1

Unit Plan Rationale

Abigail Gibbons

EDUC 3601: C&I for Language Arts

Robert LeBlanc

15 January 2022
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Table of Contents
Unit Title:...........................................................................................................................................2
Course................................................................................................................................................3
Overview............................................................................................................................................3
Essential and Sub Question(s)............................................................................................................3
Focused Outcomes.............................................................................................................................4
Language Arts Strands........................................................................................................................5
Demonstrations of Learning – Formative Assessment........................................................................6
Demonstrations of Learning – Summative Assessment......................................................................7
Literary Learnings...............................................................................................................................7
Student Resources.............................................................................................................................8
Podcast: Origins Unknown....................................................................................................................................8
Book/Short Stories: Three Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes (Level 2 Reader)....................................................8
Picture Book: Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?......................................................................................................8
Book/Short Stories: Encyclopedia Brown.............................................................................................................9
Book/Short Stories: Two-Minute Mysteries.........................................................................................................9
Picture Book: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.....................................................................................................9
TV Show: Scooby-Doo Where Are you! | 10 Minutes of Classic Cartoons.........................................................10
YouTube Videos: Encyclopedia Brown – Minute Mysteries...............................................................................10
Teacher Resources...........................................................................................................................11
Book: Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades....................................................................................11
Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades is a book full of lesson plans from 826 National writing labs.
This book was created as a resource to reach all students in a way that is fun and interactive........................11
Book: How To Write A Mystery...........................................................................................................................11
Academic Article: Writing Detective Stories.......................................................................................................11
Academic Article: Reading, Writing, and Mystery Stories..................................................................................12
Key Activities....................................................................................................................................13
Month-at-a-Glance – 45-minute classes...........................................................................................14
Assessments Linking to Learning Outcomes.....................................................................................19
Assessment Tool Overview..............................................................................................................20
Appendixes of Summative Assignments...........................................................................................................23
Appendix 1a: Compare and Contrast Analysis Worksheet Podcast.................................................................23
Appendix 1b: Compare and Contrast Analysis Rubric.......................................................................................24
Appendix 2: Portfolio Rubric..............................................................................................................................25
Appendix 3a: Story Outline Worksheet.............................................................................................................26
Appendix 3b: Story Outline Rubric....................................................................................................................27
Appendix 4a: Create Your Own Mystery Short Stories Assignment.................................................................28
Appendix 4b: Create Your Own Mystery Short Stories Rubric.........................................................................29

Unit Title: Let’s Solve a Mystery and Become ELA Detectives: Mystery Unit Plan
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Course: ELA Grade 6

Overview:
This unit will be focused on students learning about the mystery genre. Through exploring and analyzing
a variety of texts students will have the opportunity to understand the basic and important key elements of
the mystery genre. Some examples of how this will be done is through examining the structure, plot, and
stylistic writing conventions that authors make. Students will also make predictions and inferences.
Through a basic understanding of the genre that the students will develop, it will prepare students to
create, develop, and write their own mystery stories.

This unit will focus on giving students the opportunity to interact with a variety of different texts, such as
short mystery films, podcasts, and short stories. This will let students experience the similarities and
differences between different modalities of mystery texts, thereby allowing students to acknowledge the
key elements of the mystery genre.

One might think that it is just another story genre, but it is much more than that. Throughout the unit
students will be taught the strategies and skills to ‘think, write and read’ like detectives. Students can
grasp the overall understanding of what encompasses the mystery genre, through their reading and writing
skills. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their critical thinking, problem solving, and
deductive reasoning skills.

Overall, by the end of the unit students should have the knowledge to understand what the mystery genre
encompasses.

Essential and Sub Question(s)

Throughout this unit the overarching question that we explore is what is a mystery? Some of the sub-
questions that we will be exploring are:
1. What are some of the key elements of the mystery genre?
2. What are some of the similarities and differences between different modalities of mystery texts?
3. What is the written structure of a mystery story?

Focused Outcomes
Below is a table showcasing the 6 SLOs that are the focused outcomes of this unit.

General Outcome 1: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to explore thoughts,
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ideas, feelings, and experiences.

1.1 Discover and Explore – Express Ideas and a. Read, write, represent, and talk to explore and
Develop Understanding explain connections between prior knowledge and
new information in oral, print, and other media
texts.
General Outcome 2: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to comprehend and
respond personally and critically to oral, print, and other media texts.
2.2. Respond to Texts – Construct Meaning from a. Summarize oral, print, or other media texts,
Text indicating the connections among events,
characters, and settings.

b. Make judgments and inferences related to

events, characters, setting and main ideas of oral,
print, and other media texts.

