Reading Unit of Study: Questioning, Inferring and Synthesizing in Mystery Date of Study: March 6-March 31 Grade: 5
Strings ofMini-lessons for Independent Reading Workshop / String One / String Two / String Three / String Four
During the unit of study, students will have the opportunity to work in same-book partnerships or triads. If you are interested in starting Book Clubs in your classroom, see Chapter 20 in The Art of Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins. If you initiated Book Clubs, you can continue to utilize this structure while reading mysteries. You might have students stick to a series such as Sammy Keyes, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Immersion
Two to three weeks before beginning the unit immerse students in mystery during read-aloud time. Read at least 2-3 mysteries during the read aloud component prior to beginning the study. Suggested texts: Meg Mackintosh, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Sammy Keyes, etc.
v The teacher should choose one of the immersion read-alouds to become his/her mentor text to use for the modeling during the “Teach” part of the mini-lesson.
v A different immersion read aloud is also needed for the students to use to try out the mini-lesson during the active engagement.
While reading, thinking aloud and discussing during the read aloud component:
Define mystery as a book that *has a crime or a puzzle
*has a mystery solver (detective)
*contains many clues that entice the reader to solve the crime or puzzle before the detective does.
Create and continually add to a “Mystery Tip-Offs” chart (see Appendix 1). Also use this chart as a place to introduce mystery vocabulary. The following is a list of possible observations that can appear on this chart. The teacher can lead students to make any observations from this chart that the students don’t come up with on their own.
The read alouds should also be a time to discuss and chart ideas that are brought up in later mini-lessons in this unit of study. For example the teacher should provide examples of setting, main character, supporting characters, plot type, tools to accumulate character, read table of contents, look closely at illustrations (some mysteries have clues contained in pictures!). Use title of chapter to predict what will happen and confirm these predictions after reading and gathering information.
Be sure to photocopy pages you might want to use for overheads/shared reading. / readers question and use story elements to comprehend mysteries
§ Readers identify the crime solver (main character) and his/her sidekicks and determine whether the mystery is a crime or puzzle (plot). They need to decide whether the mystery is a puzzle (something is lost for example) or a crime (someone has committed a crime). Explain how in order to do this students can: 1. Use the back of the book summary [or] 2. Pay attention to what the mystery solver is noticing and what other characters say to the mystery solver.
§ Readers identify who is narrating the mystery—the crime solver or a narrator. The crime solver (main character) narrates most mysteries. Readers pay attention to the conclusions made by the crime solver through his/her narration. Readers ask questions such as:
-What is the crime solver’s thinking about the case?
-What clues do I get from the crime solver’s thinking?
-What does the crime solver learn that I should have learned?
§ Readers notice all of the details at the scene of the crime to better understand the mystery or puzzle. Model (with mentor text) how to jot a short note about the setting (in most cases scene) while explaining how it can help the reader to better understand the mystery. For many mysteries, the setting works much like it does in realistic fiction. Students need to attend to the scene changes. However, some higher- level mysteries also have elements of historical fiction. For example, if Nancy Drew is in Simone’s living room when the expensive Faberge egg is stolen, you will want to point out exactly where the crime has occurred and note any important details. You might jot: “living room of Simone’s house-case opened-key under clock-front door unlocked-middle of afternoon”.
Students then discuss the setting during the active engagement (in the try it out text). While reading independently, students jot down a short post-it note about the setting of their books. Some students may need to go back to the beginning when the crime/puzzle is introduced and reread to do this. You might prefer to have students jot in their response journals.
§ Readers notice important details as scenes change. The scene of a mystery changes many times. Model how to attend to important details that the author gives when the scene changes. Remind students that a scene changes every time the characters move into a new space-- for example, from the bedroom to the living room or from one yard to another yard. When characters travel to different cities, the setting changes. Model jotting important details on post-its.
§ Readers jot lists of possible suspects. All characters are considered suspects until evidence proves otherwise. Model creating a list of suspects in your Reading Response Journal. See attachment 2 for ideas on how to set up a table that students can use to collect information on their suspects.
§ Readers ask questions about suspects to collect evidence/clues in Reading Response Journals. Model using a table/chart to keep track of evidence while asking questions that help you read for clues (see attachment 2). Readers ask questions about suspects to help look for clues as they read. Readers ask questions such as:
-Where was the character when the crime took place?
-Who was the character with?
-What is the character’s alibi? Is the alibi believable?
-Does the character have a motive?
-Did the character have the means or opportunity to commit the crime?
§ Readers distinguish between the main plot and subplots. Many higher-level books contain sub-plots. For example, Nancy Drew might begin the book with a smaller mystery that she is solving (such as who is smashing vegetables in neighborhood gardens). However, the main plot involves Nancy solving the mystery of who stole Simone’s Faberge egg. You will need to help student differentiate between the two mysteries. The will need to keep two separate charts for one book. Readers also watch for correlations between the main and minor mysteries. Sometimes the two are related.
