Dear Parents/Guardians,
The genre for the first book report is mystery. The mystery story your child chooses should be a chapter book that includes a problem/crime, characters/suspects, clues/evidence, detective work, and a solution. Your child must get the book approved.
Students will have to read their chosen book and complete the assigned project by the given due date. On the day that the project is due, students will share their projects with the class. Students will present their project orally (Please see guidelines attached).
In this packet, you fill find directions for the mystery scene that the students will complete for this book report. Students may use large construction paper or a cereal box to create his/her haunted house. (You may be creative but must have all the elements for the book report.) A rubric has been included which will be used to assess the oral presentation and project content. Students may need help with organizing their report, but should complete the content portion on their own. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support and cooperation in making reading fun for the students!
The book should be approved by: September 28, 2011
The book should be read by: October 12, 2011
The book report/presentation will be due on: October 19, 2011
Sincerely,
Mrs. Carter
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We have read and understood the requirements for the book report project.
Student signature: _____________________________________
Parent/Guardian signature: ________________________________

You will be assessed in three areas for this project:
1) Haunted House or Book Setting (Creativity and Neatness)
2) Written content
3) Oral Presentation skills
1. See attached requirements for the Haunted House.
2. Written Context: Include the following below
 Door Your name
 Window 1 Title & author
 Window 2 Main characters
 Window 3 Setting
 Window 4 Mystery to be solved
 Window 5 A clue that helped solve the mystery
 Window 6 Another clue
 Window 7 Another clue
 Window 8 Conclusion
 Everything must be written in complete sentences except for your name, title, author, and main characters.
3. Oral presentation (Use bulleted note cards with the following information)
• Title and author
• Setting and Characters, with a brief description of each
• Brief plot summary, which includes the main problem, three events leading to the solution and the solution (what was the mystery and how was it solved?)
• Would you recommend this book? Why or why not?

Calling all super sleuths! For this book report you will be reading a mystery book.
Mysteries can be exciting, puzzling, and suspenseful. It’s fun to share the stories you read with others so they can enjoy them, too! Once you have finished reading your mystery, you will create a haunted house and then present it to the class.
You will construct a haunted house or a scene depicting the setting of your mystery book. You may use whatever materials you want to decorate your haunted house. This can be done with a cereal box or a large piece of construction paper, but you want it to look as realistic/creative as possible.
You may slit the doors and windows so they can open and reveal interesting facts about your book or you may put the information over top of the doors and windows.
Below is the information that should be in each section of the Haunted House.
Door Your name
Window 1 Title & author
Window 2 Main characters
Window 3 Setting
Window 4 Mystery to be solved
Window 5 A clue that helped solve the mystery
Window 6 Another clue
Window 7 Another clue
Window 8 Conclusion
Decorate the house with bats, skeletons, jack-o-lanterns … anything to make it as scary as possible! Cut out the outline of your house and attach it to a piece of poster board. Be creative!!!
The haunted house must include a second copy for your oral presentation that can be handed in.
Have fun, and we look forward to hearing about your mystery!

Name: Date:
Mystery Cereal Box:
Quality of Construction 10 8 6 4 2
Creativity 10 8 6 4 2
Note Cards 25 20 15 10 5
Oral Presentation
Title and Author 10 8 6 4 2
Plot Summary 10 8 6 4 2
Recommendation 10 8 6 4 2
Oral presentation Skills 10 8 6 4 2
Total _______________ / 100
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