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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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Marvelous Mysteries
Fifth graders explore mystery stories. In this reading and writing lesson plan, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery. Students use the writing process to create a mystery story.
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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...
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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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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...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...
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It's a Mystery to Me
Seventh graders produce a mystery story based on a mystery box created by a classmate. They develop the story using appropriate voice and containing a clear beginning,middle and end. They participate in peer editing.
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The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Fourth graders read and discuss the book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. They create an original story that follows the Harris Burdick formula, and illustrate the story in the style of Chris VanAllsberg.
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Write It, Read It, Solve It
Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...
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Picture the Process!
Students 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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The Airline Ticket Mystery
Students use newspapers and television stories to search for mysterious behavior. Using mysteries in the airline industry, they identify the economic concept and the steps to unravel the mystery. They answer a mystery question to help...
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Track Stories
Students identify animal tracks. In this animal track lesson plan, students look at "track stories" and identify the animals that made the tracks. Students discuss if they believe the animals are predators or prey.
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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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The Mystery of the Shoe Box
Sixth graders do the work of historians. For this world history lesson, 6th graders examine the artifacts and handouts in mystery boxes that their teachers prepare. Students collaborate to solve the mystery of their assigned boxes as...
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Mystery Spill
Students investigate the cause of birds dying in Monterey Bay. In this scientific research instructional activity, students use various resources, scientific investigations, and vector analysis to solve an environmental mystery.
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The Mystery Seed
Second graders create a short descriptive story describing a mystery seed they have planted. They incorporate needs that must be met in their story for a seed to grow. They create an original picture using the Kid Pix software program.
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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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Terrific Taste Buds
Students explore descriptive writing by eating food in class. For this descriptive word lesson, students assess different foods in class such as jelly beans and utilize their vocabulary to describe the taste. Students read the story...
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Shaping Up!
Kindergartners are introduced to basic shapes. Learners spend 45 minutes a day in geometry centers carrying out the activities outlined in this ambitious plan. There are games, hands-on activities, interactive websites, art projects,...
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Protecting the Critical Habitat of the Manatee and the Loggerhead Turtle
First graders research Belize and its landscape and animals on the included internet sites. The students complete activities/centers across the curriculum utilizing the facts they discovered.
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Tales from Arabia
Third graders explore and develop interest in reading of foreign lands through the reading of The Arabian Nights and a variety of Cinderella stories. Students participate in a variety of folk literature activities. Students recognize the...
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Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Middle schoolers read and discuss poems by Robert Frost. Students collaborate in small groups to draw inferences about speakers' character and motives and to gather evidence supporting those inferences.
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Chocolate Chaos
Second graders demonstrate the ability to examine the elements of a story (theme, plot, setting, mood) and characters, by discussing and writing about each. They have fun with chocolate related activities and enjoy reading about some...
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Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride Lesson Plan
Students study Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. In this biographical lesson, students read Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride. Students write their own biography, create a timeline of events from the book, and write a story based on...