This colorful PowerPoint and the accompanying quiz are a fun introduction to a grades 5-9 unit on the mystery genre. Its 40 slides of information can introduce a literary study of mystery novels and stories, or be used as preparation for a mystery writing unit.

The main sections of this vibrant PowerPoint presentation are:

1. A definition of genre, mystery and whodunit.

2. The main types of characters in a mystery.

3. The most common mystery plot structure.

4. A mini-history of mysteries, focusing mainly on Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

5. A round-up of the principal vocabulary used in discussing mysteries.

6. An examination of WHY mysteries are so popular.

7. Mystery activities that students can pursue next.

Quiz prep

Students will discover which terms the quiz will test them on by completing a crack-the-code worksheet. Uncovering the material to be tested by use of coded symbols is much better for their brains than simply being supplied with a list: Sherlock Holmes would approve!

Quiz

Students have to answer on 25 words and concepts. 10 questions are in the mix and match format. 15 questions are in the true and false format. Every part of the statement has to be true to earn a ‘T’.

Answer keys to the quiz and to the crack-the-code mystery word worksheet are provided in a separate PDF so that the questions can be easily posted to a password protected homework site Google Classroom without the answers attached.

A resource designed to complement this one to provide a full mystery unit
(and make your students feel like detectives!) is MYSTERY UNIT DETECTIVE SKILLS & ACTIVITIES
If your students love mysteries, they will love the 15 tales in Mini Mysteries grades 5-8 or BRAIN TEASER MINI MYSTERIES VOL#2
Try this long, single mystery: Brain teaser mystery fun inferential skills practice
Or try a readers' theater mystery: Readers' Theater - Mystery of the Stolen Laptop

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