Reading and writing mystery and suspense stories can be a strong motivator to get students engaged with literature.  Having students read and write short mysteries can be a great way to promote critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills, develop key reading vocabulary, foster enthusiasm about reading and writing, and encourage students to share their writing with others.

The Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter and the Florida Literacy Coalition have teamed up to sponsor a unique statewide mystery writing contest for adult learners.  This free webinar will provide an introduction to FLC’s Mystery Writers Contest and will discuss strategies teachers can use to teach essential components of the mystery genre.  Meisenzahl will also discuss handouts and resources available to teachers, including:

• Mystery Story Skeleton
• Mysterious Vocabulary
• Mysterious Vocabulary Matching Game
• How to Be a “Close Reading” Detective
• Writing a Mystery Story…. Questions to Ponder

The session will provide an array of resources to help teachers and tutors find stories appropriate for their students’ reading levels and interests, including free on-line mysteries, free reproducible stories, and high-interest published mysteries for adult learners.  Discuss how to use “Mystery Writers Contest Short Story Starts” to prompt students try their hand at writing original stories and review strategies on how to help learners revise their drafts for submission to the Mystery Writers Contest.

Learn more about the Mystery Writers contest here.

Presenter:

Anne Meisenzahl has a Master's Degree in Elementary and Exceptional Education from Bank Street College in New York City and an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida State University.

Meisenzahl has worked as an adult educator and Exceptional Education teacher in a variety of capacities in New York and Florida for over thirty years, and for the past ten years has worked as a teacher and a curriculum writer with Leon County School’s Adult & Community Education in Tallahassee, Florida.  She wrote “Taking Care of Yourself: Making the Transition from Corrections to Work, Education & Daily Life,” a free, reproducible, 18-unit curriculum developed through a grant from the Florida Department of Education.  She co-wrote, with David Greene, “Working Hands, Working Minds,” an integrated construction training curriculum for YouthBuild USA.