§ Partnerships/Triads/ Book Clubs
Determine a teaching point based upon observations made in the character analysis unit. The checklists and rubrics for partnership conversations from Angelillo’s Writing About Reading will continue to be invaluable. See pages 126-127 and 131. / Readers identify and infer clues to solve mysteries
As students find clues, they can use post-its to jot quick notes and mark pages. Additionally, they may add some clues to the chart that they are keeping in their response journals. At the end of the mini-lessons, remind students to jot using both post-its and the chart. Additionally, you might try stopping several minutes before the share and having students read over their jottings for the day. This will help students evaluate the kind of notes that they are taking. Some students will realize that they are not tracking their thinking at all.
§ Readers notice obvious clues quickly and think about what the clue tells them. Some clues are right there in the text. To model you might try underlining right there clues and explaining that the crime solver often tells the reader that it is a clue.
§ Readers are on the lookout for hidden clues. Sometimes the author hides clues. This happens when the author writes a description or a character does something that doesn’t seem important. Be on the watch out for hidden clues. Model going back several chapters into a book and finding a part that now seems important with more information. For example, early in a book Nancy describes how little Owen’s bat was sticky when she picked it up as he ran into the backyard. At the end of the book, Mr. Geffington says that the stairs leading to his garden were sticky with zucchini goo. The way Mr. Geffington described the mess on his stairs was the same as Nancy remembered Owen’s bat feeling. Owen’s bat was a hidden clue.
§ Readers find clues in character actions and dialogue.
§ Readers infer to fill in gaps when information is missing or when they need to connect information.
§ Readers identify when the author is using foreshadowing to drop hints about a possible outcome and evaluate these hints carefully. These clues could be red herrings that mislead thinking.
§ Partnerships/Triads/ Book Clubs
Determine a teaching point based upon observations made in the character analysis unit. The checklists and rubrics for partnership conversations from Angelillo’s Writing About Reading will continue to be invaluable. See pages 126-127 and 131. / Readers synthesize as they accumulate information
· Readers summarize by creating timelines of the important events that have occurred. Model using a timeline to write down important events that occur in the plot. Then quickly summarize what you have read using this timeline. Students can create timelines in their Response Journals.
(2 Days)
· Readers reread the evidence they gather and formulate possible solutions to guide their reading. Model jotting possible solutions using the clues that you have collected. Show students how to stop as they jot new clues and think about what the clues show. Then model writing down a possible solution. Show students how they can keep an ongoing list of possible solutions. The key is stopping to think about the clues. If a possible solution no longer makes sense with new evidence, cross it off.
· Readers track how their thinking evolves over time. Model using the same strategy from the previous unit. Students can use sentence stems such as:
-First I was thinking…
-Then I was thinking…
-Now I’m thinking…
(2-3 days)
· Check in: Putting it all together. Review the reading comprehension strategies that you use to understand the mystery you are reading. Observe students as they read independently today. What are students doing well?
· Partnerships/Triads/ Book Clubs
Determine a teaching point based upon observations made in the character analysis unit. The checklists and rubrics for partnership conversations from Angelillo’s Writing About Reading will continue to be invaluable. See pages 126-127 and 131. / Readers reflect upon their learning and celebrate their reading lives
· Readers reflect upon the strategies that they used to understand as they read. Readers also reflect upon what they learned about a new genre. Remind students that Reading Response Journals are also places to reflect upon how they read. Model how to use the following questions to help readers write reflections in response journal:
-What strategies did you use to make sense of what you read?
-How did you use these strategies?
-What did you learn about yourself as a reader?
-How did you grow as a reader in this unit? What did you get better at doing?
-What did you learn about mysteries that will help you in the future when you read?
-What was your favorite mystery? Why?
· Celebration!
Possible ideas for a mystery celebration include:
§ Stage a mystery in the class. Go to www.
randomhouse.com/kids/
vandraanen/sammykeyes/
casebook.html for a possible idea.
§ Create Reader’s Theatre of favorite parts of mystery books.
§ Recommend your favorite mystery to a friend. Give students the option of writing a recommendation, orally presenting the recommendation or videotaping it.
3rd Quarter EM’s Addressed
GLE’s AddressedReading Unit of Study: Questioning, Inferring and Synthesizing in Mystery Date of Study: March 6-March 31 Grade: 5
*UPPER GRADES*
Educational Measurables and Grade Level Expectations Across Balanced Literacy Components
Balanced Literacy Component /Suggestions for Instruction
/ 3rd Quarter EM’s Addressed / GLE’s AddressedRead Aloud / Text Choice
· Read a several mysteries of varying lengths. Design questions that scaffold students to think about:
· Describing the main character
· Identifying the mystery
· Focusing on the scene of the crime and important details
· Noticing important events and details
· Infer to gather and connect clues in a mystery
· Draw conclusions and defend with evidence
By the middle of the unit, you’ll want to begin reading poetry, specifically poems published as picture books and picture books containing very poetic language to support the independent work that they will engage in during the poetry unit of study.
Develop strong habits of discourse.
· During the read aloud, we are also teaching children how to have conversations about their thinking. Spend the first several read aloud times engaging in the following:
o Create a rubric to evaluate conversation based on the “Conversation Tips Chart”/criteria for a good conversation you’ve created with your students. Refer to pages 61-69 in Knee to Knee, Eye to Eye.
o Continue to “mark” moments (spotlight and name) when students exhibit the following:
o Interrupting versus piggybacking
o Saying back what someone said to clarify understanding and show that I was listening
o Adding to an idea not just repeating it