Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Planting Clues in Short Stories
Students examine short stories to determine how clues are planted in story stories of the mystery genre. They look at how Edgar Allan Poe planted clues in "The Purloined Letter." They write an original short story in which they plant...
Curated OER
Write Me a Mystery
Eleventh graders, in groups, pre-write, draft, edit and revise a murder mystery short story to hone their skills in short story drafting, editing and revision, group collaboration and computer usage. They also evaluate writing for both...
Curated OER
Classic Short Stories - Locked Room Settings
Students read "The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle and explore the mystery genre. For this mystery genre lesson, students read the short story and discuss the author's inclusion of locked room settings. Students then write their...
Curated OER
Classic Short Stories- Locked Room Settings
Students read the short story "The Problem of Cell 13" and examine the plot devices that build suspense. In this lesson students create their own short story using the same locked room setting.
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Strange Encounters
Learners explore the world of mystery! A series of lessons use the images of artist Robert Harris. They engage in story telling, song writing, movement, and art. Next, they create a class book of mysterious stories and images, and they...
Rainforest Alliance
Protecting the Critical Habitat of the Manatee and Loggerhead Turtle
Explore ocean habitats with a lesson that showcases the home of manatees and loggerhead turtles in Belize. Here, pupils compare and contrast the homes of ocean animals to those of humans, listen to an original short story about the...
Curated OER
Writing the Mystery with a Purpose
Students present the outline of the mystery story they are writing while working in reciprocal teaching groups. They respond to group members writing before they continue to finish revisions.
Curated OER
A Little Mystery and Intrigue in Writing Short Detective Stories
Students read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...
Curated OER
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.Â
National Endowment for the Humanities
Tales of the Supernatural
Scary stuff! Whether approached as the first horror story or a "serious imaginative exploration of the human condition," Frankenstein continues to engage readers. Here's a packet of activities that uses Mary Shelley's gothic novel to...
Curated OER
Web Quest on "How to Write a Mystery."
Students complete a Web Quest on How to Write a Mystery. They listen to or read a short mystery story and discuss its elements. They write an outline of a mystery story using all of the elements.
Curated OER
Wrapped in Mystery
Sixth graders can identify five basic elements that most mysteries contain. They put the elements of mystery into a graphic organizer they can follow. They construct meaning after reading Poe's short story and identify or infer the...
Curated OER
Pizzazz!...Chain Stories
Students compose a short story working with partners. They create a beginning, middle, and an ending. Students brainstorm with their partners and create a creative short story.
Curated OER
Ocean Mysteries, Legends, and Customs
Learners conduct Internet research to investigate mysteries, legends, and customs related to the ocean. They select a topic, and write and illustrate a short story.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast
Fourth graders read two books In this compare and contrast lesson, 4th graders read a science fiction or fantasy story and compare it to the story, "Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library." Students also have the option to listen to the...
Macmillan Education
The Tell-Tale Heart
Rather than who done it, the mystery literary detectives have to solve as they examine the evidence found in Edgar Allan Poe's famous "The Tell-Tale Heart" is why did he do it?
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final instructional activity in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to...
Curated OER
Writing A Summary - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Learners explore short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this literature lesson, students read one of his short stories listed and then summarize the story in a written piece.
Curated OER
Sherlock Holmes: Teaching English Through Detective Fiction
Students read examples of mysteries and detective fiction. With a focus on Sherlock Holmes, they are introduced to the techniques for reading properly. In groups, they define new vocabulary, make predictions and summarize the stories. ...
Curated OER
Art Mystery
Students explore famous artists in order to write mystery stories incorporating their life and works. They write their own based on their research of a particular artist.
Curated OER
Revising Your Mystery Story
Students edit and improve their short stories by examining character description, dialogue, and plot elements. In peer editing groups they correct gramatical and spelling errors. they read aloud their new story drafts.
Curated OER
Writing - Story Ideas
Students write their story in first person as a non-fiction story, or they can write the story in third person as a fictional story and use different characters. They can choose an idea from one of the story starters provided.