Deduction · Sun Mar 4, 17:05 by
I have a singularly difficult year 9 group this year. As my previous group (mentioned in several entries) was so astonishingly good, finding myself landed with this lot was a bit of a shock to the system. Basically, the problem lies in the fact that about 75% of the class see no reason that they should learn anything and can’t see why the other 25% should want, or be allowed to learn. So it’s been quite difficult. However, the other day I decided that rather than slavishly follow the syllabus I would do something different.
I’ve mentioned before that I have a passion for Sherlock Holmes and regularly attempt to get students to see what I see in the famous consulting detective. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Anyway, I decided that I’d dig out old Sherlock again and attempt to get this year 9 group to read some short stories.
I began with The Crooked Man.
Having opened the lesson with a reminder of who Sherlock and his creator Conan-Doyle were, I began to read. I read as far as the section when Holmes fills Watson in on the details of the case: the murder of Colonel Barclay. This story has all the elements of a classic mystery right down to the murder occurring in a locked room with the key missing…
When I got to this part of the story, I got the class to call out bits of information that they had about the crime and the suspects (at this point the main suspect is the wife). I wrote the information on the board so that it looked as if it were happening in a police briefing room. It was interesting to note who had picked up on the most relevant info…not the brightest kids, but the ones who had learning problems and actually listen to stories. The lesson ended at this point as the bell rang. It was gratifying to see the kids reluctant to put away the books, as they wanted to know what happened next.
The idea behind reading Sherlock Holmes is not only to show them that pre 20th Century literature is actually quite accessible, that the maverick detective and his faithful sidekick are not a recent invention, but also to teach them inference and deduction…something at which old Sherlock himself excelled.
I don’t know how long this class’s interest will hold, but with the help of Jeremy Brett’s singularly accurate and brilliant portrayal of the detective (Granada TV’s wonderful series) I hope they learn something useful…and (I can’t resist it!) “Elementary.”
