Teacher Share: The Case from Outer Space
3:19-Min. Video on Teaching Character Development and Using Clues to Make Predictions
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Teacher’s Takeaway
“The Case from Outer Space is a great book to work on building character development in our writing, and drawing conclusions with all the clues [students] have to use to solve the mystery!” —Adanna McMayo
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Did aliens really leave a note in a Little Free Library?! If your students are like Adanna’s third graders, they’ll be on the edge of their seats, excited to read and find out!
In her Teacher Share video, Adanna McMayo from PAVE Academy Charter School in Brooklyn, New York, shares how she uses A Jigsaw Jones Mystery: The Case from Outer Space by James Preller, illustrated by R. W. Alley, with her students to introduce them to the exciting world of reading and to teach other key lessons, such as:
• Character Development: Encourage students to chart out the characters’ internal and external traits, as revealed through actions and descriptive language. They can use this as inspiration for their own writing!
• Inferencing: Students can try to solve the mystery alongside the detectives. Encourage them to make their own predictions as they read.
• Connecting to Science: The Case from Outer Space is filled with references to real-world space science. Students can do their own research projects on different aspects of outer space.
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Teacher Tip: Coded Messages
In The Case from Outer Space, Jigsaw and his friends receive a coded message. You can write a coded message of your own on the board and encourage students to try and decipher it. Or students can create their own secret codes!
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Please download a free printable “The Case of the Book of the Week” worksheet inspired by Adanna in Cooked Up from a Book!
How do you plan to use The Case from Outer Space with your class? Please share with the Scholastic Book Clubs community on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #ScholasticBookClubs.
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This Book Is Available from Scholastic Book Clubs
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