A Month of Mysteries- Part 3 Writing

My teaching partner Racquel came up with the idea of giving the kids pictures from the Chris Van Allsburg's book, "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" and having them write their own mysteries.  I did some research and came across a great unit on Teachers Pay Teachers from Rundees Room.  (only $3.00, I have purchased many items from her shop)  I followed her lessons to get the children motivated to write their own mysteries.

I used "The Portfolio Edition of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" which are large prints from the book. I laminated them, so they would be sturdy for my long term use.

Day 1- I used Rundee's idea and had the children bring in flashlights.  I read the introduction from "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" and how the book came to be.  The children walked around the room and looked at the prints with flashlights.  The room was dark and silent.  They came back to the rug and made inferences about the prints.  Then, I had the children walk around once more and stand by an illustration that really interested them.  My direction was no more than three by a print.  They had to talk about their print  and come up with a very short story and share it with the class orally. 

Day 2- The next day I spread the prints around the room and had them walk around and select  a print they wanted to use for their written short stories.  It did not have to be the same picture as Day 1.  Once again, it could be no more than three in a group.  I emphasized picking prints and not friends.  The children then brainstormed ideas for their stories.
Day 3- We generated a Mystery Anchor Chart.  (I have added ways to include more suspense to my chart since this photo was taken.)  We began writing our short stories.  I use four-square graphic organizers for all of our writing.The kids were so motivated and had no problem getting started!

Drafting, Revising and Editing- The children worked for several days on these steps.

Publishing and Sharing and Other Extensions- Children have been sharing their stories as they finish. 

I have one group that is creating a script and making their story into a play...auditions are on Monday!  (I love creative kids!) 

I designed a PowerPoint slide show of their illustrations and recording the groups reading their stories onto their slides. 

Chris Van Allsburg has recently published a collection of tales written by popular authors including Lemony Snickett, Kate DiCamilo and Stephen King!  I purchased the audio book from Itunes and the children are listening to their story written by the published author.

A Month of Mysteries- Part 2 Book Report

Please read my "A Month of Mysteries Part 1" for the unit kick-off.

I continued this genre by brainstorming books that are mysteries with my fourth graders.  I pulled out my mystery book collections and had way more than I thought.  Here are some of the series and books that I have in my library.  I keep the collections in bins that are labeled with the series and I have one bin for miscellaneous mysteries.

Here are some series that are popular in my class:

I showed the children their" Case Files" and they were so excited about their new book reports.  I wanted to model the project before sending it home so I chose the book "Who Stole the Wizard of Oz?" by Avi.  It  is a quick read aloud and has plenty of suspects and clues.  We completed the packet as a class.

The children were so excited to get started on their own "Case Files" so I had the kids pick out a "Just Right Mystery Book."  I allowed them to choose books from my classroom, the library or at home(they have to bring it in)  Once I approved their book selections,  I gave them their Case Files to take home.  When I assign a home project,  I always include a parent-sign off page. This helps with projects coming in on time. 

Here are samples of my Case Files. 

Click the image below to download your Case File Cover. 

Their photos fit perfectly on the sheet.

I got this idea from Beth Newingham's website.  Please visit her site for all down-loadable sheets.  They are posted under teacher resources.  She is an amazing teacher and has a lot of great resources!!!!

Case File Cover

Suspect List

Clue Clipboard

Case Report

Ingredients for a Mystery

The project is due at the end of the month and the children are going to be sharing as News Reporters and Detectives in an Interview Format.  I will video tape them and make a DVD for the kids.

Coming Soon...A Month of Mysteries Part 3- Writing

A Month of Mysteries- Part 1 Vocabulary

I have a mystery to solve...What happened to my super long post that I have been working on for several days?  I went to open it today and it vanished...a blank screen...UGGGHHH!!!  I am going to post this in three parts so I don't lose it again.

I am trying to get my class to read different genres this year and I decided to kick off the new year with a mystery unit.  I was never a fan of mysteries growing up, but we never had the selection that our kids have now...the choices that I had were Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys. 

 I did some research on the Internet for "Mystery Ideas" and was inspired by Beth Newingham's Blog. Go to teacher resources and it is listed under Reading Workshop, and then Reading Detectives.  She also has a unit "Exploring the Mystery Genre" on Scholastic.  I dressed the kids up as detectives and took some photos. (Lucky for me, I do costumes for our High School Drama Department and had a great trench coat and plenty of hats)

We started off the unit talking about vocabulary words that are in mysteries.  The children came up with a long list of words that we knew.  I created three folders labeled: nouns, verbs and adjectives.  I typed up their words and added some of my own.  I punched them out using one of my Stampin Up punches.  The next day, we sorted the words into the three categories and the children realized that many of the words could be used as different parts of speech.   A couple of examples were, caution,  spy and suspect.  I had the children then choose 2 nouns, a verb and an adjective to write a quotation for their speech bubble.  They are hanging on my "Get a Clue" bulletin board with their photos.  The font I used is called "Old Typewriter" in case you want to make your own lists.  Click the documents on the left below to download the sheets that I used.  The children are collecting new words as they read their independent books and putting them on sticky notes in the folders.  (I will type them up later)

Click for Printables

Here are some of my detectives and their quotes:

Part 2- Kicking off the Case File Book Report!

Coming Soon...