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This project is no longer offered.
Please DO feel free to use any of the ressources still available on this site with your students.
Welcome
to the Two-Minute Mystery Writing Club
In this "teacher" section of the web site, you will find
all the information you need, first to register for the project,
then to implement it with your class. The "Steps"
section is meant to help you scaffold student learning. It was
developed with project-based learning strategies in mind.
In order to participate, you must register
a class or a group of students. Registration is free but is required
to be in touch with the project co-ordinator and other participating
teachers. Note that this year participation is limited to 15 classes, with 8 spots reserved for Québec classes.
You can adapt the project to be as narrow or as broad as you like.
It's probably best served if it is viewed as part of a larger "unit"
on the Mystery Genre.
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The student area of the
site offers your students a venue for publishing their best
work, but most of all, it offers them a real audience, since
their mysteries will be read by other students who will attempt
to solve them. It also contains resources that you can use
with them or they can use on their own.
For the students, the object of this
project is to create short Two Minute Mysteries similar to
the ones authored by Donald Sobol (Author of Two Minute Mysteries
and Encyclopedia Brown). In each mystery, there has been a
crime committed and you must read carefully (sometimes diligently)
in order to find the real solution to the crime. Who dunnit?
Why? How do you know?
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This language arts project can be used to
introduce students to the world of short mysteries. By immersing
them into this world, they will gain a better appreciation, understanding,
and interest in this genre as well as for the reading-writing process.
They will learn the technique associated with this particular genre
of writing. Then, they will have the opportunity to share their
mysteries with other participating schools and, in this way, to
integrate reading, writing, talking and computer skills.
The major objectives include:
- to familiarize and introduce students
to mystery-type books and authors;
- to read mystery
books, see suggestions listed in the bibliography (Resources);
- to identify the key elements in successful
mystery writing;
- through the application of the writing
process, to write, edit, revise and produce Two Minute Mysteries;
- to help develop student's abilities in
observing, concluding, recalling, applying, analyzing, synthesizing,
evaluating, and divergent and convergent thinking. At the same
time, it will contribute to the development of their oral, written
and imaginative skills, with the advantage of being fun;
- to integrate computer skills in order
to publish their mysteries;
- to use a Web interface in order to share
their work with other schools, challenging them to solve their
mysteries and to use E-mail to answer the incoming comments and
responses.
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Many thanks to Stephen Kohner, the original
"Chief Inspector" at Baie-Comeau High School, for his help in preparing
the teaching material for this project and to Gerry Robillard, Consultant
at Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board who took over and helped move
the project to its present state. |
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