Mystery
Genre Study
Mysteries are similar to adventure stories in that they, too, are very engaging and action-packed. These stories are in their own separate genre because they deal more with crimes and other events that need solving. Some characteristics of mysteries is that they include a lot of suspense and cliffhangers. These books would be great to use in the classroom to focus on literary devices such as foreshadowing because mysteries tend to use that a lot. Oftentimes mystery stories will have a detective or spy that solves the tough-to-crack problem. Problem solving and making predictions are also some other lessons that can be taught using mystery books. Some mysteries that I read as a child had engaging activities where you could try to crack the codes as you read. Books like that are intriguing and fun for students who don’t necessarily love reading. It will build up that enjoyment for reading which is what we want to do. The great thing about many mystery books is that if you get a student hooked on one there is most likely a whole series that they can and will want to continue to read. Mystery books are great at making you want more. That is what we want all of our students to feel as they read.
Awards
Authors
Genre Resources
Teaching Tools
Books I Recommend
AtoZ mysteries
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Reference information for accessing the text (APA Citation): Roy, R., & Gurney, J. (1997). A to Z Mysteries: The absent author. New York: Random House.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Grade level span where the book would be considered “complex text.”: 1-2
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Grade level span for use as a class read aloud: K-1
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Major themes addressed in the book: Crime. Problem solving. Mystery. Justice.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Qualities of the writing that are worthy of note: Short chapter book. Large kid-friendly font. Some pictures included within text. Part of a series
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Connections to authentic local, national, or global issues: Connects to crime issues on all levels.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Facets of the book that may be difficult for students and require support: Some first graders may not be ready to read these texts independently yet.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Support that may be needed by students because of the difficult components of the book: Use these texts with students that are capable of reading them independently for small group or read aloud a chapter to the whole class.
Spy X series
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Reference information for accessing the text (APA Citation): Lerangis, P. (2004). Spy X: The code. New York: Scholastic.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Grade level span where the book would be considered “complex text.”: 2-3
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Grade level span for use as a class read aloud: 1-2
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Major themes addressed in the book: Crime. Problem solving. Code cracking. Spies.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Qualities of the writing that are worthy of note: Chapter book. Larger font that is appropriate at this grade level. Includes codes that students can "crack." Interactive and fun. Part of a series.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Connections to authentic local, national, or global issues: Connections to local/national justice system.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Facets of the book that may be difficult for students and require support: Language may be difficult for younger students.
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Support that may be needed by students because of the difficult components of the book: Select specific tier II words from the text and do explicit vocabulary lessons to help students comprehend the text better as they read this book.
