mystery

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Topic: Mystery Genre

Time: eight weeks

**Activities** *correlated to N.Y.State English Language Arts and National Education Technology Standards
1. List and define the essential elements of a mystery story and become familiar with the development of the mystery genre aided by appropriate websites *ELA Standard 1, NETS Standard 1, 2 &5
2. Conduct research about the ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia used as the setting of two mystery stories: Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie and The Egypt Game by Zylpha Keatley Snyder *ELA Standard 1& 2, NETS Standard 1 & 5
3. Read one of the above mysteries and set up a working hypothesis about who did it and how- to be recorded on web-generated graphic organizers *ELA Standard 2 & 3, NETS Standard 6
4. Participate in a webquest to produce the front page of Can You Dig It?, a trade newspaper for future archaeologists/anthropologists *ELA Standard 1, 3 & 4, NETS Standard 1, 3 & 5

**Assessments**
1. Two teacher generated guides for students to record major facts/details as they view sites about essential elements of mystery and the history of mystery .
2. During reading of mystery book, periodic submission of graphic organizer to show student’s recognition of mystery elements and development of hypothesis
3. Submission of completed three to four article newspaper front page to be assessed on correctness of content, quality and mechanics of written work, and originality of articles
4. Student self evaluation (based on model in webquest) which shows some reflection on the points above in #3

**Unit Overview with Teacher Links**
PREREADING ACTIVITIES: http://mysterynet.com - This site will provide students with a vocabulary worksheet defining eight essential terms used in most mysteries. Teachers may decide to utilize short mysteries in this site for preliminary practice in recognition of these terms in context. The site also has a link to a very informative multipage document which elaborates on how the mystery genre developed from ancient times to the present. Students will view these sites with two guidesheets (supplied by the teacher) to become an evaluation for these start-up activities: Gumshoe Jargon is to be used when they are learning mystery vocabulary and Who's Who in Mysto Land is the guide for their overview of the history of mystery.
DURING READING: Book selection process Student reading ability may be the criterion used for placement in one of the two mysteries. The Egypt Game is appropriate for most middle grade readers, while Murder in Mesopotamia would suit the more advanced reader, although some average students may want to read an Agatha Christie after spending time learning about the history of mystery. Motivation and support often surmounts limitations.
Monitoring reading Students will be provided with a new graphic organizer framework weekly which will assist them in developing their ongoing hypothesis about what is happening in the mystery. This will be completed and submitted periodically after another portion of their book has been read. Reading may be done either independently or with class, depending on teacher discretion. *Note: you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download and print the graphic organizer.
Conducting research on the settings Students will access links to sites which give pertinent and factual information about both of the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia as listed in their webquest. These sites can be previewed by you in the Student page. This research could be done before or while individual books are being read. The purpose of this webquest is to assist students in assimilating and evaluating this information and then using it to complete some writing assignments to create a newspaper page.
Student Metacognitive Self-assessment The last page of the webquest requires students to reflect on what they did and how they did it.