Don't Drink Bees Educational Ideas

...and other "pearls of wisdom"

Monday, May 22, 2006

Comprehending 2-Minute Mysteries

Use Donald J. Sobol's Two Minute Mysteries or other short mysteries as a different way to work on reading comprehension. In order to solve mysteries, it is essential to know what is important in the story.

To make it fun, ask students to keep a "clue log" while you read the story out loud or while they read the story to themselves. After the story is read, students can discuss the clues in small groups or as an entire class, sorting out what could be important to the case and why. As students share, they'll teach each other about how to read for comprehension.

For some mysteries, additional research may be required. Let students know that that's fine. Not everyone knows how Arabic is printed or how a telescope works. Real investigators have to do research too. (This is another lesson of reading comprehension. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what you are reading without background knowledge.) One student from each group can chase down clues and get additional information.

Once groups have discussed clues and any additional information they have found, they can write a hypothesis. Then groups can present their "solutions" to the entire class.

This activity could be a good opportunity to use Literature Circles. Roles could be Moderator who keeps the discussion moving and watches the clock; Recorder who writes down all of group's clues; Researcher who looks for additional information; and Presenter who writes up and presents the hypothesis to the entire class.

For tough cases (and the first time you try this), you can demonstrate how you read a mystery, underlining key points of the story (on an overhead) and discussing why you think they might be important as you read the case out loud.

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