“Mystery and Detective Literature Activities” “That’s Elementary, My Dear Watson”

Reading is an important part of the literacy component of the core curriculum in many school districts.  Students are expected to be able to express competency with reading fluency and comprehension.  Effective classroom strategies should be developed to help build and strengthen literacy skills in print awareness, phonics, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing.  Children should be exposed to a variety of robust children’s literature. Classroom libraries consisting of a variety of literature genres enhance the literacy component. There are different literature genres to capture the interest of children.  The curriculum unit was created to introduce and expose children to detective and crime fiction. The unit will provide students with an opportunity to identify the tasks and responsibilities of the detective.  The students will read and extend knowledge of literature by reading crime fiction and completing activities that reinforce reading comprehension and problem solving skills.  Students will be able to compare and contrast detectives found in crime fiction.  Students will be able to witness detective characters that may be African American, children or women and not just Caucasian males or police officers. The overall goal for the curriculum unit is for students to be able to identify character traits of detectives and determine how the problem was solved in the crime story.