In Mysteries & Investigations, students “read like an investigator” and embark on a multi-genre study into the mesmerizing world of scientific and investigative sleuthing.
Stories of mystery and suspense are a natural medium for involving 6th graders in close reading because the texts are internally constructed to raise readers’ curiosity. The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories both take place in the late 19th century, a time when the worlds of medical diagnostics and criminal investigations were evolving into scientific fields. As science provided new types of information for investigators, fact-finding became crucial, as did the ability to explain what the information meant.
The lessons based on The Secret of the Yellow Death challenge students to grapple with clues, evidence, and scientific data to make meaning as Dr. Walter Reed and his team of scientific investigators seek the truth about yellow fever. Students will discover that not all evidence is created equally, and comes in varying degrees of factuality and credibility. By using the Evidence App throughout Sub-unit 2, students evaluate the evidence that supports or refutes each theory that claims to explain the transmission of yellow fever. As new evidence is revealed, some theories’ claims will become stronger, while others may be proven false. Students also begin to consider not just the methods, but the ethics of scientific investigation as they reflect on the steps and decisions Reed and his team took as they pursued the cause of yellow fever.
Throughout the unit, students step into the role of investigator, read closely to notice the strategies that different characters employ, create their own theories based on available information, and even predict, in the case of Sherlock Holmes, what investigators are most likely to do or not do. Reading stories from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, students will break down deductive observations of a crime scene and read closely to understand how the detective breaks seemingly unsolvable mysteries wide open.
After completing the reading, students write an essay explaining which trait is most useful to problem-solving investigators. Through the use of a sample essay, exploration of the text, and discussion, students will complete a series of lessons to craft a well-written essay.
The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Letter from Mabel H. Lazear to Dr. James Carroll
“Yellow Fever Circles Brazil’s Huge Cities” by Shasta Darlington and Donald G. McNeil Jr.
The Hippocratic Oath/The Physician's Pledge
“The Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“The Red-Headed League” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
EXTRA: "See It Through" by Edgar Guest
EXTRA: Excerpt from "Outwitting Nature’s Greatest Killer" by Mark Johnson, Mark Hoffman, Devi Shastri
EXTRA: Excerpt from “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
EXTRA: Excerpt from “A Mysterious Visit” by Mark Twain
Topic & Theme: Reading like an investigator
Reading: Assess the credibility of evidence used to support conclusions
Writing: Explain which trait is most useful to problem-solving investigators
Activity Highlights: Use an app to identify, organize, and evaluate claims and supporting evidence
Text Features: Narrative nonfiction of scientific discoveries, detective stories, inductive reasoning
As students read The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing and investigate yellow fever, they analyze the symptoms of the disease, as well as the methods scientists used to find the cause. For some students, the descriptions of yellow fever patients’ suffering and, in some cases, deaths, may be upsetting and/or add to some students’ anxieties surrounding illness.
In Sub-unit 3, students begin their exploration of Sherlock Holmes’s investigative methods. The first short story, “The Speckled Band,” includes some sensitive content, including the murder of a character’s sibling and an abusive stepfather.