So You Want to Write...a Mystery

In this one time class, learners will investigate the elements that make up a mystery story and how to:
plan out a story around a mysterious event
introduce a complication or problem
explore how the problem creates conflict and/ or a puzzle for the characters
make the puzzle or conflict create tension and suspense
provide a solution and tie the story together at the end.

Learners will explore how to use descriptive writing effectively, as well as technical aspects such as punctuation, sentence length and pacing to build suspense. We will use slides showing examples of writing and by a quick-fire game of 'Mystify Me' where learners will decide on the best adjective to make a sentence more mysterious.
Students will move on to begin their own mystery writing time. They may choose to create the story plan and character bank to write their story after class or may decide to start on their story. 
There will be a time of sharing their ideas and reading aloud what they have planned written if they like (there is no pressure to do so). Students may share some of their writing via chat if they prefer and will be invited to upload their stories after class to the class page if they would like to do so.