2.3. Respond to Texts – Understand Techniques a. Discuss connections among plot, setting and
and Elements characters in oral, print, and other media texts

General Outcome 4: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to manage ideas and
information
3.3. Organize Information b. Organize and develop ideas and information
into oral, print, or other media text with
introductions that interest audiences and state the
topic, sections that develop the topic and
conclusions.

Language Arts Strands

Below is a list of the strands that the unit focuses on and a sentence explaining how they will be
implemented into the unit.

Listening Speaking Reading Writing Viewing Representing

X X X X

- Listening will be focused on in a variety of different methods such as listening to podcasts and
films that are able to showcase a different modality in which mysteries are showcased through.
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- Speaking will be utilized throughout the unit in informal ways. Students will be able to express
their opinions, predictions and questions through classroom discussions and small group work.

- Reading will be focused on mainly by reading a variety of short mystery texts that students will
analyze throughout the semester to develop their own understandings and the typical conventions
of the mystery genre. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to read other peers’ work
throughout the unit.

- Writing will be focused on showcasing what they have learned through creating their own
mystery and through short responses/analysis throughout the unit.

Demonstrations of Learning – Formative Assessment

This unit will have both formative and summative assessments imbedded into it. Formative assessment
will be used throughout the semester to help students see their growth within the unit and will be used to
focus on some of the smaller outcomes that the unit encompasses.

Formative Assessment
Name / Type Description
Classroom Discussions Students will participate in classroom discussions frequently throughout
the unit to develop their thinking skills and to listen to the opinions of
other students. Outcomes that will be targeted will be 1.1, 2.2, and 2.3,
referring to all the sub-questions that the unit will focus on.
Small Group Activities Students will have the opportunity to discuss and interpret short mystery
texts in small groups. This will allow them to gain and build confidence
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with their skills to complete their own analysis later in the unit. The unit
outcomes that will be targeted through this formative assessment is 2.2
and 2.3, reinforcing all the sub questions that the unit will focus on.
Mini Mystery Stories Throughout the unit, students will be asked to write elements of stories
(some days they will be asked to do an introduction, use literary devices
to strengthen their writing etc.). They will be given a text that will help
them to think about and get familiar with the content in a way that
allows them to focus on specific outcomes. The unit outcomes that will
be met through this assessment are the same as the “Let’s Be Detectives”
is 1.1, and 3.3. This reinforces sub-question 1 and 3 through developing
a more concrete understanding of what a mystery is.
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Demonstrations of Learning – Summative Assessment

This unit will have both formative and summative assessments imbedded into it. Summative assessment
will be used to assess their knowledge and ideas that they have formed through the exploration of the unit
questions and will focus on the major unit outcomes. Below are some of the assessments that will be
used.

Summative Assessment
Name/Type Description
Story Outline – Completion This will allow students to think through their thought process around
Grade what they want to write with their mystery story.
The unit outcomes that will be met through this assessment is 1.1 and
3.3, reinforcing the two sub-questions of 1 and 3.
Let’s Become A Detective: This will take place at the end of the unit, as a summation. Students will
Create Your Own Mystery use the knowledge that they have gained throughout the unit to create
Short Story their own mystery stories based on a ‘mystery’ that is represented in the
classroom or one of their own choice. The unit outcomes that will be met
through this assessment is 1.1 and 3.3, reinforcing the two sub-questions
of 1 and 3.
Portfolio This summative assessment will be based on the formative ‘Mini
Mystery Stories.’ The summative portion of this will allow students to
choose 3 of their best pieces of work to be marked and it will allow for a
celebration of their writing and the growth that they had throughout the
unit. The unit outcomes that will be met through this assessment is 2.2,
2.3, and 3.3, reinforcing sub-question 1.
Compare and Contrast In this task students will be asked to complete a small group assignment
Analysis focusing on comparing and contrasting two different modalities of
mysteries. These texts will be done in two different modalities such as
short story and podcast to see if students understand and can use their
skills to see how mysteries are never the same, however, they do have
similarities.

