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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Expository EscapadeDetective’s Handbook
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| Grades | 6 – 8 |
| Lesson Plan Type | Unit |
| Estimated Time | Fifteen 40-Minute Sessions |
| Lesson Author |
Hoover, Alabama |
| Publisher |
LESSON PLANS
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Investigating Genre: The Case of the Classic Detective Story
After critiquing a list of conventions for the genre, students read, view, or listen to a classic
mystery, and then produce a mystery of their own, reflecting on the purposeful ways in which
they adhered to or altered the genre conventions.
Grades 5 – 9 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick: Using Illustrations to Guide Writing
Students use illustrations from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick as a guide to write mysteries
and then present their stories to the class for students to discuss to which illustration each
story corresponds.
STUDENT INTERACTIVES
Grades 3 – 12 | Student Interactive | Organizing & Summarizing
The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.
Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose
The Letter Generator is a useful tool for students to learn the parts of a business or friendly letter and then compose and print letters for both styles of correspondence.
CALENDAR ACTIVITIES
Grades 3 – 12 | Calendar Activity |  April 28
Author Lois Duncan was born on this date in 1934.
Mysteries are shared with students for them to solve and brainstorm the attributes of a good mystery. Small groups then compose short mysteries using the Mystery Cube.
Grades 9 – 12 | Calendar Activity |  September 29
Scotland Yard was established this day in 1829.
Students explore the resources on the Scotland Yard website and compare the advice given to London's citizens to the advice available from the local police department.
Grades 3 – 8 | Calendar Activity |  February 3
In 1927, Joan Lowery Nixon was born.
As a class, a genre study of mysteries takes place and a chart is made about what makes a good mystery.

