Super Sleuths Blog Hop Stop #1

Clue #1 You will be visiting 28 reading blogs on this event, and at each blog stop, you will learn reading instructional information about reading strategies, the mystery genre, and skills, receive a free activity or unit created to demonstrate the reading information shared, and a letter that will help you complete a mystery reading quote by author, Katherine Paterson.

Clue #2 If you become lost or need to take a break during your "case", you can locate the blog addresses at the very end of each post or click the Welcome Super Sleuths header which will take you back to the beginning for a "road map" of blog stops.

Clue #3 While you are trying to crack the "case", it may be wise to take notes like all good reading detectives do.  You can use the handout to the right as assistance.  You will use the letters you collect to fill in the missing letters of our mystery quote.

Clue #4 You will only have from Friday, October 25th at 8:00 AM EST until Monday, October 28th at 8:00 AM EST to solve the mystery quote and download the mystery activities.  After Monday at 8:00 AM EST, all case materials will close (and links will send you to paid items on Teachers Pay Teachers or Teacher's Notebook).
Clue #5 While on your case, read closely to learn great tips and collect wonderful detective themed reading materials.  Now Sleuth...Get Crackin'! 

Students at all reading stages need opportunities reading from all genre types. Students who know the text features associated with each genre are able to pull from the text the information that is most important to remember.  By learning how the "genre puzzle pieces" fit together, readers can focus on what is most important in the text.  

Even very young learners can be taught the reading language associated with each specific genre through mentor text lessons. In a whole group setting, learners can readily share in breaking down the genre puzzle as the teacher models with graphic organizers, sticky notes, foldables, and bookmarks to record what's important during shared reading experiences.  As students gain writing skills, they too are able to record the clues or text evidence they need to support their thinking.

So what are the important elements of a mystery?  Like all fiction, mysteries include characters, a setting, and a plot, but with more analysis of mysteries, readers will find other common features. Readers need to pay attention to the clues and recognize when the clues are pointing to a red herring, or false lead.  The plot is structured like other fiction with a beginning problem (and it may be a crime) and introduction of characters, a middle that involves the revealing of clues that the reader uses to figure out what happened, and an end where the solution is revealed.  I love this handout from ReadWriteThink.org  I have used it with my upper elementary students to provide them with information explaining each mystery element.

To download, you will be directed to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

The product I'm sharing with you is a mini-unit to use with the classic mystery tale, Nate the Great. It includes a prereading story impressions activity to help students with using word knowledge to make thoughtful predictions.  Students use the word list from the book to make guesses about what they think will happen.  Students will work with the vocabulary before reading as well.  Preteaching Tier 2 vocabulary words is important, and throughout the reading process, repeated exposures are essential as it takes 12-15 uses of the word to really understand a word.  During reading, students record the story elements, and after reading, students revisit the word list and use the words to summarize the story.  If you're a primary teacher, this unit would work well for you and your students as a mentor text to introduce the mystery genre.  In addition to guided reading materials, I've included a few writing pages for students to use as a response to the reading.  They can write their own Nate tale or create a mystery of their own.  Nate loves pancakes and feels pancakes help him think better, so I added a theme related writing prompt too.