Literary Learnings
The overall literacy concepts that this unit will draw from is how do we think, write, and read like
detectives? These three questions encompass the foundational aspects to what the unit will be developed
on.
- Some of the ideas and concepts that will be formed from the thinking aspect would be focused
on understanding why authors used the stylistic choices that they did, examining clues to create
their own predictions and inferences, making connections, and the thought process behind
created a mystery story.
- Some of the ideas and concepts formed from the writing aspect would be developing the basic
knowledge of the mystery genre’s structure, stylistic choices that further the message created and
use of writing conventions (figurative language, sentence structure etc.) to further their own
stories.
- Some of the ideas and concepts formed from the reading aspect would be choice of author
stylistic choices to further the genre, developing close reading and questioning skills, collecting
clues, making predictions and inferences, and analysis strategies.
Student Resources
Podcast: Origins Unknown
Description Origins Unknown is a podcast targeted for kids aged 9 and up. The podcasts
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plotline focuses on how the residents of Cooper Heights are received

packages from an unknown sender, and how Max Emmerson, a 16-year-old,
and his friends try to discover the mystery of these packages.
Why I’ve Chosen it By using this podcast format, it will allow students to develop their listening
skills to examine the stylistic choices of the podcast and make connections
and examine clues to make predications. Adding a different side to the
‘traditional’ texts that are normally studied in a mystery unit. This text would
be great for sub-question 2, because it allows students to see how this is still
considered a mystery story, but just in a different format.
Annotation John, S. (2021). Origins Unknown. Pinna. Retrieved from
https://pinna.fm/library/kids-shows/pinna-podcasts/origins-unknown.

Book/Short Stories: Three Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes (Level 2 Reader)

Description: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories has three short stories. These texts come out
of a penguin reader which mean that they are simplifies and at an elementary
reading level. Sherlock Holmes and the Strange Mr Angel, Sherlock Holmes
and the Important Exam Paper and Sherlock Holmes and the Dangerous
Road all highlight the different ways that Sherlock Holmes solves the cases.
Why I’ve Chosen it: I decided to include this because each of these stories are short and will allow
students to look into what I would consider to be the classics of the mystery
genre. Each story is different and will allow students to experience a variety
of writing from one author. This text will be used in a variety of different
ways through allowing students to analyze the key elements of the stories to
showcasing them the structure of mystery stories. Therefore, this will used to
supplement all three of the sub-questions this unit explores.
Annotation: Doyle, A. C., & Escott, J. (2008). Three Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes.
Penguin Books Ltd, & Pearson Education Limited

Picture Book: Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

Description: This children’s picture book is based on classic children’s stories that have
been adapted into the style of a 1940s detective novel aimed at students in
grade 1 – 3.
Why I’ve Chosen it: I thought that this was such an interesting book because it showcases typical
classic stories that the students could have grown up reading such as Humpty
Dumpty, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White, with a mystery twist. Even,
though this book is aimed at younger grade levels, it can provide them with
the opportunity to see how stories can be adapted to fit into the mystery
genre. Students through this book will be able to develop their close reading
skills by seeing if they can make connections to the other mystery texts
studied in class. This would then focus on sub-question 1 and 2, because the
students will be explicitly looking for the key elements of the mystery genre.
Annotation: Levinthal, D., & Nickle, J. (2012). Who pushed Humpty Dumpty? And Other
Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries. Schwartz & Wade Books.

Book/Short Stories: Encyclopedia Brown

Description: Encyclopedia Brown is a series of short stories and in this book, there are 10
different short stories. The book is based on a boy detective called
‘Encyclopedia Brown’ and through these short stories, the author challenges
the reader to solve each of the mysteries himself.
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Why I’ve Chosen it: This text allows for students to see what mystery short stories consist off, but
it also allows them the chance to solve them. This links with all of the focus
questions because it can be used in different modalities such as teaching
students the structure of mystery stories, and to compare how different
mystery stories can be portrayed. Allowing SLOs 1 and 2 to be used.
Annotation: Sobol, D. J., & Shortall, L. W. (1963). Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective.
T. Nelson.

Book/Short Stories: Two-Minute Mysteries

Description: Two-Minute Mysteries is a book of short stories that the reader attempts to
solve and figure out.
Why I’ve Chosen it: This text allows for students to see what mystery short stories consist off, but
it also allows students to seek clues and to try and solve the story. This links
with two of the focus questions because the students will get to understand
the structure of students of mystery stories, and to see what some of the key
elements across the genre are. Allowing SLOs 1 and 2 to be used.
Annotation: Sobol, D. J. (1967). Two-Minute Mysteries. Scholastic Inc. 

Picture Book: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Description: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a picture book with a series of pictures.
Each image is accompanied with a title and a single line of text. The images
were created by Peter Wenders and he disappeared.
Why I’ve Chosen it: I thought this was an interesting picture book and one that I had never seen
before. This book allows for students to use their own imagination to create a
story based on the image, title and the single line of text. Students through
this book will be able to construct meaning from the text and express their
own ideas (1.1 and 2.2) This would focus on sub-question 3, as through the
use of this book, students would be encouraged to write their own story.
Annotation: Van Allsburg, C. (1984). The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Houghton Mifflin.

