Lesson Plan : The Mystery Files
Teacher Name: | Nicole Cobb |
Grade: | Grade 4 |
Subject: | Language Arts |
Topic: | Analysis and Interpretations using Mystery Stories |
Content: | Mysteries get reluctant students enthusiastic about reading,thinking and writing. While textbooks can be dry, mysteries, with their intrigue, characters, and gradually revealed storyline, hold the students' interest. Students become involved in what they are reading because they use deductive reasoning and research skills to solve the mystery. As presented in Bloom's Taxonomy, mysteries can be used to achieve higher levels of thinking in these ways: Knowledge: Students arrange characters and events in the mystery. Comprehension: Students classify events, describe characters, and explain precisely what has occurred. Application: Students apply existing knowledge to the mystery by illustrating, dramatizing, and writing their interpretations. Analysis: Students analyze, categorize, and differentiate characters and events. Synthesis: Students collect and organize facts to form hypotheses. Evaluation: Students appraise, argue, assess, and evaluate their opinions in the process of solving the mystery. |
Goals: | The goals of this lesson are to help students understand the key concepts of Analysis and Interpretation from what they read. After this lesson students will understand and be able to explain or draw a conclusion on what they have read. They will also be able to write their own story and include key points in a consistent and orderly format. |
Objectives: | Students will take on the role as Junior Detectives while they take a journey on this fun web quest. The students will find great enjoyment in reading mysteries that will also help them obtain the skills needed to locate key points in a story. |
Materials: | Computer access work sheet from web quest on materials needed to make a report. paper and pencil groups of 2 for the first task |
Introduction: | Students will open up the website; The Mysterious writings of Mrs. Cobb�s Classroom. They will be greeted by a detective who will give the �Junior Detectives� (the students) their first assignment. |
Development: | They will need to choose one of the two mysteries to read. (Work with a partner). Together they will need to read and collaborate on the evidence they were given in the story. They will also have a worksheet that outlines the information needed to complete the report. |
Practice: | Once they have determined who the suspect is they will need to individually type a one page report (just like a detective would). In the report they will answer the following questions: A) Which suspect do you think did it? B) What evidence do you have that will support who the guilty suspect is? C) For your conclusion, I would like you to reflect on your case by answering these questions in your paper; 1.) Was this case easy or difficult? 2.) Did you enjoy investigating the case? 3.) What would you have done differently, if you were the writer? |
Accommodations: | Differentiated Instruction (Knowledge/Comprehension activity)Students who need a little more help understanding what happens in the story will use these questions to complete the assignment. This activity is based on the need to know facts and questions that target the important parts of the story. 1.Whose yard did Nina and Max hear screaming from? 2.Why was the person screaming? 3.Find the part where Max and Nina had milk and cookies. What did they talk about with coach? Who are the 3 suspects? 4.What do Max and Nina check for when talking to each suspect? 5.What was the first suspect�s reason for why he didn�t do it? 6.What was the second suspect�s reason for why he didn�t do it? 7.What was the third suspect�s reason for why he didn�t do it? 8.Who do you think is guilty? Why? 9.Did you like the story? 10.What would you change if you were the writer? 11.Draw a picture of the rose garden |
Checking For Understanding: | Once this assignment has been completed they will need to report to the boss one more time for their 3rd and final assignment. Their final assignment is to write their own mystery story using what they have learned. |
Closure: | |
Evaluation: | |
Teacher Reflections: |
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