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Read Chapters 11-13; Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Chapters 11-13

Play “What’s Your Motivation?” Pose a question to a student such as, “Why did you come to school today?” or “What made you choose your outfit today?” Pick one student to respond to the questions first. The first student will then pick another to answer the same question, and that student will then pick another, and so on until everyone in the class has had a turn to answer. Note: If you are concerned about erratic student responses, try to ask non-personal questions that require students to consider motivation for doing something. For example, “Why do you think Barack Obama ran for President?” Note that nearly every student had a different reason for doing the same action

will explain that for every action we take, we have a motivation, or a reason for doing that action, as we saw in our game, “What’s Your Motivation?” Different people can have different motivations for the exact same action. (Record the definition of “motivation” on chart paper). In a mystery, suspects have a “motive” for committing a crime. (Write the definition of a “motive” on chart paper.) Motive is the reason for making a choice or completing an action. In a mystery, a character’s motive is his/her possible reason for committing a mysterious action, a crime, or causing a problem. Identifying a motive allows us to identify a suspect. A suspect is someone who may have committed a mysterious action or a crime. If a character does not have a motive, he/she is not a suspect.

I will think about possible characters that have a motive for stealing Gina’s money from the hotel room. I will review the Characters Worksheet to figure out who could be a suspect in this case. (See Student Packet, pp. 4-5.) Up to this chapter, I have identified 16 characters in the book. Immediately, I will eliminate characters that I believe are not suspects. How do I know which characters could or could not be suspects? I see on my Clue Tracker (from Lesson 2) that Sammy saw a man stealing money from the purse. That means I can eliminate all of the female characters as suspects. That leaves me with 13 male characters. I will post the Suspects Chart and will use the chart to help me keep track of the characters and possible motives. Note: See Suspects Chart for sample responses. Save the Suspects Chart for use with Lessons 4 and 5.

I will add the names of the 13 male characters. I will begin to fill out information for one of the characters, such as Mikey. I will record a description of Mikey and suspicious thoughts or actions. By looking at this information, I can then think about a possible motive for Mikey. I don’t think Mikey has a possible motive because he is only a small child. I can’t find information about Mikey that leads me to believe he would have a reason for stealing the money. So, in the Possible Motive column, I will write “No Motive.” Since Mikey does not have a motive, he is not a suspect in this mystery.

Ask: "How do I know the difference between a character who is a suspect and a character who is not a suspect?" Students should respond that a suspect is a character with a reason or motive for committing a crime. You can find a character’s motive by thinking about the character’s descriptions, thoughts, and actions. A character without a motive or suspicious information usually won’t be a suspect.

will continue to think about the next 12 possible suspects listed on our Suspects Chart. We will record information about another character to determine if they are a suspect. We will use the Characters Worksheet (see Student Packet, pp. 4-5) and Clue Tracker (from Lesson 2) to complete the Suspects Chart.

We will fill out the information for the Hotel Manager character. Our Character Worksheet states that the he smokes a cigar and spends a lot of time at the seedy Heavenly Hotel. We’ll record this information in the “Description of Character” box on our Suspects Chart. Next, we’ll think about any suspicious actions or thoughts for this character. In Chapter 13, the character keeps an eye on the people in the hotel lobby. He also tells Sammy and Marissa to leave the hotel. We will record this in the “Suspicious Actions or Thoughts” box on our chart.

Next, we need to think of a possible motive for this character. If a character’s motive isn’t explicitly stated in the book, you can think about prior knowledge about a character to think of a motive. From what we know about hotel managers, we could say that hotel managers are responsible for collecting rent from the people who stay at the hotel. Perhaps he stole the money from Gina? Can we say that his possible motive was to get Gina’s rent money? (If this is a strong motive in your class’ opinion, keep the hotel manager as a suspect. If your class believes this is not a strong motive, model eliminating the character as a suspect by crossing out the character in the Suspects Chart.)

Note: Engage the class in a discussion about why or why not to eliminate this character. Ask students to use their Character Worksheet from their Student Packet and text evidence to support their reasoning. Continue to record information on the Suspects Chart started during Direct Teaching. Save the Suspects Chart for use with Lessons 4 and 5.

will continue to fill out your Suspects Worksheet in your Student Packet for the remaining 11 possible suspects in the book. (See pages 19-20 in the Student Packet.) If you believe a character is not a suspect, you will eliminate that character from your suspect list. Note: Save the Suspects Worksheet for use with Lesson 4. After you have eliminated suspects and pared your list down to 5 suspects, you will create a Suspects Deck of Cards. On each card, you will draw a picture of your suspect and include information about the suspect. Below the suspect’s description, you will write down the suspect’s possible motive. Note: Share the Suspect Card Template with your class, so they have a clear understanding of what is expected for this activity.

will share our Suspect Cards with the class. We will discuss the reasons why we believe a character could be a suspect in the theft of Gina’s money. We will talk about each suspect’s possible motive or motives. Remember that all of the suspects may have different motives for committing the same crime. We will display our Suspect Cards on our class bulletin board. We can view all of the cards and see the information and motives our classmates have created for each suspect. We will continue to refer to our Suspect Cards as we try to solve the mystery in this case.