TV Show: Scooby-Doo Where Are you! | 10 Minutes of Classic Cartoons

Description: WB Kids is a YouTube Channel where they feature clips from different
characters, such as Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo is one of the classic children
shows when it comes to detective stories. These 10-minute YouTube videos
showcase how Scooby and the Mystery Inc. gang solve mysteries together.
Why I’ve Chosen it: I decided to choose this because it would showcase another side of mystery
stories and how they can be portrayed on screen. This can be used to
showcase students some of the key elements of mysteries (sub-question 1),
and the similarities and differences between different modalities of mystery
texts (sub-question 2). Students through watching these 10-minute cartoons
can look into SLO 1.1, 2.2 and 2.3.
Annotation: WB Kids. (2021). Scooby-Doo Where Are You! | 10 Minutes of Classic
Cartoons. YouTube.

YouTube Videos: Encyclopedia Brown – Minute Mysteries

Description: This YouTube video consists of five-minute mysteries based on
Encyclopedia Brown book series. Some of the titles of the short mysteries are
The Case of the Scattered Cards, The Case of the Hot Air Foot Warmer, The
Case of the Civil War Sword, and The Case of the Great Merko.
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Why I’ve Chosen it: I thought that this would be a fun way to engage students with comparing
how written stories and tv shows can differ, and how they are still
showcasing some of the key elements of the mystery genre. By allowing
students to view Encyclopedia Brown, students will be able to respond to
texts through understanding the techniques and elements, and to construct
meaning from texts (2.2 and 2.3). This would focus on sub-question 2, as
students are able to compare and contrast different modalities of mystery
texts.
Annotation: Home Box Office. (1989). Encylopedia Brown - Minute Mysteries -
1990. YouTube. United States of America. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_PN1lMVe94. 

Teacher Resources
Book: Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades
Description Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades is a book full of lesson
plans from 826 National writing labs. This book was created as a resource to
reach all students in a way that is fun and interactive.
Why I’ve Chosen it The reason I decided to choose this book was not for the lesson plans, but
rather the ideas that came out of it. There were some really engaging lessons
that students could do from this book that could be adapted to fit the topics in
this unit. There is a detective section in this book that can provide more in-
depth lesson plan example.
Annotation Traig, J. (2011). Don’t Forget to Write For the Elementary Grades: 50
Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons Ages 5 to 12. Jossey-Bass.

Book: How To Write A Mystery

Description How To Write A Mystery is a guide to writing masteries and it ranges from
character development to writing the talk. This book is categorized into five
different sections (1) Before Writing, (2) While Writing, (3) After Writing,
(4) Other than Novels, and (5) Other Considerations.
Why I’ve Chosen it The reason I decided to choose this book was because of the wide breadth of
information included in the book. While, this is not aimed at students, what it
does do it allow me to do is to draw ideas out for my specific lessons.
Furthermore, in the ‘other than novels’ section there is a section for children
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and young adults, which we can draw on for lessons.

Annotation Child, L., King, L. R., & Mystery Writers of America. (2021). How To Write
A Mystery: A Handbook From Mystery Writers Of America. Scribner.

Academic Article: Writing Detective Stories

Description Writing Detective Stories is an academic article published by the National
Council of Teachers of English. This article provides an example unit plan
for detective story unit, and it was planned to last eight weeks for third grade.
Throughout this article it describes various elements such as character
description, setting descriptions and discovery of clues.
Why I’ve Chosen it The reason I decided to include this for a teacher resource, is because the way
that it describes each of the different sections. Each section helps to think
through each of the important sections and how to implement it into the
lessons. For example, for setting descriptions it explains how students should
make a list of items in their room and then they write a description of their
room. After students have done this ask them to make a second list of things
at a crime scene and then write the description (288). This then ensures that
students can relate the task to the important aspect of the story.
Annotation Wilde, Jack, and Thomas Newkirk. “Writing Detective Stories.” Language
Arts, vol. 58, no. 3, National Council of Teachers of English, 1981, pp. 286–
92

Academic Article: Reading, Writing, and Mystery Stories

Description Reading, Writing, and Mystery Stories is an academic article published by the
National council of Teachers of English. This article assesses ‘students’
responses to and production of story conventions in detective/mystery stories
and explored students’ responses to literature as a potential connection
between comprehending and composing text.” (47)
Why I’ve Chosen it I chose this article because it responds to the reading and writing of mystery
stories which is central to my unit. This article spoke about the ‘relationship
between what is read and what is written,’ (50) and how we this relationship
varies across grade levels. This was a very eye-opening read and will help me
develop an understanding of what I should be expecting of my students.
Annotation Vardell, S. M. (1983). Reading, Writing, and Mystery Stories. English
Journal, 72(8), 47-51.
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Key Activities
Opening Developmental Culminating
[Romance] [Precision] [Generalization]
- Video: Scooby-Doo Where - Compare and Contrast - Peer-Editing
Are You: Scooby in Disguise Analysis (Whole Group and
Individual) - Final Editing Session
- Small Group Brainstorm
- Mini Mystery Stories - Celebration of Writing
- Sherlock Holmes and The o Character
Strange Mr. Angel Analysis o Introduction
o Body
o Ending

