Students at Woodland Consolidated School recently combined a bit of clue-giving and puzzle-solving to add to their reading fun, and each came home with a new book in the bargain.
Librarian Cindy Privette explained the literary activity featured a mystery book of the week for three weeks, ending with a distribution of books to all. The books were donated by an organization called Reader to Reader in Amherst, Massachusetts.
“This was an activity we had done a couple of years ago and several students had asked if we could do it again,” she said. “Of course, I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to get students thinking about books and reading.”
Privette asked three classrooms to choose a favorite book and create four clues as to the book’s identity, which were announced each morning and also posted in the library. Some clues were quotes from the book, an interesting fact from the story or something about the author. A box was placed in the library for students to enter their guesses.
If more than one correct answer was given, a winner was chosen from those names and that person received a book. The librarian noted the students creating the mystery clues had as much fun as those trying to figure out the correct title.
“It was a great way to get the whole school involved in the activity,” she added. “Then all students received a book at the conclusion, and our goal to encourage reading was met.”
