ReadWorks.org

Read The Westing Game, Chapters 1-2

Write the Riddles on chart paper and give students 2-3 minutes to try and solve them. (Answers: 1. Missing You; 2. Head Over Heels; 3. banana split; 4. partly cloudy) After students work on solving the riddles, invite them to share how they solved the riddles 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 clues, 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 Open Door” 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 Brendon is hanged in the attic.  Note: See Problems in a Mystery Chart for specific examples.

I will also chart mysteries in the form of questions that I have about each problem 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 hanged Brendon?” or “Why was Brendon hanged?” (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 did I figure out the main mystery in the story we just read?" Students should respond that you recorded all the problems 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 The Westing Game 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: some people receive a mysterious letter, the existence or nonexistence of Barney Northrup, 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 the questions associated with each problem on the Mysteries Chart. For example, one problem in the book is Barney Northrup. I know that this is a problem because the author writes, “There was no such person as Barney Northrup.” The question associated with this problem is then, “Who is Barney Northrup?” We will use the information on our Mysteries Chart to identify the main mystery in these chapters.

will read Chapters 3-5 of The Westing Game. As you read, you will take notes about any problems that stand out and any questions about these mysteries on Mysteries Worksheet in your Student Packet. (See page 8 in the Student Packet.) Based on what you have read and the information you have written down about the story, identify the main mystery in The Westing Game 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 The Westing Game. 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 killed Sam Westing?” what can we guess about the rest of the book? If the problem is, “Who will be the winner of the game?” what can we guess about the remainder of the book? 

We will keep a list of the problems on chart paper throughout the unit. As we read through the remaining chapters, we can refer back to this list to see which problems have been solved and which are still mysterious.