- Portfolio

- Story Outline

- Let’s Become a Detective

Writing

- Student Conferencing
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Month-at-a-Glance – 45-minute classes

M T W Th F
Introduction to Key Elements of Key Elements of Compare and Compare and
Mystery Genre Mystery Genre (in Mystery Genre (in 3 Contrast Modelling Contrast Analysis
general) modalities)

Introduce the topic Mini Lesson: Explain to students Explain to students Mini Lesson:
mystery by watching Explain to students that there are multiple that tomorrow they Teacher will go over
a Scooby-Doo Where the key elements of different modalities if are going to be doing the mini lesson that
Are You: Scooby in the mystery genre. mystery texts. an individual analysis they did the day
Disguise episode. Topics that will be Explaining that they and today we are before and ensure that
spoken about are the all have the same key going to be doing one every student
Ask students what general format, the elements, but that together to help them understands what
genre they think this detective characters, they are showcased in understand what they are doing.
episode showcases red herrings, clues, different ways. needs to be done. Explaining that this is
and explain to and the setting. the ‘you do’ section.
students that our next Explain that the Mini Lesson:
unit is a mystery Together, as a class, activity will be Comparing and Teacher will then
genre. go through, Sherlock looking at 3 different Contrasting, and how explain instructions
Holmes and The texts. to use a table. on what will happen
Get students to work Strange Mr. Angel, for the last 30
in small groups to and analyse it for Text 1: Picture Book As a class, explain minutes of the lesson.
brainstorm what key specific key elements Read to students Who how they will be
elements they believe that were just spoken Pushed Humpty doing a table Hand out worksheets
are in the mystery about. Dumpty. Ask the (modified Venn and scrap piece of
genre and if they following question: diagram) together. paper. Play video of
know any mystery Resources: Three Even through there is Based on both the minute mysteries and
books/ tv shows/ Short Stories of not a detective, how written and minute read aloud The Case
movies. After this is Sherlock Holmes does this story still mystery of a short of the Scattered
done there will be a (Sherlock Holmes have the key story called The Case Cards.
class discussion on and The Strange Mr. elements? of the Civil War
this topic, where Angel) Sword. Give students the rest
students will share Text 2: Two-Minute of the class time to
what they SLO: 1.1.a & 2.2.a Mysteries Using the strategy I work on this
brainstormed. Read to students The do, we do, you do – assignment.
Case of the Musical the first time the
Mini Lesson: Thief. teacher will place Resources:
Students will be told something in all three Encyclopedia Brown
what the aim of this Text 3: Podcast spots. Then students – Minute Mysteries
unit will be through Have students listen will go into small (The Case of the
the explanation of the to the first 5 minutes groups and think of Scattered Cards) &
essential questions. of Origins Unknown. more ideas to present The Case of the
They will also be told Ask the following to the class. Scattered Cards
about their major question: Even (Written Short Story)
assignments. through there is you Resources:
are only listening to Encyclopedia Brown SLO: 1.1a., 2.2.a,
Resource: Scooby the story; how does – Minute Mysteries 2.3.a
Doo Where Are You! this story still have (The Case of the
| 10 Minutes of the key elements? Civil War Sword) &
Classic Cartoons The Case of the Civil
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At the end of class, War Sword (Written

SLO: 1.1.a have a discussion of Short Story)
how these modalities
showcased the key SLO: 1.1a., 2.2.a,
elements of the 2.3.a
mystery genre.

Resources: Who
Pushed Humpty
Dumpty, Two Minute
Mysteries (Case of
the Musical Theif) &
Origins Unknown

SLO: 1.1.a
Structure of a Structure of a Structure of a Structure of a Writing Workshop
Mystery Short Story Mystery Short Story Mystery Short Story Mystery Short Story
(Character) (Introduction) (Middle - Body) (Ending)

