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Read Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief, Prologue and Chapters 1-5; Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Chapters 1-5

Write the riddles on chart paper (see Teacher and Student Materials). Give students 3-5 minutes to solve all three and then have them share their answers with the group. (Answers: 1. A potato; 2. The letter “e”; 3. The boy’s mother) After students work on solving the riddles, invite them to share how they solved or approached the riddles. How did they know what they were looking for?

will explain that solving a mystery is similar to solving a riddle. Like a riddle, a mystery may seem easy to solve at first, but it really requires paying careful attention to textual details, moving around various puzzle pieces, and—most importantly—identifying the problem that needs to be solved. I will explain that to solve a mystery, it is important to think about what mysteries are. There are often many problems in a work of detective fiction that are connected to one main plot problem. Mysteries are questions that arise from plot problems.

I will read aloud “The Case of the Green Pen” from Two-Minute Mysteries by Donald J. Sobol. (Have students follow along with their own copies as you read aloud.) As I read, I will identify the problems in the story and record them under the “Problems in the Story” column on the Problems in a Mystery Chart. For instance, a problem is that Roberta Layne was murdered with a knife in front of the bowling alley. Note: See Problems in a Mystery Chart for specific examples. I will also chart questions that I have about each mystery as I read. I will record my questions under the “Questions about the Mystery” column on the Problems in a Mystery Chart. For example, a question that I can chart is “Who murdered Roberta?” or “Why is the green pen important to Roberta’s murder?” (Ask the question that students will be trying to solve throughout the story.)

I will continue reading the mystery story through to the end. I will circle the main mystery or problem in the story. When I am done, I’ll ask myself, “Was the problem solved by the end of the story? How was it solved?”I will answer the questions on my Problems in a Mystery Chart with text evidence.

Ask: "How can I figure out the main mystery in a story?" Students should respond that you recorded all the mysteries in the story. They should also mention that you asked questions about the problems in the story to identify the main mystery.

will reread Chapters 1 and 2 in Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief to identify the main mystery in these chapters. As we read, we will chart the problems that stood out in the text. We will include problems such as: a thief steals money from a woman’s purse inside a hotel room across the street from Grams’ apartment; Grams worries about Mrs. Graybill seeing Sammy come and go; Sammy bumps into a man at the mall who acted strangely; etc. We will record this information under the “Problems in the Book” column on the Mysteries Chart. Note: See Mysteries Chart Example for specific responses.

We will identify and record questions associated with each problem on the Mysteries Chart. For example, one problem in the book is that Sammy sees a thief steal money from a hotel room. I know that this is a problem because the author writes, “I did something really, really stupid. I waved. He just took a good hard look at me and then ducked out of view.” The questions are then, “Who is the thief?” and “Will the thief come after Sammy?” If we find the solution to these mysteries as we read, we will come back to our Mysteries Chart and write the solutions beneath the mystery questions. These may help unravel other mysteries in the book. We will use this information to identify the main mystery in these chapters and record it on the Mysteries Chart.

will reread Chapters 3-5 of Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. As you read, you will take notes about any problems that stand out and any questions about these mysteries on the Mysteries Worksheet in your Student Packet. (See page 11 in the Student Packet.) If you find the solution to these mysteries as you continue to read, you will revisit your Mysteries Worksheet and write the solutions beneath the mystery questions as they may help you solve the main mystery.

Based on what you have read and the information you have noted about the story, identify the main mystery in Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief and record it on your Mysteries Worksheet. Next, think about how you decided on the main mystery. Was the main mystery explicitly stated, or right there, in the book? If so, write down the exact sentence or sentences that told you the specific problem in the story.  If you identified the main mystery because you put various parts of the plot together, write down the information you used to identify the problem.

will discuss the main mystery associated with the problems in Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief. We will write down each problem and mystery on chart paper. We will ask ourselves, “Is there more than one problem? If so, does one seem to be the main problem?” We will record our responses on the chart paper. We will talk about what this problem could mean in the book. For example, if the problem is, “Who is the thief,” what can we guess about the rest of the book? If the problem is, “Why is Grams so worried about Mrs. Graybill seeing Sammy come and go from the apartment,” what can we guess about the remainder of the book?” Keep a list of the problems identified by the class on chart paper throughout the unit. As the students read through the remaining chapters, you can refer back to this list as a class to see which problems have been solved or which are still mysterious.