Mrs.
Ahearn’s Reading Class
Mystery
Mysteries are a subgenre of realistic fiction.
Within the mystery genre there are different categories in which
mysteries can be placed. They
include:
·
Historical mystery takes the reader
to another time and place in the past.
·
Detective mystery, traditional
private-eye mystery, has the detective using clues to investigate, and a
solution that involves punishing the guilty.
·
Fantasy mysteries incorporate the
use of ghosts and magic to take the reader out of the real world into the
make-believe fantasy world.
·
Problem and puzzle mysteries
present a problem and challenge the reader to solve the problem or puzzle by
providing clues. The problem is
usually revealed in the first chapters, and the reader is taken through a series
of puzzling events until the solution to the problem is revealed.
Mystery
stories follow the familiar narrative story structure that includes characters,
setting, problems, actions taken to solve the problems, and resolution.
An important characteristic of mystery is suspense. Suspense builds as the reader wonders if and when the mystery
will be solved. The reader
generates questions along the way as the mystery is read, “Who did it?”
“What happened?” “Why?”
Within
the mystery, the setting is either integral to the plot or simply a backdrop to
the action. The main characters in
a mystery are fully developed and the supporting characters are flat.
The plot of the mystery is complex and includes events, the clues to
solve the mystery, and the actions of the characters.
Junior Great Books
The Junior Great Books curriculum develops students’ reading
comprehension in the context of thinking about genuine problems of meaning.
The curriculum’s interpretive activities enable students to become more
aware of their reactions as they read, develop sensitivity to language, value
their own curiosity about a text, and explore new ideas through writing.
Through the curriculum, students practice many reading and thinking
skills; recalling and organizing details from the story; drawing inferences;
analyzing characters’ motives; and finding the main idea of a passage or the
text as a whole.
We will read at least two Junior Great Book stories per quarter. When
students bring home their books for homework, please feel free to read the
stories with your child. Reading together is a great time to connect!
More
information on the Junior Great Books program
Spelling
We have a
2-week spelling cycle which will focus on a spelling pattern, sound, or
derivative. Please see the schedule
attached to packets for homework activities.
The exploration
of spelling patterns is a major focus for advancing writers.
Explorations of spelling patterns allow writers to focus on groups of
letters that represent sounds they hear in words.
Most importantly, an emphasis on spelling patterns assists students in
learning to visualize and remember words.
Students will
develop
·
An increased awareness of visual
patterns in spelling which leads to remembering possible spelling of words
·
The understanding that most
spelling patterns represent a variety of sounds
·
The knowledge of possible sequences
of letters in words
·
The awareness that certain spelling
patterns are located in certain places in words
·
The ability to try different
pronunciation when reading unfamiliar words