Exploring a fictional mystery in the Victorian era
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can summarise the key events of a mystery based on a journalistic report and I can empathise with a character from the report.
Key learning points
- Our persuasive letter must include a summary of the mystery.
- We can base the details of this summary on a journalistic report about the mystery.
- The letter must also give reasons that will persuade Holmes to investigate the crime.
- We can generate these reasons by empathising with the main character.
- We can record all these ideas in note form.
Keywords
Journalistic report - a newspaper or magazine report
Inference - a conclusion drawn from information and evidence in a text
Mystery - a puzzle or problem that requires solving
Summarise - to pull out key information and ideas from the text
Empathise - to get inside a character's head
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle to identify what the key points are to summarise.
Refer to the model letter - it summarises the mystery in only a couple of sentences, but we are still very clear what has happened. We need to do the same here.
Teacher tip
This lesson is the first step towards the writing outcomes for the rest of the unit. You may wish to find images and other media to hook children in to the story of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (but please note there may be slight plot differences from the newspaper article shown here).
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which words best describe the kinds of case that Sherlock Holmes might want to take on?
Q2.Match the sections of a persuasive letter to their purpose or meaning.
to greet the recipient of the letter
to explain the purpose of the letter
to persuade the recipient to act
to give your name and say goodbye
Q3.Where in a persuasive letter would we most likely find the key reasons why we think the issue should be investigated?
Q4.Which persuasive language feature has been used in the following sentence? 'I look forward to hearing how you plan on helping.'
Q5.Which persuasive language feature has been used in the following sentence? 'I am certain that you are the only person capable of resolving this matter.'
Q6.Which of the following is a rhetorical question?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Where are we most likely to find a journalistic report?
Q2.Which of these are synonyms for a 'mystery'?
Q3.Which of these events happen in 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'?
Q4.Which two of the following points would be appropriate to include in a summary of the mystery in 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'?
Q5.What is the main purpose of the introduction in our persuasive letter?
Q6.Which of the following are strong reasons we could give to Sherlock Holmes for why he should investigate the mystery in 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'?
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Exploring a fictional mystery in the Victorian era, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Exploring a fictional mystery in the Victorian era, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the 'Sherlock Holmes': descriptive and letter writing unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.