The Mysterious Benedict Society

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Design Your Own Team Task and Test”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of the theme of The Power of Cooperation by designing a task requiring a variety of abilities and a test designed to evaluate these varying abilities.

The children in The Mysterious Benedict Society can only succeed at their task if they cooperate, because they each possess abilities that are needed in their mission. Mr. Benedict uses his test to make sure that the team will have all of the necessary skills to succeed. Imagine that you have a task that only a group with diverse abilities can accomplish: How will you assemble your team?

For this activity, you will design two things: a test and a task.

Your Task:

• Write a one-paragraph description of the task—what mission do you need the team to accomplish?
• Write a second paragraph explaining why this task requires the same set of skills that the children in The Mysterious Benedict Society possess. (You will need a team member who can memorize large amounts of information, like Sticky, for example—not someone who can turn themselves invisible or move objects with their minds.