The Westing Game
Written By Ellen Raskin
Published by Puffin Books 1978
Awards: Newbery Medal Winner, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
Summary:
Weird things start to happen in town after the death of
Samuel W. Westing. His will is read to sixteen chosen people, and it states that,
whoever can solve the case and find out his murderer, will win $200 million
dollars! Everyone is eager to gather their clues and solve the case, but bad
weather and random bombs mix things up a bit. The Westing Game is a suspenseful mystery full of twists and turns
that also allows the reader to play along too. Can you solve the mystery?
Thrilling. Mysterious. Surprising.
Thought-provoking.
Unexpected.
Grade Level: 5-7
Interest Level: 5.7
Lexile Measure: 750L
Description: Fiction, Mystery
Suggested Delivery: Individual or whole class
Key Vocabulary:
·
Tenant- someone who pays rent to use property
own by someone else
·
Corpse- a dead body
·
Immigrant- a person who comes to a country in
order to settle there
·
Coroner- person who investigates murders
·
Incriminate- suggest that someone is guilty
·
Heir- a person entitled by law to inherit the
estate of another
·
Condemn- pronounce a sentence on in a court of
law
·
Obituary- a notice of someone’s death
Electronic Resources:
This link is the movie trailer for “Get A Clue” (inspired by
the book).
Each character is described individually on this page. The
characters can get easily mixed up in the book so this can help students to
make a web or organizer.
Teaching Suggestions:
Scholastic provides three extension activities to do after
reading the book.
Before: Students should be exposed to background of the
novel and the author before completing the anticipation guide. Once the guide
is filled out, a small group or whole class discussion about the questions should
take place. This activity is meant to grow excitement and build student
interest.
During: While reading students can use a graphic organizer
to arrange the character connections as they keep appearing. Also below there is an info-graphic that I made that puts all of the clues in
one spot. Before the students read about solving the clue, they can use this
and their notes to try and solve the mystery their selves before hand.
After: When finished with the book, students can choose any
character they would like and create a “wanted” poster for that person. The
poster should contain facts about the character, a description, and all other
useful details that the class should know. Then the students can draw what they
think the character from the book looks like onto their poster.
Writing Activity: Students can write their own mystery story
that includes all of the components a mystery has. They will incorporate a
victim, suspects, clues, etc. The students should organize their ideas and really
make their readers have to think to solve the case.
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