Bring a bestselling children’s author into your classroom and help pupils plan and write a compelling mystery.

In this first episode of Author In Your Classroom, award-winning author Robin Stevens (the Murder Most Unladylike series) shares practical advice on how she plans a plot. She covers everything from creating convincing detectives to building tension with suspects, clues and a satisfying resolution.

This teaching sequence is designed to support pupils who find story structure tricky. It will help them move beyond “a list of things that happen” towards a well-shaped narrative with a clear beginning, middle and end.

Short extracts from the podcast are suggested throughout the unit to introduce each stage of learning. These are optional, but highly motivating. They give pupils insight into how real writers work and encourage them to see themselves as authors too.

Resource pack contents

This free classroom pack supports a complete mystery-writing unit and includes:

• A ready-to-use PowerPoint
• Murder Most Unladylike text extracts (1, 2 and 3)
• Matching audiobook clips (narrated by Gemma Chan)
• Planning sheets for characters, setting, crime, suspects and resolution
• A working wall image library for display
• Story writing sheets for drafting and final versions

Teaching overview

Across four sessions, pupils will:

• Devise a detective: Explore characterisation through text and audio extracts, learning how authors ‘show, not tell’, before creating their own detective or detective duo.
• Plan a setting, crime and victim: Develop ideas that fit their characters, choosing an effective setting and a believable mystery to solve.
• Create suspects, clues and a resolution: Build tension by planning misleading clues, red herrings and a surprising ending.
• Write the story: Write in role as their detective, using first person and adopting techniques modelled by Robin Stevens, including ‘thinking aloud’ to reveal character and plot.

The unit also includes guidance for extending the work, improving drafts, and using a mystery-writing working wall to support ideas and vocabulary.

How to listen

Search for Author In Your Classroom wherever you get your podcasts. A free resources pack is available with every episode.

Subscribe to hear more brilliant children’s authors share insider tips that help pupils write with confidence, purpose and flair.

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