Explain to students Mini Lesson: Mini Lesson: Mini Lesson: Mini Lesson: How to
that they will be How to write an How to write the How to conclude a edit your own work.
learning about the introduction. body of a mystery mystery story. Topics Focus on
different structural Topics include story. Topics include include suspense and capitalisation, basic
elements of a short introduction of clues, red herrings solving the mystery sentence structure etc.
story. Explain how mystery and etc. or not.
for each day of this characters. Students will be
week they are doing Re-read the middle Re-read the middle given a checklist to
to focus on a different Read the beginning of section of Sherlock section of Sherlock ensure that they go
element. Sherlock Holmes and Holmes and the Holmes and the through the whole
the Dangerous Road. Dangerous Road. Dangerous Road. process of editing.
Explain to students Explaining to Ask students to Ask students they This will be modelled
that two of the students that we will describe what they thought about the to students through an
writing pieces that be dissecting this text think is going to ending and ask them example.
they do this week will over the next three happen at the end and to identify the key
be marked as days. ask them what clues components to it. Give students the
portfolio pierces. were left for the opportunity to edit
Ask students to reader. Activity: Based on two pieces of writing.
Mini Lesson: identify in a class the Mysteries of
Developing discussion why the Activity: Based on Harris Burdick, the Resources:
characters in mystery introduction was so the activity that they teacher would have SLO: 1.1.a, 2.2.a,
stories. important and how it did yesterday ask created a prompt that 2.2.b, 3.3.b
introduced what was students to write the students will have to
Read The Case of going to happen. middle of the story. write the ending to.
Natty Nat and have Explain to students
students describe how Activity: Create your that they should Resource: Three
the character was own introduction. include clues to lead Short Stories of
introduced, and why Give students a their reader Sherlock Holmes
it is important that we picture and line (Sherlock Holmes
introduce characters. prompt from The Resources: Three and the Dangerous
Mysteries of Harris Short Stories of Road)& The
Activity: Develop Burdick. Explain to Sherlock Holmes Mysteries of Harris
 15

your own character. students that they (Sherlock Holmes Burdick prompt
Students will be must create an and the Dangerous
asked to write a small introduction to a Road) SLO: 1.1.a, 2.2.a,
paragraph describing mystery story based 2.2.b, 3.3.b
their own character. on the prompt given. SLO: 1.1.a, 2.2.a,
2.2.b, 3.3.b
Resources: The Case Resource: Three
of Natty Nat Short Stories of
(Encyclopedia Sherlock Holmes
Brown) (Sherlock Holmes
and the Dangerous
SLO: 1.1.a, 2.2.a, Road) & The
2.2.b, 3.3.b Mysteries of Harris
Burdick

SLO: 1.1.a, 2.2.a,

2.2.b, 3.3.b
Celebration of Story Outline Model Story Outline Introduction of Let’s Let’s Become a
Writing Become a Detective Detective Writing

Students will then be Students will walk Students will have the Mini Lesson: Mini Lesson:
placed in small into the room and lesson to complete Descriptive Writing Incorporating clues
groups, and they will there will be a crime their story outline
get to share each scene. Students will worksheets. Explain to students Explain to students
other’s portfolio walk into the Throughout this that they will have that they will have ¾
pieces. classroom and see process the teacher four days to complete of the time to do their
that the classroom will pull students to their short stories, writing. Reinforce the
Once all have shared library has been conference them and and that they will get expectations with this
in the small group messed up. There are to ensure that they are ¾ of every class to assignment.
allow students to books all over the on the right track. write. Explain the
share their work to floor with red paint expectations for their Students will have
the whole class. scattered across the Resources: Story writing explaining time to complete their
floor (on sheets of Outline Worksheet that they only have to writing. During this
paper) and a note that write 2 pages, and the time the teacher will
reads ‘I will get the SLO: 1.1.a & 3.3.b format will given to conference to see
SLO: 1.1.a & 3.3.b book I am looking them in a form of a how they are doing.
for… Just you checklist.
wait…’. Towards the last 10
Students will get their minutes of class ask
Students will then be story outlines back students to elbow-
told to go back to with teacher share the characters
their desks and the feedback. During this in their short story.
teacher will explain time the teacher will
how this crime scene conference to see Resources: Story
will become the basis how they are doing. Outline & Checklist
for their short story or
that they create their Students will have SLO: 1.1.a. & 3.3.b
own mystery for their time to complete their
story. Explaining writing.
their short story
assignment and the Towards the last 10
 16

story outline. minutes of class ask

students to elbow-
Mini Lesson: How to share what their story
use the story outline. is going to be about,
and why they choose
The teacher will the to write the
model using the story mystery that way.
outline. As a class,
students will use Resources: Story
create an outline as Outline & Checklist
an example to what
they could do. SLO: 1.1.a. & 3.3.b

Last 15 minutes of
class allow students
to begin working on
their own story
outlines.

