Book Club: "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

Join us for a mind-bending adventure with the Mysterious Benedict Society in Trenton Lee Stewart's bestselling novel. In this book club, learners will follow a group of clever and courageous children as they embark on a dangerous mission to save the world from a sinister plot. We will discuss the unique and compelling story, lovable characters, and the themes of friendship, loyalty, and the power of intelligence.

In addition to reading and discussing the book, we will also explore the topic of cryptography, as the members of the Mysterious Benedict Society use various methods of secret communication to carry out their missions. Learners will have the opportunity to learn about the techniques of cryptography and try their hand at decoding secret messages.

Each class we will start with a guided discussion of the chapters we read. We will go over the main plot points and answer comprehension questions. We will also discuss literary elements such as character development and language use while making connections and predictions. After our discussion, we will receive a mysterious coded message. In order to decode the message we will learn about a particular type of code or cipher and then practice decoding and encoding our own messages!

WEEK ONE
Quiz: Chapters 1-5 (be sure to complete the reading before our first class meeting)
Class Discussion
Morse Code: Members of the Mysterious Benedict Society use this form of communication to deliver and receive secret messages.

WEEK TWO
Quiz: Chapters 6-10
Class Discussion
Pigpen Cipher: This cipher is fun and simple. It uses geometric symbols identified by drawing a set of grids. 

WEEK THREE
Quiz: Chapters 11-15
Class Discussion
Phonetic Alphabet: This is a fun and simple code that uses words (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie…) to represent each letter of the alphabet.

WEEK FOUR
Quiz: Chapters 16-20
Class Discussion
Decoder Wheel Practice: Learners will be introduced to the Caesar Shift Cipher and learn how to write and decode messages using a decoder wheel.

WEEK FIVE
Quiz: Chapters 21-25
Class Discussion
Decoder Wheel Activity: Using our Decoder Wheels, learners will have to decode a message from the antagonist's secret journal.

WEEK SIX
Quiz: Chapters 26-30
Class Discussion
Keypad Code: Using a method described in the story, learners will solve a similar puzzle in order to find a secret password.

WEEK SEVEN
Quiz: Chapters 31-35
Class Discussion
Tap Code: Sometimes you need to be extra sneaky with your secret communications. For this we will learn tap code, a simple way to “tap out” a message using sound.

WEEK EIGHT
Quiz: Chapters 36-39
Class Discussion
Poem Puzzle: Mr. Benedict has one final secret message for our learners!