How to Teach The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin's "The Westing Game" is a Newbery-Medal-winning book in which 16 completely diverse people are brought into a who-done-it mystery after millionaire Sam Westing is killed by one of them. The book opens with the tenants of an apartment building, Sunset Towers, being called to the reading of Westing's will. His game is that one of the people killed him, and the person who solves the mystery will inherit his fortune. Teaching "The Westing Game" helps students find relationships between events and characters and use critical thinking to solve the crime.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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1
Give each of your students an assigned role to read in class. Depending on the class size, a student may have to take on two roles.
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2
Act out the book. As your students read the book in class, have them act out the novel using props from the book.
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3
Keep case files. Teaching "The Westing Game" shows students how to use critical thinking to solve problems. Have your students keep a police case file of notes and information they believe will help them determine who committed the crime.
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4
Choose your culprit. Before the murderer is revealed in the book, have your students write down who they think the culprit is.
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5
Map and review. Have your students draw a map of Sunset Towers, noting key locations from the book and details that helped lead to the crime. Students can also draw pictures of the characters without reviewing the text to see how well they were paying attention.
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6
Find your own projects from the book. Take a plot development you think is interesting and have your students compare pieces of the book to everyday life or characters in the book to famous people in history or entertainment.
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