Resources: Story
Outline Worksheet

SLO: 1.1.a & 3.3.b

Let’s Become a Let’s Become a Peer-Feedback Final Editing Celebration of
Detective Writing Detective Writing Writing

Mini Lesson: Tell students that this Mini Lesson: Students will use the Students will come
Incorporating would be their last How to be an previous day’s into the classroom,
Tension day working on their effective peer-editor. feedback to make and it will be set up
short story. Students will be final edits to their with the same crime
Ask students how modelled the short stories. scene that they were
they are feeling about Students will have expectations of what writing their short
the progress they are time to complete their they need to do with Once these edits have stories on.
making with their writing. During this an example the been done students
writing. time the teacher will teacher has created. will hand their final Students will then be
conference to see Teacher will explain copies to the teacher. placed in small
Explain to students how they are doing. the importance of groups, and they will
that they will have ¾ peer-feedback and Teacher will explain get to share each
of the time to do their Towards the last 15 will give students that tomorrow they other’s stories.
writing. Reinforce the minutes of class, instructions on how get to celebrate their
expectations with this students will go to use the feedback writing. Once, students have
assignment. around and share the form. all shared in small
title of their short groups. Explain to the
Students will have story. Students will be Resource: Feedback class that their
time to complete their working in a pair, from their peer writing will be
writing. During this Resources: Story where they would be collated together to
time the teacher will Outline & Checklist filling out a peer- SLO: 3.3.b create a mystery book
conference to see feedback form for the and that it will be
how they are doing. SLO: 1.1.a. & 3.3.b remainder of the ‘published’ and
period. shown in the
Towards the last 10 classroom library.
 17

minutes of class, Resources: Peer-

students will go feedback form SLO: 1.1.a & 3.3.b
around the class and
will share the best SLO: 3.3.b
line that they have
written in their short
story.

Resources: Story
Outline & Checklist

SLO: 1.1.a. & 3.3.b

 18

Assessments Linking to Learning Outcomes

Assessments
Create Your Compare
Small Mini
Classroom Own Story and
Title Discussions
Group Mystery
Mystery
Portfolio
Outline Contrast
Activities Stories
Learning Short Story Analysis

Outcomes Type Summativ Summativ Summativ Summativ

(Formati
ve/Summ
Formative Formative Formative e e e e
ative)

Weig
0% 0% 0% 30% 35% 15% 20%
hting
1.1.a. Read, write,
represent, and talk to
explore and explain
connections between
X X X X X X
prior knowledge and
new information in oral,
print, and other media
texts.
2.2.a. Summarize oral,
print, or other media
texts, indicating the
connections among X X X X X
events, characters, and
settings.

2.2.b. Make judgments

and inferences related to
events, characters,
setting and main ideas of X X X X
oral, print, and other
media texts.

2.3.a. Discuss
connections among plot,
setting and characters in
X X X X X
oral, print, and other
media texts

3.3.b. Organize and

develop ideas and
information into oral,
print, or other media text
with introductions that X X X
interest audiences and
state the topic, sections
that develop the topic
and conclusions.
 19

Assessment Tool Overview

Assessment Assessment
POS Assessment Assessment
Tool Brief Description FOR
Outcomes AS Learning OF Learning
Learning
Classroom 1.1.a, 2.2.a, Classroom discussions would be used as a
Discussions 2.2.b, 2.3.a formative check on students understanding
on the lesson taught. Discussions will be used
to see of students understanding the texts and
its meaning, and to ensure that they are
making connections between text and
X
content. These discussions will help the
teacher see how well the students understand,
and subsequent lessons will be planned
depending on the level of understanding
showcased in these discussions.

Small Group 1.1.a, 2.2.a, Students will have the opportunity to discuss
Activities 2.2.b, 2.3.a and interpret short mystery texts in small
groups. All the groups will be given the same
text and together they must analyse different
elements that they learned about that day. For
example, if they learned about clues, the
students would analyse the text and see how
clues were incorporated and how they helped
X
forward the story. These small group
activities will provide the formative check for
the teacher to ensure that students understand
the content and can apply it. But it also gives
students the opportunity to practice and build
their confidence for the compare and contrast
analysis later in the unit.

Mini 1.1.a, 2.2.a, Throughout the unit, students will be asked to

Mystery 2.2.b, 2.3.a, write elements of mystery stories.
Stories Topics will vary from writing an
introduction, to introducing a character, and
using literary devices to strengthen their
writing. As a class students will get a prompt
and some instructions on what their writing
needs to include, however, students will have X X
creative freedom in the way that they
interpret the prompt. This task will help the
teacher to see if students understood the
lesson, and how they interpret the prompt.
Furthermore, these tasks will become the
basis for the student’s summative portfolio.
 20

Create Your 1.1.a, 3.3.b This will take place at the end of the unit, as
Own students will get to showcase what they have
Mystery learned about the structure of a mystery
Short Stories story. Students will be asked to create a short
story that is a page to two pages in length.
The mystery that they write will be based on
a mystery set up in the classroom or one that
they think about. Students will use the X
knowledge that they have gained throughout
the unit to create their own mystery short
stories. Their stories should encompass the
basic structure of a mystery story, characters,
and clues etc. This will be marked with a
analytical rubric.

