Once students understand components of a mystery, they can begin to write their own.
When studying literature and creative writing, it is important to become familiar with the types and components of a mystery. All mysteries have clues, some of which are important and others that are "red herrings" meant to distract the reader. Once students are aware of what makes a good mystery, you can give them a range of activities to stimulate their creative writing skills in this genre.
Nursery Rhyme Mysteries
This activity is appropriate for elementary school students who are already familiar with nursery rhymes. It allows them to approach nursery rhymes from a creative standpoint with a few prompts and turn these rhymes into mysteries. For example, with the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill," ask students whether Jack really fell or was pushed. Ask whether Jill was also pushed as she "...came tumbling after." Get students to create a new story from these questions. You can take the same approach with the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty, asking if he was pushed off the wall and why. Or, for the nursery rhyme about the cow jumping over the moon, ask students how the cow was able to jump that high or whether he was possibly thrown over the moon and why the dish ran away with the spoon. Ask where the dish and the spoon went and whether they had a role in hurting the cow. Tell students that they must rewrite these nursery rhymes to incorporate new characters with motivations for hurting these fictional characters.
Story Starters
This activity is suitable for middle school students who are already acquainted with the structure of a formal mystery story. Put students into pairs and give them a prompt, such as "It was a dark and stormy night..." or "Everyone stayed away from the big old mansion, because..." or "One night I was walking my dog when I realized I was being followed." Give each pair one piece of paper and two pens. Have one student in each pair write a sentence after the prompt and then pass the paper to his partner, who will write another sentence. Let them continue in this fashion until they've written a short mystery, with a beginning, middle and end. Allow students to read their stories to the class.
Mysteries in a Bag
Present students with a bag of evidence. Tell students this bag of evidence was taken from a house where someone was killed the night before. Fill the bag with interesting objects. For example, you could have a faux diamond necklace, a journal, a half-eaten sandwich, a cell phone, a tube of lipstick, a newspaper with the date circled and an appointment book. Put each object at the front of the classroom so all students can see them. Tell students they must write a short mystery story that involves a murder and all the pieces of evidence from the bag. Let students share their stories with the class when finished.
Tags: nursery rhymes, Tell students, with nursery, components mystery, creative writing, each pair