Sherlock Holmes visits Bill Ford Child Development Center -- ages 5 to 9
Regina Stinson and Roy Pilot, both Baker Street Irregulars, made an informal visit to a classroom. They showed a Daffy Duck movie and gave out Sherlock Holmes stickers and magnifying glasses. |
Introducing Sherlock Holmes to Students -- Elementary School
Thanks to the Jan Stauber grant from the Beacon Society, Robert Nunn was able to create a two-week unit that introduced his fifth graders to the stories of Sherlock Holmes. The unit includes his lesson plans, with objectives and pictures on pages 3-10 of the report. An assignment on identifying nouns is on page 11. Other resources used for this unit include information from Scholastic, the International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes, and ReadingAtoZ.com. The texts used for whole class instruction are Classic Starts: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and On The Case With Holmes and Watson: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure at the Copper Beeches. The scripts for the Reader’s Theater plays were The Red-Headed League and Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle. |
The Red-Headed League -- 4th to 6th Grade
You can get some friends together to perform your own version of a Sherlock Holmes-based play. Marino Alvarez has developed a wonderful adaptation of "The Red-Headed League", one of Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes short stories. |
Past Jan Stauber-Sherlock Holmes Literacy Grant Projects
Tina Flook, Corry Area Intermediate School, Corry, PA,
The school library will display the Sherlock Holmes books for the students to see and check out. Each student will participate in the Junior Sherlockian Training throughout the grading period. Each week we will focus on one part of the training; explore, experience, extend, and ‘b’ recognized. |
Roberta Klein, Read with Me Volunteer Programs, Mirage, CA,
We will purchase Sherlock Holmes books to provide to these students, which are given to the children at the library, based on their age. We will distribute approximately 75 Sherlock Holmes' books to fifth and sixth graders in 15 schools, and to their libraries. The ability to read English -- our expected outcome -- is the fundamental foundation for everyday life and success. |
Lynn Carney, Cleveland Metro School District, Cleveland, OH
"Meet Me on Baker Street" |
Jill Altman, Saluda Primary School, Saluda, SC
“Crime Solvers reading club for students" (2nd Grade) |
Amanda Caple, Salem Elementary School, Fredericksburg, VA
"Introducing Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Using the Stories to Increase Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills" |
Shannon Carlisle, Moore Elementary School, Franklin TN
"Using Sherlock Holmes to Help Students Become Better Learners and Critical Thinkers" |
Noelle Loupin, Harmony Elementary School, Harmony, ME
"Sherlock Holmes for Elementary and Middle School Students" |
Shannon Carlisle, Moore Elementary School, Franklin, TN
"The Character Traits of Sherlock Holmes for the Younger Elementary Student” (K-grade 1) and “The Sherlock Holmes Museum for the Young, Curious, and Observant Mind” (grade 4) |
Dorothea Miller, Albright College and 13th and Union Elementary School Partnership, Reading, PA
“A two week reading/language arts unit built around the Sherlock Holmes stories” (grade 4) |
Robert Nunn, Albert Cassens Elementary School, Glen Carbon, IL
“Sherlock Holmes in the Classroom: A Cross-curricular Approach Integrating Literature and Mathematics” (grade 5) |
Marie Wright, The River School, Washington, DC
“Sleuthing Through Books” (grade 3) Students were introduced to Sherlock Holmes through the world of Geronimo Stilton, mouse author of a series of detective stories for young children. |
Past Beacon Award Projects
Sherlock Holmes Detective Class
The summer reading program at the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of the Toronto Public Library
by Peggy Perdue
At the Toronto Public Library’s Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, we often host class visits and other presentations for children right in the Arthur Conan Doyle Room. The opportunity to explore this combination of a library and a 221B reproduction is a great way to give the kids a memorable experience with Sherlock Holmes. However, if groups can’t come to the ACD Room, we try to take the ACD Room to them. The 2009 Summer Reading Club program run by the library system featured a detective theme, offering a good opportunity to do this kind of outreach to promote the Collection and introduce Holmes to young readers. The resulting program, “Sherlock Holmes’ Detective Class” was designed for kids ages 7-12. As with any program directed at children, each session was a little different, but the basic structure went something like this:
What do the kids already know about Sherlock Holmes? Ask them what a detective is, and if they’ve ever heard of Holmes. Prepare a bag full of Holmesian objects such as a deerstalker hat, a doll wearing an Inverness cape (Snoopy was a popular choice), a magnifying glass and a calabash pipe. Kids enjoy guessing what’s in the bag based on what they already know about what a “real detective” looks like. Most groups I’ve worked with can guess the contents of the bag, although they usually don’t know the terms “deerstalker” or “Inverness.” (If you’re concerned about encouraging smoking, you can point out that one doesn’t have to smoke a pipe to be a detective.)
The summer reading program at the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of the Toronto Public Library
by Peggy Perdue
At the Toronto Public Library’s Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, we often host class visits and other presentations for children right in the Arthur Conan Doyle Room. The opportunity to explore this combination of a library and a 221B reproduction is a great way to give the kids a memorable experience with Sherlock Holmes. However, if groups can’t come to the ACD Room, we try to take the ACD Room to them. The 2009 Summer Reading Club program run by the library system featured a detective theme, offering a good opportunity to do this kind of outreach to promote the Collection and introduce Holmes to young readers. The resulting program, “Sherlock Holmes’ Detective Class” was designed for kids ages 7-12. As with any program directed at children, each session was a little different, but the basic structure went something like this:
What do the kids already know about Sherlock Holmes? Ask them what a detective is, and if they’ve ever heard of Holmes. Prepare a bag full of Holmesian objects such as a deerstalker hat, a doll wearing an Inverness cape (Snoopy was a popular choice), a magnifying glass and a calabash pipe. Kids enjoy guessing what’s in the bag based on what they already know about what a “real detective” looks like. Most groups I’ve worked with can guess the contents of the bag, although they usually don’t know the terms “deerstalker” or “Inverness.” (If you’re concerned about encouraging smoking, you can point out that one doesn’t have to smoke a pipe to be a detective.)