(Recorded Course) A Mastery of Mysteries for Middle School with Kevin O'Brien

Become a “mystery master” as we read together some of the greatest mysteries of all time, including Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, and more! For middle school students.

How to get the most out of A Mastery of Mysteries for Middle School with Kevin O’Brien:

  • Watch each Recorded class session.
  • Complete all quizzes and assignments. Parents can grade any essay questions, or they may purchase Instructor Access for Kevin O'Brien to grade the essay questions.
  • The reading for each week can be found in that week's module.
  • Repeat for each until course is completed.
  • Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.

Total classes: 9

Duration: 45 minutes

Prerequisite: None

Suggested grade level: 6th to 8th grade

Suggested credit: 1-semester Literature or English

Instructor: Kevin O’Brien

Instructor Email: kevin@classeswithkevin.com

Students should contact Mr. O'Brien from his website, www.classeswithkevin.com

Course Description: In this course, students will strive to become “mystery masters”!  We will read some of the greatest mystery stories of all time, including tales of detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and mysteries by Christian writers such as G. K. Chesterton and others.  We will not only examine the structure and content of mystery stories, but also try our hand at writing our own short mysteries! Plus mini-mysteries will be read and solved in every class session.

Course description: In this course, students will strive to become “mystery masters”!  We will read some of the greatest mystery stories of all time, including tales of detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and others.  Plus, mini-mysteries will be read and solved in several class sessions.  

Course outline:

  1. Introduction and Mini-Mysteries

  2. Edgar Allan Poe

  3. Sherlock Holmes

  4. Father Brown

  5. Literary Criticism and Murder Mysteries

  6. The Hard Boiled Detective

  7. Nancy Drew

  8. Agatha Christie

  9. Student Mystery Highlights

Course materials: Public domain mysteries will be provided FREE by the instructor as PDF files.

Homework: Auto-graded quizzes plus a Final Exam. Plan on about two or three hours of homework, mostly reading, per week. An answer key booklet is not included with this course.