Our reading of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" introduced our students to the famous Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson. We explored the mystery story genre, with an emphasis on plot and conflict. We delved deeply into the characters, their motives, and Sherlock's approach to solving mysteries.  We wondered about the significance of the various clues and how a less astute detective might have overlooked them.  We also learned that the author of these fictional "Sherlock Holmes" stories was not overly concerned with the accuracy of the specific details in his writings.  Consult with any of our Middle Schoolers who will explain to you the relevance of the facts that snakes can't hear and don't drink milk, baboons and cheetahs don't live in India, no snake called a Swamp Adder exists in that country either, and finally that it is highly unlikely that anyone could die of a snake bite as quickly as Dr. Roylott did at the end of our story! The students also enjoyed seeing a pair of authentic Turkish slippers of the type described by the author in this story.

We are now looking forward to our next literary adventure, Mark Twain's  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!