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Read Chapters 6-10; Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Chapters 6-10

Ask students why they play sports, why they help others, or why they clean their rooms. Students may respond that they want to stay in shape, contribute to their community, or get an allowance. Explain to students that playing sports, helping others, or cleaning your room is an action. Every action that someone does has a motivation, or a reason that they do it. Challenge students to think about something that they do that has no motivation. (There shouldn’t be anything.) Hand out the What Motivates Me? Worksheet and ask students to record their motivations on the paper for each of the scenarios. Have students share their actions and motivations with the class.

will explain motivation as a purpose or reason for an action (record the definition on chart paper). It is closely related to our mystery term “motive.” I will explain that a “motive” is a reason for committing a crime or taking a questionable action. Figuring out a character’s motive for committing a crime or causing a problem is important to solving a mystery. I am going to figure out which characters from The Westing Game have a motive to commit the crime of killing Sam Westing. A motive can be anything from money, to hatred, to guilt, to something as silly as “he made too much noise by setting off the fireworks.” A character may or may not have a motive. If a character has a motive to commit a crime, we can consider them a suspect that may have committed the crime. To think about a character’s possible motive, I will first note the character’s description, physical and emotional traits, actions, and interactions with other characters. I will also think about what the character might want.

I will post the Suspects Chart. I will use this chart to help me keep track of the characters and possible motives. I will first fill out information about Grace Wexler on the Suspects Chart by thinking about what I know about her and reviewing the Characters Worksheet. (See Student Packet, pp. 4-5). Grace Wexler liked luxury, she was married to a doctor, she likes to have a high position in society, she likes money, etc. Next, I’ll think about her connection to Sam Westing. Grace Wexler says she is Sam Westing’s niece. I’ll write that on my chart. 

I can use this information to draw a conclusion about a possible motive such as, “Grace’s motive for killing her rich Uncle Sam could be to inherit his money.” Since Grace has a motive, we can consider her a possible suspect. I will record this information on the Suspects Chart. Note: You will need to save the Suspects Chart for use with Lesson 4.

Ask: "How can you figure out if a character has a motive in a mystery?" Students should respond that to figure out if a character has a motive, the reader needs to think about the character’s physical or personality traits, actions, desires and their connection to other characters in the story. If the character has a motive, they are considered a suspect that may have committed the crime.

will complete the descriptions for eight characters listed on the Suspects Chart (You may choose to focus on Otis Amber, Sandy McSouthers, Theo Theodorakis, Chris Theodorakis, Sydelle Pulaski, Jake Wexler, Turtle Wexler, and Doug Hoo.) We will look for details in the book and recall specific descriptions about our characters. We will also refer to our Characters Worksheet for any information about the characters. We will write the information down on our Suspects Chart.

We will look at the character descriptions and their connection to Sam Westing to draw a conclusion about a possible motive for each character. If we believe a character does not have a motive to commit the crime, we will write “No Motive” and “Not a Suspect” in the “Possible Motive” Box. Notes: Engage the class in a discussion about why or why not to eliminate each 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 Lesson 4.

will continue to fill out your Suspects Worksheet in your Student Packet for the remaining characters. (See pages 18-19 in the Student Packet.) You will look for details in the book and recalling specific descriptions about the remaining characters (Mr. Hoo, Flora Baumbach, Barney Northrup, Angela Wexler, Judge J.J. Ford, Dr. Denton Deere, Mrs. Crow, and E.J. Plum). You will also refer to the Characters Worksheet in your Student Packet for any information about the characters as you complete your Suspects Worksheet. You will look at your character descriptions and their connection to Sam Westing on the Suspects Worksheet to draw a conclusion about a possible motive for each character. If you believe a character does not have a motive for the crime, write “No Motive” and “Not a Possible Suspect” in the “Possible Motive” Box.

will list each character on the Suspects Chart that was started in the “I”. We will share the motives on our Suspects Chart. If the character has a motive, we will circle the name to indicate that this character is a suspect. We will add to our Suspects Worksheet in our Student Packet as we find additional information about each character and their motive. We will refer to our Suspects Chart and Suspects Worksheet later in the book as we try to solve the mystery.