eMysteries Toolkit

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. [Project Number: 2019-1-DE03-KA201-060127] 9 In the eMysteries Toolbox, reading mystery detective stories is offered as a support for students to create their own stories and share them with others. Reading is not offered as a passive activity, but it is transformed into an opportunity to circulate information and knowledge, to do critical analysis and engage in creative activity that may extend from inside the classroom to larger communities (communities of writers, fans, etc.) and thus connect students to wider ecosystems. Close Reading Module 3 focuses on the concept of close reading in association with reading mystery detective stories. Close reading is used to develop more complex reading skills in secondary school students on the one hand, while on the other hand close reading mystery detective stories may also promote deep reading comprehension skills among students who lack them or are reluctant readers. Students are asked to progress little by little with chunks of texts in order to understand what they are reading. This can contribute to improving student self-esteem through a sense of achievement, which often reluctant readers lack. Close reading consists of focusing attention on excerpts of text to grasp information in detail, to gain better insight (such as symbols or abstract information), pay attention to use of wording, syntax and structure or investigate deep structures of meaning, text patterns and inferred meanings. Close reading is generally used by teachers to invite students to look more attentively at a piece of prose or poetry. It moves students from a vague sense of what is on the page to a self-constructed dialogue with the words and meanings conveyed by an author through text. However, with mystery detective stories, close reading can be productively used to solve a problem or a case by breaking it into smaller parts and trying to puzzle out the whole from the parts. This requires intellectual skills of reasoning, thinking and understanding. Close reading can also be used to train students into developing complex reading skills by multiple reinterpretations of text layers or investigating reading clues in mystery stories as each new piece of information contributes to throw light onto so far unknown facts. Close reading can be promoted through many techniques such as productive silent reading, annotated reading, and re-readings of passages in text as well as creative writing of similar text. They all require re-readings and the ability to