«Mystery Greats» (original mystery and crime stories) individual reading course

The course consists of three chapters. There you can find short stories written by mystery and detective greats - Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie - and the authors’ biographies. Each chapter contains audio podcasts, the whole text of the short story and  reading comprehension practice. Each chapter is provided with the original authoring set of exercises (Gap filling,  Matching; Multiple-choice; Quiz; Crossword). The «Mystery Greats» (original mystery and crime stories) individual reading course is for students and English teachers who study and work with Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate courses. The course is aimed at getting skills in reading  comprehension and  translation.

The «Mystery Greats» (original mystery and crime stories) individual reading course is not a highly tailored training course so whether you are  student or teacher you may use it as a main course or a part of some special courses or for your own individual studying needs.

The course gives you a great opportunity of mixing the text exercises, making different tests, and providing individual work and self-control tasks.

Timetable
Assessment

Content

I. Introduction Mystery time line (1-2 week  - 6 September )

1. Read about the history of mystery, detective and crime short stories. Make up your variant of Mystery time line (up to 30 full sentences), podcast your history then blog the link to it.

Chapter I. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Biography. (3-6 week)

1. Listen to the first part of the story and read the whole text. 

2. Translate To Helen (original poem) by E.A. Poe. Use online translator first then read and correct mistakes you have in automatic translated text.Blog 2 variants (automatic and verified) of translation and list 5-7 common mistakes caused by automatic translation. Look through the verified translations made by other students. (20 September)

3. Do the "Black Cat" exercises and check you reading comprehension skills then blog you score per each exercise. (4 October)
4. Online quiz / mobile version Check you reading comprehension skills online then blog you score per each exercise.(4 October)

       Chapter II. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) Biography. (7-10 week)

1. Listen to the first part of the story and read the whole text.

2. Do the "Yellow  Face" exercises and check you reading comprehension skills  then blog your score per each exercise. (18 October)

3."White lie," good or bad? Poll  -  Family life, private or public? Poll (1 November)

4. Online multiple choice exercise/ mobile version Check you reading comprehension skills online then blog you score per each exercise (1 November)

 Chapter III. Agatha Christie (1890-1976) Biography. (11-12 week)

1. Listen to the first part of the story and read the whole text.

2. Do the "Western Star" exercises and check you reading comprehension skills  then blog your score per each exercise. (15 November)
3. Online multiple choice exercise /mobile version Check you reading comprehension skills online then blog you score per each exercise. (29 November)
4. Online quiz / mobile version Check you reading comprehension skills online then blog you score per each exercise. (29 November)

Final Project:
 1. Retell the stories you've read (The Black Cat, The Adventure of  the Yellow Face, The Adventure of the Western Star) using your own words (25 - 30 sentences), podcast your retelling then blog the link to it.
2. Treasure Hunt Task. Make up 3 questions  to each story (according to the content of the short stories) and blog them.
3. Give full answer to 3 questions posted by another student then blog them.
4. Check answers to your questions given by another student, blog your comments.

Further Reading:
1. An exploration of short stories E.A. Poe
2. The Museum E.A. Poe
3. Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate
4. Agatha Christie: the official information andcommunity website