1. The Speckled Band
Year 7

2. Lesson One: Reading for Meaning
Year 7

3. How can I read like a detective?
Literacy Link:
A story of mystery, suspense and deceit, Helen Stoner is a young woman who fears that her life is being threatened by her stepfather, Sir Grimesby Roylott. After hearing her sister’s dying words, ‘The Speckled Band!’ she approaches Sherlock and his trusted assistant, Watson to assist with the hunt for the truth…
Draw a head and write all of the skills that a detective needs in order to be successful.
I can skim and scan the text
I can make inferences
I can offer alternative ideas
AIM HIGHER: How does the word infer link to detective skills?

4. How can I read like a detective?
Skimming means QUICK, SURFACE reading to get the gist or to find the right bit of a text.
Scanning means looking for something in particular, stopping when we recognise it. (Like the beep of a barcode scanner)
Inference-
I think….
I feel….
Because…
AIM HIGHER: Infer is to come to a conclusion from further clues- what can you infer about the man waiting to see the doctor?

5. You needed to be SCANNING for the letter ‘a’ (and ‘A’)
A story of mystery, suspense and deceit, Helen Stoner is a young woman who fears that her life is being threatened by her stepfather, Sir Grimesby Roylott. After hearing her sister’s dying words, ‘The Speckled Band!’ she approaches Sherlock and his trusted assistant, Watson to assist with the hunt for the truth…
It’s almost as if your brain ‘beeps’ every time it finds an a/A.

6. How can I read like a detective?
Read the opening paragraph The Speckled Band (up to “terrible than the truth”.)
Who the main character is?
What the genre is?
Where it is set?
When is it set?
For each answer you need to establish what skills you have used to answer the question. (Skim, scan, infer.)

7. How can I read like a detective?
To page “Good-morning, madam…”
To page 167. “I am all attention madam.”
Answer in Point Evidence Analysis :
What does Holmes infer about his visitor and how does he do it?
What can YOU infer about Holmes from his inferences?
*Push yourself to give an alternative interpretation.

8. How can I read like a detective?
In one colour underline/highlight your point.
In another colour underline/highlight your evidence.
In another colour underline/highlight your analysis/explanation.
Can you identify your alternative interpretation? Can you add in an effect on the reader?
Give yourself a WWW and a target.

9. How can I read like a detective?
Which picture most accurately suits your learning today and why?
What can you do to make sure it is all three?
AIM HIGHER: See how many inferences you can make between now and next lesson. Come ready with an example!

10. P Look carefully through Helen Stoner’s account and spot the important clues she gives about the events that night. There are at least 10 to find. Then fill in what you can work out from each clue (deduction).  

11. Clue (what happened that night)
Deduction (why this might be important to either the story or to Holmes)
1. Feeling of impending misfortune
2. Stormy night 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10.

12. The Literary Detective
The Literary Detective!   So far you have, like Sherlock Holmes, learnt how to make deductions about characters and situations by finding small details and writing what these details suggest.   When you do your literary detective work, you need to be able to present your findings well. To do this you need a system.   When you are faced with a literary mystery to solve in the form of a question, the first thing you must do is your detective work. We have filled in tables, and if you were under pressure to get the mystery solved (let’s say in an examination!) you would need to work quickly.  

13. Introduce the evidence
Introduce the evidence.   (P) When Helen Stoner tells us about what happened that night, she tells us of how her sister’s face had turned white. Write the evidence down exactly.   (E) We are told that she saw “my sister appear at the opening, her face blanched with terror.”   The important bit! Write what you have deduced or worked out from this clue.   Use expressions like: This might suggest that… The impression we are given is that… This shows that… This indicates that… This implies that… This hints at the fact that…   You get the idea!   (E) This might suggest that her sister has had a terrible fright or is in shock from some kind of injury.  

14. Starter sentences:
P: We know that Julia heard a whistle every night E: (quotation from the story. Don’t forget speech marks!) E: This suggests/ this could be/ this makes me wonder P: Julia said something about a speckled band
Extension task: add a fourth sentence to each of your P.E.E paragraphs, where you explore the language used in the quotation