Westing Game & mysteries

Standards: (5th - 7th grade Common Core Standards)

Cite textual evidence and support analysis and inference of the text.

Determine the theme of a text and how it is developed through the story.

Present ideas during discussions in a clear and coherent manner, using behavior conducive to furthering learning.

Write clear and coherent informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

Writing

Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).

Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, to create cohesion between topics and further understanding.

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

- State the characteristics of a mystery

- Infer and read closely, paying attention to details the author chooses to share

- Take notes as they read

- Discuss the text with peers, focusing on text evidence to support "gut feelings"

- Share predictions and ideas

- Write about the text using evidence and explaining thinking

- Infer details about the setting

Activities:

- As students read, they will be asked to keep track of the setting through our "Sunset Towers" project. Nothing is directly stated regarding the setting, so this is a great way to track inferences.

- They will also be keeping a detective's notebook, full of observations and details.

- Students will discuss their ideas in writing and verbally through socratic discussions.

- Students will be asked to write about their thinking through various tasks.

- After the novel, students will extrapolate information from the characters to develop an obituary for a chosen character of the Westing Game.

- Students will share those projects during our "Memorial Service."

- Students will work in teams to create a digital board game based on the book.

- Students will individually draft, revise and edit a mystery -- from a collection of story starters, pictures or their own brains.