a detective story to give them practice calculating money.
ReadWriteThink
Comics in the Classroom as an Introduction to Narrative Structure
A picture is worth a thousand words, but a comic strip combines both images and words for the ultimate narrative effect. After reading The Three Little Pigs and deciphering the plot elements, elementary readers work through four...
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Cuentos
Students revise Spanish mystery stories. They sequence the events from a group's mystery story and suggest revisions for the setting. They revise their stories using the suggestions from classmates and describe characters in folktales....
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The Mystery of History-Original Sources
Students research the events surrounding the Alamo in 1863, and explore the differences between primary and secondary sources of information. They brainstorm lists of items used to research a subject and categorize them as primary or...
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Developing Thinking and Reasoning Skills in Primary Learners Using Detective Fiction
Students are introduced to the genre of detective fiction. Based on their reading level, they are given a different series of books to read. For each story, they are to make predictions and practice decoding messages. To end the...
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Hoot, the Movie And Classroom Activities Too
Students complete various activities for the book and movie "Hoot." They read and analyze the novel, observe wildlife in their neighborhood, and compare/contrast Henry David Thoreau with a main character in the book.
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Mystery Island Greg Hansen
Fifth graders explain how human activities shape the earth's surface.
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Deep Blue Sea
Elementary schoolers identify the ocean floor in a geological sense. They create a presentation that highlights the key features of the ocean floor. This terrific lesson plan has excellent streaming video segments embedded in it, and the...
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Paws in Jobland: Mystery in Jobland I
Students appreciate and examine the roles that people play in particular situations. In this career lesson plan, students use research and information skills to perform the roles they are assigned.
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Mystery of the Real Robinson Crusoe Solved
Learners explore the location of the campsite of fictional character Robinson Crusoe. In this ESL lesson, students read an article that discusses the whereabouts of Robinson Crusoe's campsite, then have a class discussion on the...
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River of Venom
Read an exciting science mystery about killer bees online, evaluate a list of clues, and try to answer the questions correctly. The story responds to the reader's choices and presents research material for the next step. Though the...
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Walk and Talk Health and PE Activity
Young scholars practice concepts they are studying while exercising. In this health and fitness lesson, studnets walk and job while discussing current classroom lessons.
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Treasure Chest
Young scholars explore Chicago in the fur-trading era. In this Chicago lesson, students discover what life what like during this time. Young scholars read an historical fiction story about life in the fur-trade era. Students view...