Article
Art by Alex Patrick
Background Builder,

What Is a Mystery Story?

You are going to read mystery fiction. Here are four elements you’ll find in most fictional stories that are mysteries. 

By Laine Falk
From the March / April 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Give students background knowledge about mystery stories before they read “Mystery at the Museum.”

Lexile® measure: 520L
Featured Skill: Vocabulary, Main Idea,
Vocabulary: mystery, get to the bottom of, clues, conclusion
Topic: English Language Arts,
Common Core Standards
  • English Language Arts Focus
    Genres
  • Common Core Standards
    RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • English Language Arts
    (8) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts—literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts. The student is expected to: (C) describe and understand plot elements, including the main events, the conflict, and the resolution, for texts read aloud and independently

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1. A Big Question 

Alex Patrick

All mysteries have a question that needs to be answered. Sometimes there is a crime. Who did it, and why?

Sometimes the mystery is not a crime. It is just something we don’t know and need to find out. 

2. Detective Characters

Alex Patrick
 

Detective characters want to solve a mystery. Sometimes that’s their job, and sometimes the characters are just kids. But these characters always want to get to the bottom of what happened. They want to figure it out!

3. Clues

Alex Patrick
 

Detective characters look for clues. Clues are pieces of information that help solve a problem. If something was stolen, did the thief leave anything behind? Are there any clues that can help us figure out who the thief might be?   

4. Conclusion

Alex Patrick
 

A conclusion is a way to finish a story. It usually solves the mystery for the reader. Readers learn what happened and why. 

Some real-life mysteries have never been solved!

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (3) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
In-Person Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the mystery theme:

Read this Background Builder before reading the fiction story, “Mystery at the Museum.”

Before-Reading Resources

  • Text Preview Bookmarks 
    (5 minutes) Kids can cut out the nonfiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow 
    (5 minutes) Help students become familiar with the vocabulary words they will see in the article.
  • Video: What Is a Mystery?
    (3 minutes) Show students a short video about what makes a story a mystery.

Suggested Reading Focus

Knowledge-building (30 minutes)

  • This article gives students background knowledge that will help them better understand this issue’s fiction story, “Mystery at the Museum,” on page 16.

After-Reading Skills Practice

(15 minutes for each activity)

  • Quiz: Comprehension check
  • Mystery Checklist: Once students have also read the fiction, “Mystery at the Museum,” they can use what they learned in this Background Builder to decide if “Mystery at the Museum” is a mystery story.

Text-to-Speech