I love to welcome in the fall with some creative (and sometimes creepy!) mystery writing with my students!
We’ve done this so many years but I still look forward to the process and watching my writers stretch their wings in what is, often, a new genre for them to experience.
We like to launch this unit with the amazing and imaginative picture book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I transform the room quickly with some black tablecloths (Dollar Tree; we reuse them over and over) and battery operated tealight candles. The lights get dimmed and I love to play some music in the background that helps set the stage.
Long ago, I bought an old, tattered copy of Harris Burdick off Thrift Books and (painfully) tore out the pages and laminated. They use the resources in HERE to go from picture to picture, taking notes and adding details about mood and setting.
The whole thing takes us about an hour and it’s very quiet, as the illustrations are VERY intriguing and leave a LOT of questions unanswered.
Therefore,… students then select one picture to base a narrative around. It can be one they were really interested in or one that sparked a lot of ideas.
From there, we spend the next two weeks walking through the writing process as we draft, revise, and edit our narratives.
I am constantly meeting with writers, both as check ins and for small group work.
My entire narrative plan is in HERE and we adapt it to fit our needs with the mystery genre. For example, one day, I add in a mini-lesson on cliffhangers and add in another day to teach about red herrings.
Throughout the process, stories often change and don’t always end up matching the details of the original illustration and that is OKAY. I love watching their creativity grow roots as they take ownership and voice of their stories.
I’m a big believer in student partnerships and we use THIS resource to guide the foundations of those groupings.. As they move through the writing process, we have days where they meet formally with their partners, usually to discuss a specific teaching point or craft move. However, I always leave open the option to check in with their writing partner as they need. It’s a great network for students to have, knowing they can always confer with someone about their work.
At the end, I give students publishing paper but they are also given the choice to type their final piece. We love to, once again, turn the lights low, get out the candles, and share our stories together. We sometimes do this in small, mixed groups, or we will also do it whole class.
It really is just a time to celebrate our hard work and they seem to just LOVE when the room is dark and a tiny bit spooky!
Grab the mystery writing mini-unit HERE!
