powerful descriptive or emotive words and images to bring the image to life for the reader
sentence variation to create fast or slow pace
punctuation that helps speed up or slow down the reading
holding back information from the reader.
Then ask students to consider how having Ted as a narrator may have presented a problem for Siobhan Dowd in creating an atmosphere of suspense in these chapters. For example, Ted does not use much figurative language, so his descriptions are quite straightforward. He also says what he sees, and does not seem to hold back information from the reader.
Read Chapters 6–8.
Transform
Once students have read the chapters, ask them whether they felt that Siobhan Dowd was able to create a tense atmosphere in the scenes, despite having Ted as the narrator. What key device does she use? Elicit that the author has chosen to begin the novel in Chapter 1 at the moment of crisis. Before reading Chapters 6–8, we already know that Salim has disappeared without explanation, so we are already curious and eager for clues to the mystery as we read Ted’s description, and we know more than the characters do at this point. This means that the tension level is high before the chapters even begin.
Ask students to track tension in the three chapters on the graph on WS 4. As they do so, they should consider whether the writer uses any other devices to build and maintain tension (for example, the times the children almost turn back from boarding the Eye, the mysterious stranger, the bad feeling Ted gets).
Review and reflect
Display the graph in WS 4as an OHT. Take feedback from the class and add moments of tension and tension levels to it as you go. Do students think the choices made by Siobhan Dowd work effectively to build suspense?
Homework
Students could make their own attempt at writing a story which opens with the moment of crisis. For example, a short ghost story which opens:
I was thirteen years and thirteen days old when the haunting began. It started as a normal day…
Worksheet 4
Tension tracker
To keep a reader’s interest and create an atmosphere of suspense, a writer will use a range of techniques to build tension in their writing. Choose five (or more) key moments in Chapters 6–8 of The London Eye Mystery, and track the level of tension at each of these moments. Remember to track the tension level at the start of the chapter as well.
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LESSON 5
Focus:Chapters 9–11
Summarizing information
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
Skim and scan text to retrieve information
Infer information from the text about characters and events
Summarize information using notes
Write a report
Engage
Read Chapters 9–11.
Explain to students that, in a situation like the one described in these chapters, the police officers who visit Ted’s family would be required to write a report and that later in this lesson they will be writing this report themselves. Ask the class to think about what the features of a police report might be, for example:
written in the third person
written in formal language
uses factual writing instead of opinions
is clear and precise
uses the present tense to describe how things are, and the past tense to describe events
structured and presented clearly.
Revise any of these aspects of language as necessary.
Explore
In Chapter 11, Ted says that while the plain clothes detective asks questions, her colleague the detective sergeant takes notes. Ask students why this would be a useful thing to do. Elicit:
to ensure nothing is forgotten
to write down exact words said by witnesses
to keep all information in one place
to write down impressions (‘hunches’) that may not be included in the final report, but may be useful during the investigation
to note down questions for later, or for other witnesses
to organize thoughts before writing them down formally.
Explain that in preparation for writing their own reports, students will be preparing notes based on Ted’s account of the interviews in Chapter 11. You could ask them to do this themselves, or provide scaffolding in the form of WS 5a.
Once they have completed the notes, ask the class to consider what sort of questions the police might have asked Aunt Gloria once Ted, Kat and their father were asked to leave the room. What other information might they have found out that we as readers already know? (For example, that Salim had not wanted to leave his friends.) Students can add this information to their notes.
Transform
Tell students that they are now going to turn the policeman’s notes into a report on Salim’s disappearance. They will need to use the novel to find any missing information (they can make up basic information not provided, such as the uniformed officer’s name), and separate facts from opinions. They will also need to leave out any information that Ted and Kat have not told the police, for example, that they have Salim’s camera, or information we do not yet know.
They can then complete the report independently using WS 5b. Students should leave the final section (further leads for follow up) blank for now.
Review and reflect
Ask students to work in pairs to look over each other’s reports and comment on one thing that their partner has done well, and one thing that could be improved.
They should then discuss with their partner what the police should look at next. What leads should they investigate? Is there anyone they should interview? How else could they find out more about what has happened to Salim? Pairs can fill in the last section of their police reports using this information, and then share this with the class.
Homework
Students investigate a famous disappearance (this could be either Lord Lucan or the Marie Celesteas referenced in Chapter 9 or a mystery of their own choosing). They should write notes as they research the disappearance and could be asked to turn this into a report as an extended assignment, using the features of reports discussed earlier in the lesson.
Worksheet 5a
Police notes
Notes from visit to Spark family home
Present at interview: Gloria (missing person’s mother)
Reason for visit to London:
Belongings (contents of backpack from scene of disappearance):
Witnesses’ account of disappearance:
Other:
Worksheet 5b
Police report
LESSON 6
Focus:Chapters 12–15
Character development
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
Infer and deduce information from the text