Portfolio 2.2.a, 2.2.b, This summative assessment will be based on

2.3.a, 3.3.b the formative ‘Mini Mystery Stories.’
Students will choose 2 of their best pieces of
work to be marked. Students throughout the
unit will have the chance to edit and refine
their writing to ensure that these pieces of
writing are up to the standard of a summative X
assignment. This portfolio will be seen as a
celebration of their writing and will showcase
the growth that students have had throughout
the unit. Students will be marked using a
single-point rubric.

Story Outline 1.1.a, 3.3.b This will allow students to think through X
(Pass/Fail) their thought process around what they want
to write with their mystery story. The
mystery that they write will be based on a
mystery set up in the classroom. Students
will walk into the classroom and see that the
classroom library has been messed up. There
are books all over the floor with red paint
scattered across the floor (on sheets of paper)
and a note that reads ‘I will get the book I am
looking for… Just you wait…’. Once
students see this ‘crime scene’ they will
begin planning. This assignment is
summative; however, it is based on a
pass/fail grade. This will ensure that students
finish the planning before they start writing
their final assignment of creating their own
story. Students will be given a worksheet that
they can work off that can be used as a
checklist to ensure that they have planned
through everything. Students throughout this
process will conference with the teacher to
ensure that they are on the right track. This
 21

will be marked using a single-point rubric.

Compare and 1.1.a, 2.2.a, This summative assignment will allow

Contrast 2.3.a students to compare and contrast two
Analysis different modalities of mysteries. These texts
will be done in two different modalities such
as short story and a video of the same text.
This will allow students to showcase their
X
understanding of how the texts are different,
but they do have similarities. In this
assignment students will have to complete a
table to showcase this understanding. This
will be marked using a single-point rubric.

Appendixes of Summative Assignments

Appendix 1a: Compare and Contrast Analysis Worksheet Podcast
22

Appendix 1b: Compare and Contrast Analysis Rubric

Criteria 4 3 2 1 Feedback
There are three comparisons for the
video and written text. Draws on text
to explain the differences.

All of which are well-supported by the

text.
There are three similarities between
the video and the written text. Draws
on text to explain the similarities.
All of the points that are made are
well thought-out and all have been
well-supported by the text.
Total Marks: _____
12
23

Appendix 2: Portfolio Rubric

Writing Piece One

Criteria 4 3 2 1 Feedback
Writing shows a deep and thoughtful
understanding of the specific element
of the short story genre
(characterisation, introduction, middle,
or ending).

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar

are correct throughout.

Total Marks #1: _____

8

Writing Piece Two

Criteria 4 3 2 1 Feedback
Writing shows a deep and thoughtful
understanding of the specific element
of the short story genre
(characterisation, introduction, middle,
or ending).

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar

are correct throughout.

Total Marks #2: _____

8
Total Marks: _____
16
24

Appendix 3a: Story Outline Worksheet

25

Appendix 3b: Story Outline Rubric

Areas of Success Criteria Areas for Improvement

Focus of Short Story

Student ideas centre around a
provoking problem. It reflects
an accurate and appropriate
storyline that stems from that
problem.

Appropriateness of
Storyline
Storyline has explicit
connections to the plot,
setting and characters.

Completeness
All items are completed and
filled out. Each item makes
sense, developed, and well
thought out.
26

Appendix 4a: Create Your Own Mystery Short Stories Assignment

27

Appendix 4b: Create Your Own Mystery Short Stories Rubric

Exemplary Accomplished Developing

3 2 1
Genre The short story shows a The short story shows a The short story shows a
Conventions (x deep and thoughtful general understanding limited understanding of
2) understanding of the of the mystery genre. the mystery genre.
mystery genre.
Theme (x 2) The short story has a The short story has a The short story has a
logical and consistent logical storyline that confusing and not
storyline that effectively keeps generally readers’ logical storyline that is
keeps readers’ attention. attention. difficult to follow and
struggles to keeps
reader’s attention
Organisation The story is The story is somewhat The story is not
thoughtfully organized organized and organized and does not
and successfully successfully successfully
incorporates all of the incorporates some of incorporate the
elements of setting, the elements of setting, elements of setting,
character, and plot. character, and plot. character, and plot.
Overall Mark: ______
15
Feedback: