Mystery Writing January 2023

Hello Everyone!

As part of our unit on problem solving, and in connection with language arts curriculum, we have been looking closely at mystery stories!

We watched Scooby Doo Aloha and broke down the elements of a good mystery. We read a variety of mystery stories, some from Chris Grabenstein’s book Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, a collection of short story mysteries by a variety of popular authors at this grade level. All of this was to help us see how mystery stories are structured, so we could write our own!

We discussed the elements of a mystery story, including characters, setting, clues, red herrings and distractions, and the conclusion.

You already have these documents in your binder to do the MYSTERY WRITING project: Mystery Words, Mystery Elements Writing Guide, and the Mystery Graphic Organizer.

We will talk together how to write dialogue between characters on Monday, January 9th, and give you more practice to do as a class.

I encourage you to use other synonyms for “said” to make our stories more interesting, and you will receive a list to help with this.

We will then write mystery stories of our own, mainly during class time. If you do work on stories at home, please note, parents are not to help you. Some of the writing MUST be done in class so I can observe your writing process for assessment and know the writing is your work.

Complete a brainstorm handout and show it to the teacher in class before starting to write. Drafting can be on the computer.

Here are some criteria, which we went over in class:

Your stories need (a):

  • Beginning: Start with a HOOK, introduce interesting characters and setting. Try to come up with a name for your characters that would appeal to everyone, not just you. Remember this story is a mystery. It can have funny elements, but the story needs to make sense and not be silly.
  • Middle: Talk about the CRIME, the SUSPECTS, the CLUES, and key ACTION as the characters try to solve the mystery. You will need a DISTRACTION, some WITNESSES, and a RED HERRING.
  • End: Solve the crime. Who did it? What was their motive (why did they do it)? What is the reward for solving the crime OR how do the characters end their story?
  • CSI Details: Use the labs we have done so far during the unit. How will fingerprints, a crime scene, dental records, fibres, bones, etc. be used as clues and evidence?
  • DESCRIPTIVE Language: Use our brainstorm lists in the classroom to add adjectives to your stories to make them more interesting. Describe the character, setting, and clues with exciting words. How will you set the mood? This is a mystery, not a funny story, so what kinds of words would you hear? Use a thesaurus online actively to look for synonyms.
  • DIALOGUE: Your story must have some dialogue. I would like to see at least 10 sentences in quotes in the story. Check your dialogue punctuation that we discussed in class.
  • INDENTS: Remember to indent paragraphs (except for the first one) and to start a new line when a new speaker starts speaking!
  • EDITING: Make sure you edit your work. Use a dictionary for spelling and/or spell check. Have a peer look over your work using the mystery peer checker worksheet from Ms. D.
  • LENGTH/FORMAT:  Minimum 4 pages long, maximum 6 pages. Typed on the computer. Use size 12 font, and one of two styles: Arial or Comic Sans. Double Space your story using 1.5 spacing.
  • TITLE/AUTHOR: Make sure your story has a title and author at the top of the first page.
  • PLANNING:  Use your planning handout in your binder to structure your mystery AND to make sure your mystery has all of the elements we have talked about. Use the handout as a checklist!
  • TRANSITION WORDS AND CONJUNCTIONS to make your sentences more complex, just like we were practicing in term one and during our five paragraph essay work.

I look forward to reading your mysteries! Due Date: January 30th.