The Carrots
D.I.E. This acronym will be the first in a series of carrots which will grab the attention of my students. It should be placed in a very prominent location where students will immediately question its meaning. The challenges to them will be to list as many possible meanings for D.I.E. as they can and to make up their own acronym for this unit as it draws to an end. Extra credit can be given as an incentive to answer this riddle.
Active student participation begins by using my three section white board as a graphic organizer. My students love to write on the board, so after listing the titles of three of the television crime series shows that they are familiar with, C.S.I., Forensic Files, and Law and Order, I will ask my students to come to any one of the boards and record any information they can about these three shows: actors and their roles in the show, forensic evidence discussed, laws and legal issues mentioned, murder weapons, etc. Having only one student at each board will help in classroom management and is a sure-fire way to get the reluctant participants involved. Once this exercise is completed, we will try to identify similarities and differences among the three series. Guiding them to make fine distinctions and clear descriptions will assist in the development of observational skills. These comparisons should be completed in their crime journals. Using these journals will emphasize the importance of establishing what they already know so as to help clarify what they will have learned at the completion of this unit. They will see their growth in black and white. It is also important to applaud their prior knowledge as often as possible. This is what builds self-esteem. After a discussion listing reasons for their fascination with these shows, they will play the game of "CLUE, Master Detective".
Using this game will definitely draw them into the unit and introduce them to such terminology as deductive reasoning, questioning the suspects, murder weapon, observation, and analysis. The actual object of this game reads something like this:
Miss Peach (or any of the cast of characters) has met with a fatal misfortune. She has been murdered by an unknown person, somewhere in or around the mansion, using an undetermined weapon. It's up to you to exercise your "little gray cells" (Hercule Poirot) and figure out whodunit, where it happened, and with what weapon. It might not be as easy as it appears because there are ten possible suspects, twelve possible crime scenes, and eight possible weapons.
After they have read the rules of play, a copy of which is located on the website: http://www.centralconnector.com/GAMES/clue.html, I will ask them to journal about what strategy they think they will employ as they begin the game. The strategy of movement in Clue is all about going to the right room (or any room if you just need to ask a question, deliberately getting the wrong room) later in the game. Devising a plan of movement from one area or room to another in order to gain information about suspects and weapons used is paramount to success at this game. Prediction is another. It requires that they draw on prior knowledge, organize their ideas into a workable solution or hypothesis, leaving behind those that do not seem to apply in this case, and then testing their theory. This objective is crucial in understanding how to play the game as well as in understanding detective fiction. Another skill that comes into play during this game is that of memory and recall. Having this ability is another piece in the puzzle of prediction mentioned above. These same skills are often tested on standardized tests and are a more effective and enjoyable way of reinforcing these proficiencies.
Half way through the game, using the game's Suspect Sheets as a graphic organizer, I will ask them to revisit their initial plan and make adjustments to their strategy, recording their adjustments in their journal. As each player assumes the identity of one of the ten suspects and uses a graphic organizer, these organizers, in themselves can be used as a game. After the games are completed, we will discuss how deductive and inductive reasoning modes are intertwined in solving crime. It is here that a word wall of detective fiction vocabulary would be set up. Developing and using an extended vocabulary will be essential to their understanding throughout the unit and help them to prepare their crime solving games at the unit's culmination. See Appendix A -Vocabulary Wall.
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